Well this is a fine mess I’ve gotten me into! Obviously I had some misconceptions. I tend to be too optimistic, and again, have
fallen into that same line of thinking.
In going through my plan of action, (see above) I’ve
discovered more work than I originally thought.
Apparently, there was more left undone, than I or my husband originally
understood. I guess you could say my
schema has had some tuning, and I now have a new restructuring altogether. I expect that this is just the
beginning. In my mental image, I saw
myself merely moving furniture out of the way, screwing in drywall as I had
seen my husband and others do, and then learning how to mud the seams. Hmph!
I apparently only saw what I wanted to see, because there was a large
roll of carpet from the left over we had, rolled up at the base of the wall, as well as an imperfectly level ceiling, and walls, as well as unfinished insulation. I will need to cut the carpet. I will also have to install insulation. And I will need to really think out my cuts of drywall.
Additionally, my assistant/mentor is unavailable most of the
time, so I am really on my own. That was
also, not how I had it planned. I’ve
watched people add insulation, and am now having to review this on Youtube DIY
sites as well. That will have to be my new mentor.
The wall is a replacement of an original wall that was
removed to create a larger master bedroom and a smaller living room. So this has no drywall on the living room
side, and no insulation.
After watching the video, I see that caulk should be added between
the frame wall and the floor. I don’t
know if this was originally planned by my husband, but I’m happy to offer a
helpful tip from my research and video viewing.
Pre-cut bats are the rolled up pink insulation that are manufactured
so that it meets typical framing. So
this is the type of insulation I’m adding in.
“Blow-in” insulation is the same fiber but loose and done through the
ceiling into the spaces between the studs of the framing. I’m glad I have the pre-cut bats, as installation
is easier to install this way, and should be much quicker than I had
thought. Ah, another tuning in my accretion. Thankfully this one goes to my benefit this
time.
So I will install the insulation and cut the carpet tonight,
and perhaps get to actually drill some screws into drywall.
To install the insulation, I will need long sleeves and
gloves, as the fiberglass is incredibly itchy and can cause a rash if it gets
into your skin. I’m following this DIY
video:
I will have to cut the insulation to fit around an electrical
box. Luckily, I have no exterior walls
to deal with, which would require a whole lot more manipulating the material. I’m glad I watched, as I had already played
with the insulation to see how hard it was and assumed, (yes I know how to
spell ass-u-me and what it means) that I could just stuff in the extra without
stopping to cut it. I learned that this
is a bad idea and actually cuts down on both the temperature protection of
insulation and sound protection as well.
I then take my staple gun and staple the edging every 18
inches or so going down the stud of the framed wall. I had to take a little time to learn how to
use the staple gun as well. There are
many new skills I’m learning in this process.
I’ve supplemented my thinking, as I’ve used staplers before.
Without that knowledge I’d have lost a lot of time learning
this new tool. Jerome Bruner’s theory, a
sort of “supplemented” adjustment of Piaget’s theory, postulated that thinking
isn’t developed by replacing old thoughts with new ideas, but by building on
existing ones, and growing them into something more sophisticated. I think this is a good example of that.
Okay, that is now done and looks like this:
Now to cut the carpet:
I have measured the back side of the carpet and marked a
line of where I will cut.
According to the videos, linear patterns you can freehand
and cut from the carpet side. I don’t
have that luxury and the carpet is very thick, so that wouldn’t work for
me. I’m going to leave 3 extra inches. Cutting too short would be disastrous.
I don’t need to cut exactly or a hook knife to tuck it in because
I’m adding baseboard later.
The video is promoting the use of a hand trimmer! That looks so cool to cut it so quickly! I guess I’ll get better with practice until
there’s automaticity, but until then, it’s measure twice cut once in little
tiny slices until I get better.
After the carpet is cut and cleared, I then start measuring
for the drywall.
I marked on the ceiling where the studs of the wall met so
that when it was covered with drywall board I would still know where to drive
the screws.
I had to measure the wall, ceiling to floor, making sure I
measured from under the carpet pad, as that is where the drywall is screwed
from the bottom. I measured the drywall,
and I added an extra quarter of an inch total, which in retrospect I should
probably have kept it at 92 1/2”, but I was afraid it wouldn’t quite
reach. I found out later that I could
add little a wood to the bottom if it didn’t quite reach. I guess some things
need to be learned at the point my understanding of the entire situation would
allow it. I would not have had, as
Piaget theorizes, a disequilibrium, and my mind would have had no reason to try
to regain its balance and accommodate the new information.
I measured the drywall from top to bottom, marking an arrow
(>) at the exact point of 92 ¾” at about 6 inches from both side edges. The top was the factory edge, and the sides
were beveled and tapered. The bottom was
my rough edge cut. This is okay because
it will be covered by the baseboards. Then,
with a straight edge, I drew a line connecting the apex of the arrows to the
edge of the drywall. It was then that I
took a box knife, and “scored” the line, two or three times. I tapped from the underside of the drywall,
and pressed down from the top, and “pop”!
It broke apart perfectly on the score.
We had to tap it into place with a 2x4 or other board and a hammer. This allows me to place uniform pressure to a
larger area. It fit, but it was really
tight. It had to fit so that the edges
of the drywall could be screwed into the 2x4 studs of the framed wall. If it was not on it precisely, there would
nothing to anchor the drywall to. It
also could be a problem it the drywall went over the stud too far, as there was
then nothing for the next drywall piece to anchor to.
I also had to take care to not go down too
deep, as it would cause the edge of the drywall to pucker out, and upset the
flush edge of the drywall. That makes it
more difficult to line up the next piece. Going too deep also adds more work later, as I’d
have to level the dents out with “mud”. This
thought process is an example of my formal operational stage according to
Piaget. I can make logical predictions
and make deductive presumptions that I couldn’t make as a young child.
The drill with the hammer action was much better than the
other drill I had that didn’t. It kept
stripping the screws. This new drill was
a real time saver. Also the screws are
not the black drywall ones, as they will rust, so I got brass screws that had
the same size and caliber so I could avoid rust spots that bleed through years
later. This was per the advice of my
husband, and supported by others I asked.
Now is where the markings on the ceiling and floor were so
useful. I just lined up the screws every
18 inches or so, with those markings.
This allowed me to hit the stud underneath the drywall without having to
pull it up to look.
I’m a pretty logical gal, I thought. This is project is now an area that is more foreign
to me, but it originally looked familiar, so I assumed a lot. It’s interested to notice my own naïve theories
and discover that my concept of this topic was pretty fuzzy, as there was a
good deal of tacit knowledge and situated cognition my husband and friends
have, but they cannot easily explain to me how to do things. My slow going is due to my having to learn it
without the benefit of that prior knowledge.
I have also discovered this sort of pseudo teaching happening in a class
I teach where there are guest speakers who are very knowledgeable in their
field, (teaching about healthy relationships) but really have no idea how to
communicate that to my students. I find
it frustrating that though these presenters are very well versed in psychology,
they have not experienced transfer of that knowledge into a usable skill. They know and understand the limitations of
my students based on their ages, genders, cultures and general profile, but are
failing miserably in getting them to pay attention, become engaged, or even
converse about the topic effectively.
Well tune in next time for the finishing of the drywall
hanging, and the beginning of the taping and mudding. It’s getting good!
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