Reno Day 69

I whipped out the calendar and counted from January 7th, the day we started to tear down the knotty pine purgatory, until today, March 16th. That puts us at 69 days into the reno from hell. We are progressing, however, it is never quick enough, and we are both starting to feel the drudgery of it all.

My hands looks like a construction workers' and I am tired. During this work, I have worn through a pair of leather gloves, have callouses on the TOPS of my feet where my work shoes bend, shredded 2 pairs of jeans, nearly electrocuted myself once, hit myself with a crowbar in the neck (don't ask for details), nearly taken off several fingers with a reciprocating saw, (again, don't ask), and have been generally in a perpetual funk, saying obtuse things like, "time to make the donuts" in reference to the Dunkin' Donuts ad, which if you recall, (how could you forget?), the employee was saturated by...making donuts. That pretty much sums up how I feel.

Eric is also tired and fed up. Living in a house during a major renovation takes patience, industrial doses, I might add. He wears an ice pack on his elbow held in place with an Ace bandage as a permanent measure because of the tendinitis in his elbow. He is currently on a 2 week vacation, which he refers to as his "construction holiday", or "another 2 weeks down the hole" depending on how bad things get. We both have so many splinters that we have learned to ignore them. We go to bed exhausted and sore, and wake up exhausted and sore. My right hand cramps up into a permanent I-want-to-hold-a-hammer-or-crowbar pose.

On the bright side, the upstairs isn't just warm. It is UNREAL just how toasty it is up there. Seriously, we went from -3 to about 22 degrees, and it's still cold outside. When the rooms are finally finished with Gyproc, I joke that we will be able to heat with a light bulb.

Today we moved the guest room bed from the former guest room to the new guest room. The room is far from finished, but we are having guests staying over this weekend, and we warned them they were staying in a rustic room, as in 2x4 rustic:

Since the photo below was taken, Eric finished the insulation and put up the vapour barrier. We didn't use Ayr-Foil this time, but found a tougher product that proved easier to install. We are calling the guest room the Disco Room because it looks a bit...retro...with the foil vapour barrier. All that's missing is the mirror ball in the middle of the room. (And because I lost my duel and Eric put up an outlet in the middle of the ceiling, it could be a possibility!)

The photo below shows the opposite end of the same wall; I pulled off the knotty pine, the vapour barrier, the Tentest, the vertical wooden boards, and this is what we are left with (once I clean!):

This wall is now ready for the studs and insulation, and then we'll have another full wall complete.

This is what the wall looked like behind the baseboard heater; the pine doesn't even go down to the floor. Craftsmanship? What craftsmanship? There was also varnish dripped all over the heaters from when the floors were done, and this has been bugging me for years. I am happy to see these baseboards go to the metal recyclers. Ecstatic, in fact.

I read an article recently that said you should move out of your house during a major renovation. Get real. The wusses can rent a hotel room, but I'm staying in the trenches, dust and all. Pass me the crowbar. I've got another wall to tear down.