Progress!

A cold draft in the house convinced me to get away from my laptop screen and finish the insulation phase of my spare bedroom project. Once I finally got the insulation in place, I installed drywall, starting with the ceiling (with help from my dad), then worked my way down to the exterior and attic facing walls so that cold air would no longer leak in, or warm air leak out.



Up next is to add sound insulation for the interior wall, sheetrock, then mud/tape/sand. 20 degree weather can be a great motivator when it comes to finishing remodeling projects.

Bedroom to <strike>Bonus Room</strike> New Bedroom: Week 2

After probably losing 5-10 years off my life from inhaling dust and insulation, my attic is completely insulated with an additional layer of R-30 fiberglass insulation. Amazingly enough, it's had a noticeable effect on the warmth of our house. The temperature of our main floor is more consistent, which means our furnace hasn't had to work as hard.

We've decided not to remove one of the walls, and keep the room as a formal bedroom instead of converting it to a bonus room. However, we still plan to raise the ceiling a few feet to open up the space.

So while we were still trying to figure out how we're going to finish the upstairs bedroom, I took the opportunity to use our entry way wood closet as a test area to learn how to finish sheetrock.



Behind the sheetrock, I installed new insulation, as this was closet was completely uninsulated. During the winters you could feel the cold air leak in to the living room.

Then I tape/mudded the seams, primed, and 2 coats of finish paint.



And installed the baseboards.



All that's left now is to paint the baseboards, and trim around the brick so that the closet is sealed. No more drafty closet!

Bedroom to Bonus Room: Week 1

A few nights ago I had the urge to begin renovations on our second floor spare bedroom. It's been in a state of decay for the last three years. I finally got sick of thinking about how ugly and inefficient it was making my house and started demolition.

I also took the opportunity to install additional R-30 rated insulation in the attic to the already exisiting blown-in insulation since the old drywall is gone. Hopefully the increase in insulation will decrease our heating bill this year.

I've been thinking about removing one of the walls entirely so that the space becomes more like a bonus room rather than a bedroom. It will make the space more usable–possibly a work area or an alternate spot to watch TV (more likely). I'll have to figure out what structural implications there are if I remove the framing. Vaulted ceilings might be nice too...