Insulation: DIY Project #2

When we set out on this crazy adventure and massive project, I told Adam that I wanted to learn as much as possible and consequently also get my hands as dirty as possible. I had visions of following around subcontractors learning how to do a little bit of everything so that I could become "little miss handy." Turns out, although Nicole Curtis from Rehab Addict does it all the time, the subs don't exactly enjoy some little blonde girl bothering them on the job hehe. Luckily, there were plenty of other projects for us to dive into....

Growing up, I was my father's only child and thus, at times, was expected to play the dual role of daughter and son. My dad is a very handy man and so any school project of mine usually involved building something. As a child, I quickly learned that you should measure twice and cut once, sawdust in the eyes is a bad thing, and power tools give a great adrenaline rush but are something that require great focus and know how. I loved the satisfaction that came with being able to say "I made that" and knew that I wanted to be able to say that about our future home. 

In the previous post, you saw us begin to tackle the low voltage wiring (stay tuned for a future post on round two of that project). Since then, we have also completed our second DIY project. Upon returning home from our Chicago vacation on June 23rd, a lot of progress had been made on the house. The exterior insulation had been completed, some of the siding was up, and the drywall was set to begin the following week. This meant that our second DIY project of putting in the interior wall insulation needed to happen ASAP so that we did not hold up the drywall. Unfortunately, on our flight back from Chicago, Adam got a case of acute vertigo (BPPV) which he had never had before and spent the next few days lying in bed and throwing up. After about three days and some

vestibular PT from our friend Josh Smith (thanks Josh!),  Adam was at least able to tolerate standing up and going to the property. What he could not tolerate was looking up or any excessive head movement which meant that the interior insulation would be my job. Fortunately, we decided only to do a few select walls including the master bedroom, and front bedroom. The other room is separated by a hallway and closets so we did not feel the need to insulate those walls. We purchased the insulation at home depot where we learned an extremely valuable tip: if you rub baby oil on your arms/hands/neck, the fiberglass will not stick to you (brilliant - I still used gloves though too). We also referenced You Tube for tips on cutting around for outlets and wiring. It turns out that insulation cuts fairly easily with a bread knife so I simply measured where each outlet or wire was and cut it out on the insulation then nestled the wire into the slot or pulled out some of the insulation for the electrical box to fit into. It took two nights and a ton of staples but I was able to get all desired interior walls insulated in time for the drywall team.

We also had to re-run one of our low voltage wires: the one that ran from the box to the ground bar in the garage. While we were gone, the house had already been fireproofed (a fire proof foam was sprayed into all of the holes drilled by the electrical and plumbing, and us). This meant trying to wiggle the cable that we needed to remove loose and then sliding the other one into place. Fortunately this was not as difficult as we thought and I was able to remove the original cable that was too short and run a new, longer one. However, with Adam out of commission, it took twice as long but did get completed on time.

Like I mentioned before, while we were gone, there was a lot of progress made on the house. The exterior wall insulation was installed, the siding is now almost complete, the fireproofing was done, and the interior fireplace was installed. It is amazing how fast this process is moving now!

Siding is almost finished and ready for paint

Fireproofing (the orange foam fills the holes that were drilled to prevent a fire from spreading through the spaces and throughout the home

Exterior wall insulation. The ceiling/attic will be blown in.

I trash picked this AMAZING fabric from someone's curbside. Not sure what I will do with it yet but I had to have it since it is from one of my all time favorite rooms ever! See below) 

One of my favorite rooms ever from Southern Living. The fabric I found is used on the chairs.

The finished product of our first DIY project - low voltage wiring - up next...