Taping and Mudding

Well, it certainly has been awhile since I posted. As it stands right now, I'm still taping and mudding. Between learning how to do it, only working on weekends and being interrupted to take care of yard work and such, it's been a slow going process.

I've come to learn that there are two approaches to doing taping and mudding (plastering). One method is to get the stuff on there as quickly as possible and then sand like crazy. The other method is to take your time and apply the plaster as thinly as possible, gradually building up the wall surface. While this takes more time, the end result requires a lot less sanding. So far, my results are coming out quite nicely and I don't see myself standing in a cloud of drywall dust in the near future.

The drywall compound that I'm using is a pre-mix variety that has dust control propertires (http://www.cgcinc.com/home.asp?nav=291&mkt=30&bc=165.291). So hopefully, when it comes time to start sanding, however little it may be, the dust won't be out of control.

Here's a few tips:

1. Thin down the mud with water. A consistency of soft ice cream works really well. You want the mud to flow into the depressions when you run the knife over it and not pull itself back out as thick mud would. I'll probably thin the mud even more when I get to the very final coats.
2. Get three different sizes of knives. I'm using 4.5, 10, and 12 inch knives. If you understand the geometry, you'll understand why you need the larger knife. I suppose you could just use the 4.5 inch but it would be more work to get the smooth results.
3. Wetting the paper tape and knives with water gives a smoother stroke.

That's all for now...

Drywall's Complete!

I finished the last of the drywall yesterday. It was down to those little pieces around bulkheads and such.

Here's some pictures:

The front of the theatre where the screen will go. I placed drywall behind the screen so that it can be painted flat black to eliminate any reflections that may come through the weave of the acoustically transparent fabric.

Looking towards the back of the theatre from the left (top) and centre (bottom). The front of the bar is visible in the back.

Behind the front of the bar. I didn't need to complete all of the drywall because the exposed framing will be hidden by cabinets. I sound-proofed the left corner of the bar to reduce noise coming from the compact refrigerator that will be placed there.

Fitness room.

Next, I'll begin installing corner bead and then start taping and mudding.

Best invention... ever....

Ok, I know I haven't posted in awhile. It's been pretty non-stop getting the remainder of the drywall done. During the two week break over Christmas, I was able to hang all of the large pieces of drywall. I tell you, a drywall lift is the best invention ever. I was able to lift these 60-pound sheets of drywall to the ceiling in seconds. It also allowed me to place the sheets horizontally on the walls instead of vertically. With vertically placed drywall, while easier to install, is a bit more awkward to finish with taping. With vertical 8-foot seams, smoothing the mud will require a long up and down motion which would make it difficult to control the taping knife. Horizontally placed drywall yields long horizontal seams that can be smoothed by walking along the wall. The vertical seams won't be taller than 4 feet.

Now, I've been busy taking care of all the little pieces around bulkheads and columns (chases). I also built the front wall of the bar. The bar will be made of RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets which, when covered with a laminate counter top, will give a standard 36 inch high work surface. The front wall will be 42 inches high when capped with laminate counter top.

Another weekend or so and then I'll be able to clean up the basement and get some pictures taken. Then, I have to install corner bead and start taping.

Soft and cozy and quiet...

The sound-proofing insulation is done! I used Roxul Safe 'n Sound. That stuff is really easy to work with. It's light and cuts easy with a utility knife. It comes in pieces 48x15.5x3 inches in size which fits standard 16 inch framing which is why it's important to stick to standard framing methods and not just slap the lumber up any old way.

I ordered the drywall today for delivery next Saturday. In the meantime, here's some pictures:

Wiring Done!

After 500 feet of 12-gauge speaker wire, 200 feet of CAT-5, 200 feet of microphone cable, 80 feet of HDMI, and over 500 feet of electrical cable, I can finally say I'm finished with the wiring. The speaker wire includes the wires up to the plant shelf near the ceiling in the kitchen and rough-ins for speakers in the backyard. Of course, with that much wire, now I've got an antenna capable of picking up signals from the Andromeda galaxy.

Next step is to start installing soundproofing insulation in the wall and ceiling spaces around the home theatre. This will reduce any reverberation from the audio system and reduce noise from the drain pipes from upstairs.

More wiring...

Another weekend spent installing wires. This time, while waiting for delivery of another 250 feet of speaker wire, I went ahead and started installing the rough-ins for the temperature and humidity sensors and microphones on the main level. I also drilled another hole through the outer wall of the house but this time in the rear wall. I attached a weather-proof enclosure to the hole on the outside in which I'll install terminals for outdoor speakers and temperature and humidity sensors. (I'll drill small holes to allow some air to pass through.)

A few pictures...

The projector screen wall with wires for left, centre, right speakers and subwoofer.

Bundle of wires running from the utility room. They include speaker wires, CAT-5 for the sensors, and microphone cables.


The rough-in for temperature and light sensor (on left) and the microphone installed in the kitchen. These microphones were designed originally to be used for conference rooms and are sensitive to human vocal frequencies which makes them ideal for voice recognition applications. For the temperature and ambient light sensor, I'll drill tiny holes in the plate and install the sensors in the wall behind it.

In a million years....

...mining prospectors will find a huge copper deposit where my house was. While I still have a few things left to do in the electrical portions I decided to begin working on the home theatre wiring. (I ran out of electrical cable staples and decided to switch gears rather than go out in the rain for a box of staples). The 40-foot HDMI cable for the projector was just the right length with enough slack on either end. I also ran the wiring for the surround sound speakers (front-left, front-right, centre, surround-left, surround-right and subwoofer) and the 2 speakers in the exercise room, all totalling 350 feet of 12 gauge speaker wire. The reason why so much wire was used is that the audio receiver/amplifier is not in the home theatre room itself, but in the utility room. I ordered more speaker wire so I can install speakers up on the plant shelf in the kitchen and rough-in for weather-proof speakers in the back yard for when I build the deck.

I also ordered another 40-foot HDMI cable for the LCD display in the exercise room so I can watch the news when I workout. And since the display will be wall mounted, I also ordered an HDMI wall plate so that the 40-foot cable can install to the plate inside the wall. The plate then provides a clean, professional looking interface point to plug in the display.