Attic Update

Originally I had hoped to have the attic done (or nearly done) by Christmas - HA!  We seem to always underestimate the amount of time it will actually take to complete things.  I need to remember that we all have full-time jobs, & I have a part-time job.  When you only have a couple of hours a few nights a week, things tend to not happen very quickly!

Throw the holidays into the mix...plus a 4 year old that is very well-behaved (most of the time), but needs to be right in the middle of everything...

We did get the chimney leak under control until we can get up on the roof & check out the flashing.  We tore off all of the drywall around the chimney, dried it out & foamed & caulked around the chimney, then replaced all of the insulation & drywall.  Hopefully we won't have to worry about that anymore...

Now we're back to mudding & sanding the bedroom & closets.  I thought taping & mudding was an unfun job before...now, with all of these angles & corners, I'm realizing that it's right up there with stripping paint...almost intolerable.  :)

We should finish up mudding the bedroom & closets this week.  They "should" be ready to prime and paint next week.  Then we'll move all of the tools & furniture into the bedroom & focus on the landing. 

My old softball coach used to tell us, "Inch by inch it's a cinch...yard by yard it's hard".  He'd be happy that we're moving inch by inch.  Me, on the other hand, I wish we could take it by the yard!  I'm so impatient!

We're off to Omaha this weekend to celebrate Christmas with Eli's family.  I'm crossing my fingers that my awesome father will feel like doing some sanding while we're away.  Wouldn't it be nice to come home to a ready-to-paint room?!?  Dad???  :)

Attic Update: LEAK...

Dad & I have been steadily chipping away at taping & mudding the attic for the past week.  We were cruising right along last night when we came to this innocent looking wall.

Then, dad noticed that the floor was wet in that bottom left corner of the picture. 

After searching both sides of the wall for the source, we figure that it's coming in somewhere next to the chimney, then running down the sloped wall & out to the floor in that corner.  We've had some crazy cold weather & the temps were a little bit higher yesterday than they have been, so we're thinking somehow some condensation is getting in there.  It doesn't leak when it rains, so we're pretty sure it isn't a leak in the roof.  Anyway, we're going to have to tear out a couple of pieces of sheetrock & all of the insulation in that area to get to the bottom of it.  Lame.

But, because I'm all about finding silver linings...the good news it that it's the only spot in the attic that's having issues...we can keep taping & mudding the rest of the space!

Speaking of that space (& to end this post on a happy note) here are a couple more progress pictures.

I'm hoping to have it ready to prime & paint around Christmas.  Cross your fingers we can get this moisture issue figured out soon.  If any of you have ideas or suggestions, please let me know!