Home Improvements

We have the hottest townhouse in Mililani. Part of the problem, I’m sure, is the single wall construction. The walls have no insulation in them and the ceiling is just plywood with shingles covering it. So as the days get hotter the heat soaks into the house and stays there. It was usually hotter inside than out. So...last summer Sam and I had a bright idea. We could just frame in the ceiling in the living/dining room area and put insulation in. It sounded easy enough. The ceiling is open beam construction, so Sam framed in between the beams and we put in a drop ceiling. We used tarp foil insulation (which they claim works better than the pink stuff) and put up sheetrock. The worst part was the 16' cathedral ceiling in the living room. It was a 3 month ordeal that took us to our limits. That was in our first year of marriage and it's amazing that we made through. It was a horrible experience, but it seemed worth it once we got it done. The ceiling looks great and it decreased the temperature by probably 10 degrees.

So now, a year has passed and we obviously forgot how horrible an experience it was because we decided the office and bedroom needed to get insulated too. Last weekend we went to Lowes and bought the 2x4s for the ceiling. I made the comment that I was dreading going through this again and Sam said "Actually, I'm kind of excited about it". I don't think it took too long for the excitement to get dampened. Saturday and Sunday Sam spent framing in the beams and through the week we moved everything out of the rooms. Our bed is now in the dining room and clothes are hanging wherever there is room. Dressers are sitting throughout the living and dining rooms. Gabby loves the new setup. She has all kinds of new places to explore.

Today we got up early and Sam headed to Lowes to get the sheetrock and other supplies. We decided to go with 12' sheetrock to eliminate having to mud and tape the seams. That sounded like a great idea until I tried to lift one sheet. I was able to help carry 3 sheets before Sam got a neighbor to help with the last one. My hands hurt and feel blistered.

For some unknown reason, the people who built this house put a ledge all around the rooms about 6 inches from the ceiling. It's just enough to make it nearly impossible to get the sheetrock up there. The first sheet ended up breaking. We found that if we cut it shorter by about 1/2 inch then we can get it up to the ceiling. We've been at it for around 7 hours and got one long piece up and 2 smaller ones. I'm ready to quit, but we have a lot more to do. My poor husband has been stabbed with the razor knife and hit in the head with a 2x4. It's been quite a day.
Sam had to quit to drive our neighbor, Bill, to the airport. I’m not sure how much more we’ll do today. I’ll try to post some pictures of the progress.