Safe and Sound Bathroom

Christian has insulated the main bathroom walls with highly endorsed Roxul "Safe and Sound" ($40.00 at Home Depot) insulation which will contain sounds from the adjoining bedrooms while being fireproof. A layer of 6 mil plastic has been stapled over the ceiling and walls of the tub surround with silicone sealing it around the tub for waterproofing.

Although the shower niche was positioned, it was removed to be added after the Wonderboard and some tiles are installed in order to line up precisely with tile grout lines. Stud lines are drawn on the Wonderboard.

Insulating the Ceilings

Five rooms upstairs in Christian's farmhouse have their plaster ceilings removed and recessed lights as well as fans in the bathrooms have been installed. This week Christian is finishing up the "Roxul" insulation which is two layers of 2" X 4" bats in two bedrooms with deep enough joists (single; 2" X 6" in the others). It is reassuring to know that this insulation is fireproof and mold resistant now!

Two of the larger bedrooms have LED recessed lights which are a terrific addition in such an old house.

 

Salvaging an Old Door

I found this old door stored in the mudroom behind an old exterior door. We plan to gut the china closet in Christian's dining room of very damaged plaster walls, hang sheet rock, install shelves and frame in this door that I stripped. It is missing the old thumb latch on the handle but I'll get one from ebay.

This room will remain just stripped or scraped of some paint and scrubbed clean since Christian and two others will move in this summer. The style will be like this farmhouse in Shropshire, Wales I hope.

(Images via Pinterest and Vogue, by Francois Halard.)

Laying a Subfloor on Old Beams

Since it turned quite cold again and will snow while we lay subfloors in part of Christian's farmhouse, I helped off-load the extremely thick plywood boards individually into the garage barn from the delivery truck. Bill and Christian have been installing them at night after work, with a fire going in the wood stove. This weekend we will finish the work.

The 1 1/8" tongue and groove plywood boards are installed with a bead of "Locktite PL 3X Premium" caulk from "Home Depot" (chemically rubber based for expansion) laid down first on the beam joists to prevent any squeaking after installation. Christian got 3" deck screws to go into the massive cherry wood beams every 4" and caulk is applied to the tongue of each board.

Underneath, the new crawlspace is now home to the new air handler...gorgeous!

Upgrading Old Drainage

The kitchen of Christian's old farmhouse was a newer addition and has it's own drainage, but while the front porch floor is open and excavated, a new PVC pipe has been installed to tie the kitchen to the rest of the house's drainage system. A pump will be added since there is a slight pipe upgrade through the porch and the old beam here has been "sistered" with two 2" X 4" boards; leveled for the new floor. Brilliant.

This summer, Christian plans to pull up the center of the kitchen floor and dig out a deeper crawl space which will have a cement floor poured. Here we go again.