Last week we got started on the dining room remodel by tearing out the old drywall ceiling. The drywall was sagging and cracking and was generally a mess. So we tore it out. With the brunt of the ceiling gone, Oceana and I went back through and pulled all of the nails from the ceiling joists as well as removed any bits of remaining drywall. This is in preparation for the new plywood. While Oceana was pulling nails, I took the opportunity to install some rafter ties on the rafters that are hard to get to with the ceiling in place.
Plywood installation
With the ceiling prepped, we hung 5/8 in plywood on the ceiling and screwed it to the ceiling joists. The plywood is going to act as a backer for when we install the tongue and groove ceiling. It allows us to nail anywhere along the length of the board instead of just at the joists. With the plywood up, it already feels like a different room.
Tongue and groove
Next up was the tongue and groove ceiling. For this we’re using #2 cypress and we will paint it after its installed. I did some layout work and then Oceana helped me snap a line down the center of the room (which is way out of square). Using that line as our starting point, we ran the first board on the line and nailed it in place. We continued installing boards until that half of the room was complete. This is going to look nice!
Wall removal
While I was working out in the shop, Oceana got started tearing out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We’ve been planning to take this wall out, and now is the time. We’ll be doing a coffer ceiling in the dining room and the beams will end into another beam where the wall used to be. I can’t finish the coffers until the wall is gone and the new beam is up. So Oceana put more plastic up and got to tearing out. That evening I joined her and we got the rest of the wall removed. It really opens up the space a lot!
Big gap in the flooring
I was really hoping the walls had been built over the top of the wood flooring but unfortunately no such luck. If they had, I wouldn’t have much extra work to do when it comes to finishing the wood floors. But the floors butted up to the walls, which leaves a nice big gap in the wood flooring with the wall gone. Oh well, that’ll be for another day.
More tongue and groove
With the wall gone, we finished up the tongue and groove ceiling on the other side of the dining room. A bit more layout work and I had the coffer ceiling grid laid out on the ceiling. The coffer beams will consist of two layers of 1x4s so that they’re a total of 1 1/2″ thick. I wanted to keep them relatively flat since the ceiling height is just under 8′. If they’re too big, they’ll actually detract from the room and seem out of place. I’m after a subtle elegance with it. Oceana helped me get the first few boards up which provides a nice feel as to how it’s going to look. I like it. I’ll have to get the rest of the wall removal framing work complete and then get the beam in before I can finish the coffers on the kitchen side.
I’ll be doing a second layer of 1x4s on top of the first row pictured and then I’ll install a small cove molding on the inside of each coffer. It’s going to look awesome.
The Teak update
Teak is doing well and growing like crazy. I’m continually impressed with how smart he is. He picks up new tricks extremely fast. He also has a mind of his own. I’ve never had a dog that would back talk you before. When you ask him to do something and he doesn’t feel like it, he looks at you and then bites the air. Chomp! It’s hilarious (other than the fact he’s not doing what he’s supposed to). He actually did really good with us while we were working in the dining room. He just sat there and watched. If he was in the way, we taught him “back” and he backs up out of the way. But even with the pounding and nail guns, he didn’t flinch. He just thinks this is normal! That’s all for now. Thanks for following along.
