Making Drywall Easier

The drywall phase has begun.  I have finished framing, plumbing, electrical, and insulation, and now the basement is slowly going to start to take on the appearance of a real living space.  That being said, I’m sure this is going to be a long process.

I got my first load of drywall earlier this week, getting 24 sheets to get me started.  I’m estimating around 80 sheets to cover both my walls and my ceilings, so I’ll have a few more Menards runs before I’m all done.  I’ve also estimate approximately 3200 screws needed for the entire job, so we’re talking about something big here.

Like a lot of my work in the basement, I have had to do a lot of reading and research into what it takes to hang drywall.  And as a side note, it’s interesting to note that drywall is not installed, it is hung.  I saw one how-to video where they referred to what they were doing as “rocking”, since drywall is also called sheet rock.  Anyway, I am drywalling the ceiling, and drywall is too heavy for someone like me to hoist it up by myself to get it into place.  I looked into renting a lift, but decided to take my chances on eBay.  I ended up getting a drywall lift on eBay for just a little more than hardware stores would rent one to me for a week.  So far, it has been worth every penny and then some.  I have put up 4 sheets so far, and this tool great.

This helps me hang drywall on the ceiling by myself

The lift has a tripod base (three wheels) so I can move it around even when the drywall sheet is cranked up to the ceiling.  It might be my favorite tool so far.

The Shower Continues

That sneak peak from yesterday is going to get a little bit clearer.  Here’s a little history of this project:

The basement was stubbed in for a bathroom when we moved in.  However, a few nuances were left in our hands.  The layout was essentially identical to the upstairs guest bathroom which has a bathtub in it.  We did not want to put a bathtub in the basement, but the drain for the shower was way out of alignment for any type of shower unit we felt like going with.  So, when we had a plumber come out and do some rough-ins for the bathroom and a couple of other sinks, we had them move the drain for the shower (and the toilet, which was also slightly off).  They left the shower drain boxed in so that when we got a shower unit we could dig the drain out again and move it accordingly.  That turned out to be more of a project than I thought.  I had to dig about 10 gallons worth of rocks, cement, and dirt (luckily it was already jackhammered out, so I just had to dig).  After getting it all dug out, I had to cut the pipe and replace the trap assembly so that it would align with the shower pan that I bought.

The next step was to fill in the hole with cement and build a wall to create the shower alcove.  That’s what I did today.  I dusted off my masonry hat and troweled in some cement, using a trusty 2×4 to make sure the newly poured concrete was level (I did the same thing with the toilet stub, which was already in the proper place).  So I filled in the hole (which will take 5 days to cure, according to the package), and I built the wall.  Now I just have to wait for the cement to cure and I can continue on actually getting the shower unit in place.

Cement poured and smoothed, wall built and in place

Pre-shower

Here’s just a sneak peak at my latest endeavor involving installing a shower unit in our basement.

The pipe had to be moved

In order to align with the drain on the shower unit, I had to move the pipe slightly.  I had to cut this pipe off and go buy a new trap assembly.  It is still in the process of being all pieced together, but oh the adventure I am having, digging a huge hole under my basement and all.