Blank Canvas

The house is painted inside and out!  We choose a bright white for the interior, and a soft white for the exterior, with punches of color for accent.

Drywall is hung!

We are weeks behind on our postings due to the increased activity level of construction.

A few weeks ago the drywall was hung (took about 3 days), mudded/tapped (another 2 days), and sanded/prepped (final 2 days).  It turned out really great, especially given the temperatures soared to 117F.  But the drywall guys pushed through it.

Coming from the Midwest, where everyone has smooth walls, it was weird to us that contractors and sub-contractors kept asking us what type of finish we wanted...  Knockdown?  Sand or Brush Swirl?  Skip Trowel?  Orange Peel?  Slapbrush?  Comb Texture?  People please... this is a Mid Century Modern Home!  We want flat walls!

 

 

 

 

Spray Foam Insulation

Last week, June 25 and 26, we had the inside of all the exterior walls sprayed with open-cell air-tight (and bug-tight) foam insulation (as seen in virtually every episode of Holmes on Homes/HGTV).  We also had all interior walls encompassing bedrooms flashed with 2-3" with spray foam for noise protection.  It was a great experience and we will most likely never use batt & roll fiberglass insulation again.

No one is allowed in the house during the installation (and for 24 hours later)

The foam creates an air tight seal

Extra foam is shaved off the walls and returned to the facility for recycling

In the soffit areas we had them spray 8" of foam on the underside of the tongue and groove ceilings

Kitchen in progress

Interior wall separating Master Bedroom and Office Bedroom

Guest Bedroom in the front of the house

Interior wall separating the Guest Bedroom and the Living Room

Off to be recycled

In addition to the soffit ceiling (at top), we also had them spray 6-8" of foam around all HVAC ducts (at bottom)

New Master Bedroom (West facing wall)

Plywood Sheathing Completed

The structural plywood sheathing is now 100% installed.  Next step: wrap and wire for stucco!

NORTH FACADE
(Front Bedroom, Kitchen, Hall Bath, and Master Bath)

NORTH FACADE
(Front Bedroom, Kitchen, Hall Bath, and Master Bath)

WEST FACADE
(Master Bath, Master Closet, Master Bedroom)

WEST FACADE
(Master Bath, Master Closet, Master Bedroom)

SOUTH FACADE
(Master Bedroom, Office, Dining Room)

Southwest corner

If the walls could talk...

We've been busy these last few weeks with countless projects.  As often the case, a simple project can lead to a major undertaking.

We had to open up a few walls for the electrician and window installation, and what we discovered was an unwanted surprise!

First...  something missing...  the exterior walls of the home have no insulation.  Well that's not entirely true.  The West facade walls and the South facade walls had a paper sheet with a thin metallic reflective foil.   Clearly in the 1950s and 1960s no one lived in these houses in the peak of the summer heat. 

Secondly... something unwanted... most of the walls were filled with historic remnants of bugs and their byproducts, including lots of sand (we assume from ants), desert cricket poop, cockroach waste, and black widow spider eggs.

The combination of no insulation and unwanted treasures lead us to open all exterior walls in preparation for air-tight (and bug-tight) spray foam insulation (more on that later).

Gross

An extraordinary amount of desert cricket poop

Sand inches thick from ants

Grass was attempting to grow in the wall at some point