January 2008

After an evening of watching Holmes on Homes (my new favorite show), I decided to tackle a project while my wife was off visiting her sister on the east coast.

We knew we had to replace the drywall in the hall from a previous roof leak (fixed long ago), and I figured it’d be good timing as I was planning a trip to the dump (and could haul away the debris). However, when I cracked the drywall, I had no idea the area was as badly damaged as it was: old mold (now dried-up, but still nasty), and a bit of dry-rot. Fortunately, the sill-plates and headers were still amazingly very much intact — but the base of the studs were toast (they likely wicked up the moisture from the bottom).

So, in true Mike Holmes fashion ("If in doubt, tear it out."), I took the initiative to fix the area while I already had it torn apart. Since the siding was still adhered to the old studs, ripping them out was impractical (and unnecessary), so I sistered new studs (only 2 were effected — the others looked good as new) alongside the old ones and again in Holmes fashion ("if you’re gonna do it, glue it and screw it"), I glued and screwed the new studs to the old ones, which — considering the top and middle of the old studs were still quite solid — should make for a long-lasting repair.

With new insulation in place, it’s lots quieter and a lot neater (and smells a bit better). We’re using Johns-Manville Comfort-therm insulation on the outside perimeter… it’s completely encased in a plastic sleeve, so it should serve as a more effective vapor-barrier than standard friction-fit "pink" which we’re using on the interior walls — plus, with no paper involved, it should stay mold-free. Now if I could only find Mike’s favorite Tuck-tape to seal the seams…

Sanding drywall is messy. Super messy… and the dust is not only really damaging, but apt to clog a shop-vac filter in no time. There’s a neat product on the market called Sand-n-Kleen which traps dust before it gets to the vac’s filter, but it’s not available locally (and I needed it that day)…

So, not able to find one at any hardware store, I decided to make my own using a Homer-bucket and top ($7), 2 vac-fittings ($8), 2 couplings which secured the vac-fittings to the top ($3) and PVC pipe ($1)… and it works really well capturing nearly 100% of the dust sucked into the water-filter.

The first variant found me with the intake pipe below the water line for a true water-bong effect, but in reviewing the original, it seems the pipe could sit slightly above the water line shooting the dust into the water and thus capturing it. I haven’t tried this variant yet since the previous worked well. With the true "bong" the process is a bit more tumultuous — what with the bubbling water and all — and some water (about a cup or so per hour of sanding) does make it to the shop-vac… which is not really a big deal since it is wet-dry anyway.

Better yet — and even better than the original Sand-n-Kleen design, I was able to hook the vac line to the dust port of my Ryobi 5in orbital sander which made sanding a snap.

*Note, in the prototype, I fitted a drain at the top thinking I might have to glue the top to the bucket for an air-seal… but the Homer bucket and top are airtight under load, so it isn’t/wasn’t necessary. Also note, the original isn’t that expensive ($40) and does come with an extended vac-line, so if you have the time to order it it might not be a bad idea, but if you’re desperate for time or desperate to save $20, the home-made variety is an option. Worked for us.

It’s taken a while, but we’ve finally drywalled both sides of the garage partition wall. On the garage side, we installed fire-core 5/8in board with a layer of Quiet-Glue sound-absorbing glue/membrane between the drywall and the plywood sheerwall — with the unsealed garage doors, quite a bit of sound comes through and having had great success with Quiet Solutions products, we opted for the increased peace it might bring. We also installed 1/2in Quiet Rock on the living room side for the same reasons (which is essentially two 1/4in sheets with a layer of Quiet Glue in between). We caulked and sealed and mudded and primed… hopefully the area is not only more quiet, but safe from garage-fumes and more fire-proof. Still need to secure the electric cable that will feed the kitchen island, but that will be next weekend’s project…

We’ve seen a few of these around the house. This guy got trapped in the bathtub… any ideas?

Eichler’s are cool — literally. And very breezy. Now that the weather has turned cold in Concord, we’re no longer cursing the 110 degree days… well, at least not as much as we were in August.

While it’s known that these houses are poorly insulated, the "outside/in" concept definitely takes center stage when the winter winds gust. And having removed the paneling and trim in the den (which backs up to the garage), we we’re getting a bit chilly. The replacement of the very drafty garage door was top-of-the-list. Additionally, we’re trying to make the house a bit more fire-proof and the previous hollow interior door provided little fire protection.

Surprisingly, Big-Orange had just the door we were looking for: a luan "20-minute" pre-hung door that meets current building codes for a garage-to-living space door. So, $225 and a fortnight later, we had our door — ready to install. This one also came with really neat self-closing hinges (current code) which are powerful enough to swing the heavy door closed.

My dad was visiting from the East Coast, so we decided to tackle the installation while he was here and after a few hours (and a can of spray foam) later, the door was completely installed and air tight. A replacement knob from Defiant finished off the installation (Big Orange’s cheapest lockset is also the best match to the Eichler originals). Since the fire-rated jamb came in a primed white color (rather than the original luan matchsticks), we’ll eventually paint it to match the beams and other exposed non-luan wood in the house. The threshold was a bit weird in that the aluminum extended past the jamb on one side necessitating the creation of a support plate which I covered in my new favorite VCT tile for kick-protection — and once we drywall the garage, we’ll take care of the rest of the trim around the door on that side.

Now that the door is installed, we can re-drywall the wall. We’re not going back to the original paneling here simply for fire protection… and noise — we’re planning on using 1/2in QuietRock again here to help combat some street (and garage) noise. We’ll also be using some GreenGlue between the 5/8in drywall and sheathing on the garage side to help with the noise. Not that it’s overly loud here, but these products are fairly affordable when used strategically and sparingly and very, very effective.