Now that we’ve demoed both closets its time to build one huge one! To do this we have just a few things to do, won’t take long at all (said anyone whoever started a project…)
Insert new header beam
Frame out the new returns and back of closet
Move the electrical outlet
Hang new dry wall
Mud drywall and blend it with existing walls (3 coats)
Replace the HVAC duct line (it used to be smack dab in the middle)
Excitement was in the air when Mace finally got to break out his tools and start building something! He has experience doing framing and carpentry so these skills are his forte (he developed them building houses during summer breaks in college). He is the mastermind behind calculating the right height and width of the opening ( taking into account enough space for the bi-fold door hardware) and laying out the structural closet design. This part went pretty quick and below is the finished product of the new header, framed side walls, and framed back wall. (Is it too late too late to change the door style, jk!)
We had to move the electrical outlet because it was too close to where the new edge of the closet would be. Successfully moved.
From the earlier pics you can see we hung the drywall in the 2nd bedroom, this was to keep the dust down during renovations because that’s where we were getting some shut-eye while this room was under construction. Now its time for the rest of the drywall to go up, super quick and easy right?!? We’re moving right along with this renovation…
Not so fast!! We have plaster walls (not the real old school type with metal lathe and plaster but a backer board with plaster topcoat) so they are a little harder to work with than drywall. Our plaster walls are 3/4″ thick, drywall comes in 1/2″ & 1/4″, so that meant we hand to cut and hang dry wall TWICE. In the earlier pics you’ll see notches above the beam where we were just going to fill in drywall as needed. Well that turned out to be more hassle than it was worth so we got out the saw zaw (or reciprocating saw) to make a straight cut and got the header drywall piece up. NOW all the drywall is installed!
Next up the tape coat for drywall (aka first coat). A short explanation is you use a thin layer of mud on all the drywall joints, then lay drywall tape or mesh over it to smooth out the transition between the joints. The plaster walls throw another challenge (and time delay) at us because after the drywall is up it becomes apparent that the right side of the closet is pretty flush with the original plaster walls BUT the left side actually had drywall that sticks out past the plaster. You can kinda see the shadow that gets cast in the below pic on the center piece of drywall.
This would be where we hit our schedule delay. The difference in elevation isn’t something that can be fixed with adding or removing drywall because it’s a specific depth (1/2″ or 1/4″), it can only be fixed during the mudding step. Here’s the wall after the first coat.
Mace had some drywall mudding experience before this so he wasn’t a complete beginner but it was not an easy task. He had to “build up” a pretty substantial first coat to minimize the surface variation and then “float” the material all the way to the wall and down the new return but also all the way across the header, gradually minimizing how thick the mud on the wall was. The dry time added to the delay because the coats had to be thicker than normal. Creating a seamless surface that goes unnoticed to the eye is most definitely a skill. If you’ve ever seen lumps, bumps, or lines in a wall it’s because it was a bad drywall patch. So after 3 coats of mudding and 3 times of sanding all his drywall joints (hating every minute of sanding while looking like the abominable snowman and just wanting to get back to carpentry) I can say without doubt it looked AMAZING!! Smooth as butta!! This picture doesn’t capture the true volume of work or detail behind it (helps when the person doing it is a perfectionist!). The new outlets and light switch also got installed.
I keep mentioning schedule delays and the reason it was a concern was because my parents were coming to stay with us and we wanted to be moved into the master by the time they got here. There were some weekends away already planned and Mace’s back was acting up that made for slower progress. We also added refinishing the hardwoods in our room (instead of just laying new flooring in the closet) to the list and I was getting nervous (or freaking out)… so he made me a schedule of all our tasks to put me at ease and show we could meet the deadline! (He had some fun with the titles)
Irish was still hanging with us (where WAS Kobe??) waiting for his owner to come pick him up, which worked out just in time for some extra hands for the HVAC task.
The new HVAC duct line had to be on the right side of the closet because the water line for the baseboard heat is on the left. Moving the HVAC duct line from the center of the closet required us (plus our friend and Irish’s owner Kyle K.) to get up in the attic and locate where the new line would be. We have loose insulation so you have to move it out of the way and communicate a lot to find out what’s below you before you make a hole. Then we cut out the ceiling to fit the new duct line (Mace cut it pretty tight so it would fit nice and snug). Next we had to take the round flexible duct work in the attic and add a transition boot (round on one side, rectangular on the other) to meet up with the new rectangular duct we made. To secure the flexible duct to the boot we used a commercial grade zip tie and then wrapped it with metal duct tape. And I know this because I was up in the attic too! The duct pieces are designed to fit together and make an air tight rectangle. We also had a brain fart and put the duct line towards the front of the closet instead of the back, which wasn’t a big deal but required a ceiling patch (luckily we caught this before the entire thing was installed).
We also had to cut a hole in the basement ceiling for a new vent but did the recon work in the closet, that way if there was an issue we didn’t have to patch the textured basement ceiling. Because Mace also wants an efficient house we had to do some work in the basement ceiling vent to make sure the air properly vented, so he built a plenum (or chamber) out of sheet metal in the joist cavity (or space between the floor & ceiling and wood beams). The original duct was basically dumping air into the joist cavity and wasn’t really reaching the basement. As this picture shows there wasn’t much room for error, the section with the light is our closet and we were INCREDIBLY close to a joist and luckily our new duct didn’t run into it.
Mace and Kyle K. built the remaining rectangular duct sections, put the duct collar/flange in the floor opening to meet up with the already built plenum (or chamber to direct air down to the vent instead of just into the space between the top floor and basement ceiling)…
Cut them to the right size as needed, wiggled them together (professional term of course) in place, then used the metal duct tape to seal the joints. New duct line installed! (note the schedule taped to the door, ha!)
We also put 2 vents in the basement, one for the new duct and the other just for show to cover up the original hole from the duct.
PHEW!!! That was a long recap and 20 days after demo we got to this point, but it sure felt good to see a closet taking shape before our eyes!
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