Home Stretch

Lesley and I are now in the mad scramble to the finish line - the lungs are on fire, the legs feel like lead, and the bank account is bedraggled and begging for mercy. Drywall, as it turns out, is expensive.

We pushed hard last Friday and Saturday to prepare the basement for drywalling. Friday, we worked until 9pm, and Saturday we went from 9:30am to 6:30am. Our friend Jay was scheduled to be in our basement by 9am Sunday to assist with drywalling the ceiling, so it had to be ready. The only thing we didn't get done was the vapour barrier, which waited until Sunday morning due to renovation burnout.

The final steps were actually all pretty easy with the newly acquired table saw. Building out the framing for the windows was a bit tricky due to the windows not being perfectly flush with the framing, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed with the jigsaw. I used some scrap plywood that I had leftover from a previous project, and the resulting gap was big enough to use Roxul insulation instead of sprayfoam.

Build up

Next on the list, was the step. I regretted tossing the previous step in the dumpster when I began the process of building this one, as I'm sure I could have re-used at least some of the lumber. Nevertheless, one new 2x10, and a few existing scraps were enough to complete a new step.

Step up

It was a bit of a trick getting the stringers right, and in the end, I couldn't get them to be identical. They are, however, just for show, as the actual step is supported not by the stringers, but by 2x8 blocks under the tread. So, no worries.

Attaching the final boot was a piece of cake, and Lesley managed to complete the rest of the insulating as I worked on the final bits of woodworking. While we did not get the vapour barrier up prior to Sunday morning, we were nevertheless feeling ready to begin drywalling.

Enter Jay.

Putting up the vapour barrier was actually a lot easier with a third pair of hands, and it went very quickly once Jay arrived first thing Sunday morning. Before long, we were putting the first sheet up on the ceiling. It went fairly quickly, but we were slowed down somewhat by the bulkheads, as expected.

After a full day, we managed to get about three quarters of the ceiling done.

Measuring for the bulkhead

One side down, one to go

We've ultimately decided to hire a professional to do the taping and mudding of the drywall once it's up. I was convinced by the relatively low cost of such a job, and the difference a professional job will make. Plus, we actually suck at hanging drywall, so a professional tape job will hide the multitude of amateur screw-ups that we are undoubtedly making. Our guy is coming by this weekend to give us a quote, and with luck, will be able to complete the job next week, so it's imperative that we get the drywall hung before the day is out on Sunday.