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3 rd Floor
Bath | Progress Report # 4
Putting up sheet rock
The sheet rock arrived and
was stored in the detached garage. Each piece required me to take measurements
on the third floor, run down the stairs, out the back of the kitchen and over to
the garage. All of this because this stuff is just too heavy and awkward
for Anna and I to schlep up three flights of stairs.
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The moisture resistant sheet rock arrived
the other day. This is sometimes called "greenboard" and
is suppose to work better in areas where moisture is an issue.
Like a bathroom or maybe even a basement.
I thought I was going to get one piece over the shower, but the
angles and cut outs were just too much. You can see a not so faint
line where I eventually had to cut one piece into two. |
Measure, cut and lug the trimmed sheet rock back up the
stairs. Fortunately, I guess, no single un-cut piece
of sheet rock had to be carried. All pieces needed were no larger than half a 4
X 8 foot sheet. That also means that a lot of fitting had to be done that
seemed to take a very dusty forever. Oh by the way, each full sheet weighs
something equal to an old Volkswagen Beetle stuffed with U. of Michigan
linemen.
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Here is just one example
of my first cuts. I got a bit better as time went on, but
it really took a toll on my body and mood. |
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I finally got the "hand of it" with this last cut and
fitting. You really do just have to take your time and measure a
bunch of times. Most of my mistakes was because I was getting
tired. |
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This project is not cheap so Anna and I try to save money as we
can. One area not to get cheap on is tools. There is a
drywall screw driver with special fittings and a cool clutch that
prevents what you see here. The hole was me getting carried away
with a regular electric drill used to drive in the wall screws. |
Anna asked me where I had learned to work with sheet rock. I realized
that I had only one other experience and that was helping her replace the walls
around a tub in her old house. It was not pleasant. We were still
dating, so we were both in our "falling in love haze" and I was
anxious to impress. That meant showing her how I could throw sheet
rock on my little Honda hatchback and haul it on home. Unfortunately, I
was an idiot. Half way to Anna's house the top sheet snapped from the wind
and flew off the car. That made the ties go slack so the rest of the sheets
started flying about like something out of the movie
"Twister."
We ran about dodging traffic and throwing the remains back onto the roof of
the Honda. I was whipped and had to put the largest recovered piece on my
back to lift it up to roof level. Anna helped......by shoving the sheet
rock onto the roof of the car....along with my face which was now caught between
the hot car surface and the heavy sheet rock. I was later told that my
face looked like the ole "bug on the wind shield." To this
day when we see sheet rock...she laughs. I don't.
| Ok, I am kind of proud of this section of
new wall. The ceiling is...odd. That means there is no such
thing as a straight cut. I also tried to make this section one
piece, but again had to make multiple, smaller pieces. In reality,
that was ok by me. The stack of sheet rock delivered by a local
lumber yard is in the detached garage. That means I have to
measure on the third floor, run down the stairs, out the back door and
into the garage. Each piece of carefully cut sheet rock had to be
carried through the kitchen, then up stairs to the third floor.
This was more than a three aspirin day.
What you cannot see is that I made sure there was extra support for
an above the toilet towel rack or shelf. |
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Once you get sheet rock (wallboard) to the work site, it can be pretty easy
to make whatever cuts are needed. I try to use a straight edge that is
actually straight and made of metal. After a near miss or two I now keep
my hands and other body parts well clear of the new cutting blade used to score
the sheetrock. The way I do this is probably not the way a pro
would. They tend to actually know what they are doing.
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Using a new cutting blade, I CAREFULLY cut through the paper on the
back of the sheetrock. My best luck is with a metal straight
edge to guide the blade. |
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If I manage to cut the paper and score the sheetrock properly, a
little pressure along the cut line snaps the sheetrock easily. |
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I bend the cut piece forward a bit so that the "front" paper
is creased. Then I carefully cut through the paper to disconnect
the cut piece. |
I actually did a pretty good job on most of the sheetrock, once I
"practiced" on the first couple of cuts. The next step in Progress
5 is to
apply compound to cover the screws and fill in the cracks.
Back to Bath 3
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