House Day 58 - Blueboard and Veneer Plaster

Our house is attracting attention. Here the Goodyear Blimp stopped to inspect our roof. I am not kidding - they stopped - waved - and gave me thumbs up.

I was surprised then they started drywalling with this dark blue/gray material. It has a rough texture - and it seemed harder and heavier than regular drywall. I also wondered what the 80 bags of plaster on the back porch was for. I found out today Our house has been blue boarded instead of drywalled.

Bedroom 3 is in the SW corner of the house. Each bedroom has 4 corner windows.

Blueboard is a product that is replacing drywall in many cases. Mainly it costs less for labor to apply it. There are feeing steps and no sanding required. With blueboard - you hang the sheets on the wall with the blue side out. Then you tape and plaster the joint lines. Next you plaster the joint line. The night away you can put the final coat of veneer plaster on the wall. It does not need to be sanded - it is read for paint. Some people mix the paint right in the plaster to eliminated another step. You could also just leave the white plastered walls exposed.

This process leaves a much harder wall. the blue board is more water resistant. The plastic is essentially concrete and it is more resistant to dents. It is much easier to repair a hole - and the final repair is hard to notice.

The company that did our walls is Tony Williams Drywall. Two crews came to visit. First the sheet hangers and their holstered dry wall screw drills. It took them two day to hang all the dry wall. They did the 20 x 60 x 10 attic in about 3 hours. It was basically just suing full sheets.

Next the mudmen came with their stilts on. Our ceilings are 10 feet high and their stilts looked about 3 feet high. This way they could use both hands for plastering. The mudmen worked from 2 PM to 5 PM. At quitting time it was like a LeMans start - all the workers running to their cars and driving out on the street.

Click pictures to enlarge -

Gary loves to join in the action - here he is working under the steps. 

Gary Wayne was cutting the Hardiboard trim. The the exposed wood on the house is Hardiboard. It is like sticks of concrete - it really eats up saw blades. Notice Gary Wayne uses a mask when cutting this stuff. No use getting Miner's Asthma - in this case "white lung."

All of this beautiful insulation is covered up now. Hidden beauty. 

The drywallers were hanging 12 x 4 feet sheets. It is a lot harder than it looks - try it sometime.

This is a panorama shot of bedroom 2. I wanted you to see all 4 windows. 

The HVAC system is a work of art - now it is covered by drywall - with a little cubby hole door to service it

Lulu's kitchen looks like this. The frig goes behind that left wall. On the right is the door to a big pantry.

This is the gas fireplace form the dining room side. That is the front door on the right. 

This is the living room facing Seminole Drive.

Bedroom 2 and its tall closet.

This is the master bedroom after it received the veneer plaster coat.

Plastering is work of art. then try is on 3 foot stilts. 

This is the laundry room with just the joints mudded.

At 5 PM - the workers left - this plaster was left - still soft. tomorrow it will be a rock. 

The attic is one big room - 20 x 60 x 10. All that beautiful white foamy insulation is behind those wall. The HVAC unit is behind the left wall. This picture is looking north.

This is the attic in the other direction - looking south. The steps are behind those knee walls. 

Day 57 - Siding and Drywall Started

Gary Wayne and Josh started applying the Nichiboard siding on the front porch. This product is made of concrete - it is as tough as nails to cut. We use many new blades and face masks to cut it. It comes in 12 foot planks that are 8 inches wide - they overlap each other by an inch. In Florida - it is not a good idea to use wood siding - our present home has wood siding. 

The drywall hangers started today. They completed about 80% of the main floor. Tomorrow they will be doing the attic. It is a shame to cover up this HVAC system. It is a work of art. Tomorrow it will be hidden behind a 60 x 10 foot wall. There will be a small service door.

This is the drywall ceiling above the master bedroom. The drywall hangers are using 4 x 12 foot sheets. They panels are attached with drywall screws. This area will be hidden tomorrow by a 10 x 60 foot attic wall. Tomorrow I will do a full video of the hung drywall - before the tape and mud are applied. 

The roof is covered by open cell foam. We used SucraSeal - a product made in Sugerland TX. Yes it is a derivative of sugar. It uses water not poison gasses to produce the bubbles. It reminds me of an igloo. It is up to 12 inches thick on the roof - with an R5 value for each inch. This will all be hidden tomorrow by a 20 by 60 foot drywall ceiling. I was sitting up in the attic today in silence - getting melancholy for my insulation  :-)  As a science teacher - I always promoted insulation as an energy saver. It is super quiet up there. It would make an excellent sound recording studio.

In the attic - the wall on the left is where the attic will end. Gary Wayne and Josh - screwed down several sheets of ¾ inch plywood to act as a safety walk. It also will be a great place for storage bins. 

Day 56 - Insulation Done - Doors On - Porch Ceiling Stained and Varnished - House Locked Up

It was a busy day. The insulation crew was busy spraying the attic. We had contracted for 6 inches of open cell foam insulation - but in many of the places - the foam is about one foot thick. It reminds me of a meat locker. This is the most energy efficient insulation on the market. Two added features are that it is very quiet and very clean. 

The painters were busy staining and varnishing the porch ceilings. 

The doors were hung and temporary locks were installed. Door exterior trim was also installed. 

The tile man came and was doing measurements. 

We picked up the hardwood for the floor at Lumber Luquidators. It took two pick up trucks and a trailer to bring it home. We stored the hardwood in out metal garage. 

Tomorrow the drywall crew comes to do the walls. 

The front of the house is ready for siding. 

The painters worked in tandem to put on the ceiling varnish.

We used a new open cell foam called SucraSeal. It is energy efficient - it uses water to created the foam not harmful gases. Yes - it is a by product of sugar - very green.

Reading for the siding. 

Day 55 - Gary's 58th Birthday - Staining The Porch Ceilings - Roof Insulation - Keystones for the Windows

Gary is boxing in the porch beams.

Monday - Happy Birthday to Gary. He is 58 today. After 20 years of using the same truck - he got a brand new white Ford F150. Pictures later. 

It was a bustling day today. It started out with Josh and Gary Wayne doing the outside window treatment. The window frames are mainly a Hardiboard  - a cornice - and a big Pennsylvania Keystone above each of the 28 windows.  While that was going on - Joe and Gary were boxing in the beams on the front and back porch. As you can see - we were able to re-cycle the ends of the porch's 10 foot ceiling beach boards. We turned them over - bead board side hidden - and nailed them up.

Friday - I have been looking forward to insulation day since the day we started the project. Today they did the walls of the house - Monday they will do the roof. 

They started the insulation in the master bedroom.

I love this product - Icynene - Open Cell Foam Insulation.

They spray the liquid polystyrene. The other chemical foams it up to fill in all the cavities. Then they slice off the excess.

When we first planned the house - we were considering doing it in Insulated Concrete Foam - ICF. That was where they piled these big styrofoam blocks and then pumped concrete down inside the blocks. Since there were a limited number of builders that used that construction method - we chose to build a conventional "stick built" house. But we still preferred open cell foam insulation. When we built our guest house - we hired All Weather Insulation to spray insulate it. We liked it so much decided to do it again. 

Liquid Spray Insulation is officially call Open Cell Foam Insulation. SPF is an acronym for Spray Polyurethane Foam.  SPF is a microcellular plastic (micro-cells or bubbles in a rigid or semi-rigid plastic) made from two chemical components that when mixed together create a chemical reaction and form SPF.  The History Channel recently documented spray polyurethane foam as one of its Modern Marvels and calls polyurethane foam the “secret weapon in the war on energy consumption” as well as the “super-insulator of insulation products”. Before I retired I was a science teacher. I always stress energy conservation and home insulation is one of the big energy savers. When Lulu and I build our chalet in 1973 - We bought styrofoam sheets and put together a "arctic pack roof" that was a 5 inch thick sandwich of wood and insulation - like an Oreo cookie.

Spray Foam is more expensive than fiberglass batts. But Spray Foam has a higher R value. It also seals cracks as it is installed. 

The walls have 5 layers - 

1. Hardi board siding -  .15 - R value
2. Tyvek plastic sheeting - 2  - R value (they claim it adds R value by stopping air leakage)
3. ¾ Inch plywood wall - .94 - R value
4. 4 Inches of spray foam - 20 - R value
5. Drywall - .45 - R Value

Total - 23.54 R Value of Walls

The roof has 5 layers - 

1. Asphalt shingles -  .44 - R value
2. Titanium UDL - 2  - R value (they claim it adds R value by stopping air leakage)
3. ¾ Inch plywood wall - .94 - R value
4. 6 Inches of spray foam - 30 - R value
5. Drywall - .45 - R Value

Total - 33.82  R Value of Roof

The insulation job will be completed Monday.

Keystone Work - Gary Wayne and Josh did the external window trim on 16 windows on the front and back. The window trim is constructed of hardi concrete boards that are ¾ inches thick. On the cornice of each window is a keystone - the nickname and symbol of Pennsylvania - The Keystone State. In the original 13 colonies - Pennsylvania was the 7th state from either end. A map of the 13 states looked like the arch above a window - with Pennsylvania even bearing the shape of a keystone.

Since Lulu and I were born and lived in Pennsylvania for 50 years - it would be a neat reminder on the new house of our roots.

Icynene is the brand of Open Cell Foam we are suing.

The master bedroom completely insulated.

They have plastic on the attic floor for when they insulation the roof Monday.

The cornice over each window is made of several layers of concrete Hardiboard. Hardiboard saws very evenly but it is hard on saw blades.

Pennsylvania is called The Keystone State. Each window has a keystone above it. The window trim will be painted white.

This the latest picture of the back porch - the house is 50% done today.

This picture was taken at 5 PM today. On Day 54 we are 50% done.

Bead Boarding Porch Ceilings - Day 52

Wednesday - Our new home has two long porches - each 10 feet wide and 60 feet long. Each porch roof is supported by six 10 inch by 10 inch fiberglass and steel columns. The large ceiling is an excellent place for Shiver Construction to add some of their signature finish work. To do this we chose 1 inch by 6 inch pine bead board planks. Each plank was 10 feet long so that there would be no joints. 

Gary did most of the saw work while Josh Wells and Gary Wayne did the fitting and nailing. The pine bead boards will be stained a medium oak color - to match the front and rear doors. The ceilings will then be clear-coated. The 5 recessed LED lights will finish off the entry area. There are only 2 doors on this home - they will be unlocked by digital keypads. They can be set to automatically lock after an interval of time. That way the doors are always locked. The doors can also be opened with a master key. 

They ran the front porch today and after a 60 foot run of 6 wide inch boards - the last board was as perfectly on square as the first one. The boards are from Scotch Gulf Lumber

In the attic there will be access to the top of the porch ceiling. The top is almost as pretty as the exposed bottom. 

A few years ago - there was a big scandal with drywall from China. In China - they are allowed to use fillers that would be considered cancerous here. All of our drywall was made by National Gypsum on 9/23/13. It is one month old today.

Lulu met with Kevin Rodgers today. His cabinet shop is down on Woodville Highway - just south of town. Kevin will make all of Lulu's cabinets from scratch. The bathrooms - kitchen - and laundry cabinets will be Everhart Originals. Kevin makes all of the cabinets in Shiver Homes.

The attic drywall is ready and waiting for the foam spray insulation to be installed Monday. They had to bring the 12 foot drywall sheets in through the window because they would never make the turns in the steps. "They came in thru the attic window."

Day 53 - Back Porch Ceiling

Thursday - Gary Wayne and Josh - completed the porch ceilings with bead board. All that is left to close the house in are the fascias and soffits. the doors are ready for installation. 

Lulu wanted a different fireplace. The one we had was a Heatilator with glass on both sides. It was designed for primary heating. The main thing that bugged Lulu is that it had glass on both sides. It wasn't like looking thru a real fire - she said. So today we pulled out the Heatilator and put in this unit. It is basically a metal box to prevent a house fire - The gas logs will be in the middle - and a small person could crawl through it. It does have mesh screens that can be opened or closed.

The siding is arrived and is called Nichiboard. It is made of concrete - like Hardiboard - but it has a deep cedar pattern in it. It has more of a 3D effect. The planks are 8 inches high and 12 feet long. They will be installed in a lap joint pattern. This stuff is fireproof and reduces your insurance costs. In Florida - with its sun - humidity - bugs - fungi - algae - is a terrible place to use exposed wood on the outside of the house. The only exposed wood we will have is the bead board on the porch ceilings. The sun and rain won't get it there.

The 8 foot tall back door arrived. Both doors are fiberglass.

This Mission Style 8 foot front door arrived. Both doors will have Schlage Digital Locks on them. The doors will open by pressing in a 4 digit code. The door automatically locks - so no worry about leaving the home open when you go on a trip.

Day 51 - Rain Day and Drywall Delivery

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One man delivered 60 sheets of plywood to the attic all by himself. We wanted that drywall delivered before the final window was installed.

Tuesday - We just got the shingles on yesterday - today mother nature delivered some rain to test the roof. A steady much needed rain fell all day.

The rain did not stop the drywall delivery. One fellow delivered 60 sheets of 4 feet by 12 feet drywall. They were too long to go up the steps - but we had planned to take them in through the attic window anyway. We made sure the drywall was American made - not of that tainted China stuff.

The 12 foot long sheets of drywall are both bulky and heavy. But it was surprising how easily the delivery man could control the crane with a remote control. It reminded me of two space capsules docking.

Once inside the window - the sheets were easily slid onto a cart and taken to the middle of the room. 

The attic is 10 x 20 x 60 feet. After the liquid foam insulation is sprayed on - the drywall will be hung. The attic will be mostly for storage - we will just put a coat of paint on the 3/4 inch thick plywood floor - the is the extent of the decoration up there.  The lighting will be from 4 standard light fixtures with LED bulbs - nothing fancy. 

Under the attic eaves are the HVAC system and the multi-media box. All wires - ducts - and pipes are routed through the 18-inch high space between the attic floor and the main floor ceiling. the drywall will mainly hide and protect the hardware. 

No work was done today except I took a couple of hours to run the vacuum cleaner.