Living Room Remodel 2

Lots of good progress on the living room this week. Last week we got started on the living room remodel by tearing out the old 3/8 drywall ceiling. 3/8″ drywall is too thin to be installed on the ceiling, especially when it’s secured to framing that’s on 24″ centers (newer houses are 16″ on center). That means it was all sagging. So we ripped it out and cleaned up the mess. After the drywall was down, Oceana went around and pulled out the remaining nails so that we’re ready to install new boards.

Plywood on the ceiling

The ceiling of the living room was broken up into two halves – the front half had the original tongue and groove porch ceiling on it, and the back half was bare to the framing. We opted to install a layer of 3/4″ plywood on the ceiling in the back half so that the ceiling plane would be flush to the old tongue and groove.

Tongue and groove

With the plywood installed, we did a little layout and then started installing the new tongue and groove ceiling. We snapped a line down the middle of the room and started running the first board right on the line. We continued running the ceiling towards the two bedrooms until we ran out of steam near the can lights.

Finishing up the ceiling

The next day, Sunday, we picked up where we left off and quickly finished off the first side. Next, we started back in the middle and ran towards the master bedroom side. We got on a roll with this side and were able to get it buttoned up quicker than expected. Oceana would help me install the boards and then finish off nailing them while I laid out the cuts for the next row. Teak enjoyed being part of the action. He got really excited when I used the hole saw to cut out for the can lights. I’d give him the circle that got cut out and he would chew on that until it was time for the next hole saw cut. As Oceana had time throughout the week, she bondo’d all of the big knot holes and used painters putty to fill in the nail holes. She got the ceiling looking good and ready to be primed.

Drywall and electrical

With the tongue and groove ceiling installed, it was time to start on the drywall patches around the room. However, before we could patch all of the drywall, we ran new wiring for outlets in areas that were already cut open. I didn’t connect the wires yet, but at least they’re ran. With the living room wiring complete, I got onto the task of patching all of the various drywall holes that had been cut to access this and that throughout the room. I’m hoping to get the drywall wrapped up this weekend so that I can install the crown molding around the ceiling. With the crown in, we should be able to prime and paint the ceilings in the living and dining rooms.

The Teak update

Teak is doing well. He almost seems to be calming down a bit. He also seems to have slowed down in growing taller and appears to be starting to fill out a bit. Teak also has a confession to make- he likes to be scared. I’ve got a coon skin out in the shop and Teak thinks its a real raccoon. He’s terrified of it. But he loves sneaking into the shop and looking for it. To aid in his amusement, I regularly move it around the shop so he never knows where it is. He can usually sniff it out and then he’ll slowly sneak up on it until he gets too scared and then runs away. It’s pretty funny. Then he does it again – stealthily sneaking up on it until he can’t stand it then running away.

That’s all folks. As always, thanks for following along.