Chapter 41...More Closets And Ceiling Tile

Off Grid...Chapter 41 It was a good week in the Mike and Lisa world so here we go. Monday 12-15 Today we started our day by loading up the trailer and going to the dump. On our way home we were going to stop at the builder's supply but the skies looked like rain. We didn't want to take a chance with the sheetrock. We got home and Mike filled our water tank. After that we started to clean up the office, again! We are thankful for that room because it is our storage room right now but we have to start working in there. So we moved stuff around again. Mike started installing the floor trim in the office. We got the first part of the washer and dryer closet up. And Mike put up the ceiling light, temporarily. It's the last light in the house to go up. Woo hoo. Tuesday and Wednesday It's been really dreary out with no opportunity to pick up supplies. Mike and I really miss the sun. It makes working so much more enjoyable. I know, I know no excuses right. Ok so we didn't do much work. We did one thing. We started installing the perimeter track for the ceiling tile in the office.  We are jumping back and forth on our last 2 rooms. We just have the bathroom to complete and the office. Then we will be done on the inside of the house. Thursday 12-18 It's now or never. The skies aren't terrible so we hook up the trailer to the jeep, grab the tarps, and head for Lowe's. On our way it starts to drizzle- oh no! This is really bad. Mike thinks maybe it will pass over if we give it a little time. So we decide to go to Nissan to look at a used truck they advertised. We "still" need to get a small 4WD truck but the new ones are just so expensive. The one we went to see was a 2007 and it looked rough. The salesman said "the man used it to haul firewood". Yeah it looks more like he used it to cut the tress down in the woods I am amazed that the dealer didn't try to fix the truck a little before they tried to resell it. If it was all scraped up on the outside you know the engine was also beat on. Oh well. Off to Lowe's. The skies are still gray so we decide to get everything except for the sheetrock. We loaded up 3 louver doors, ceiling tile grid, and 2x4's onto the trailer. We wrapped it up with tarps, tied everything down and crossed our fingers all the way home. Finally we made it and everything stayed dry. Now we can get to work. We started putting the ceiling grid up in the office. The first ceiling tiles are going up in the office. As usual we put the full tiles up and the cut tiles will be done last. Because our tiles are recessed not only does Mike have to cut the tiles down he also has to cut out the recessed part. It's a very tedious job with a lot of up and down on the ladder. We also picked up some pipe insulation to wrap the water line that comes into the house. Here is Mike wrapping the pipe. I love this stuff, the pipe insulation. It's like a hollow piece of foam that comes in different sizes and has a slit down the middle. You open it at the split, wrap the pipe, pull off the plastic(which covers the sticky part) and squeeze it together. Now your pipes are protected. Friday 12-19 We can see a little bit of sun so we make a mad dash out the door to the local building supply to get the sheetrock. On our way it starts to drizzle. Oh no here we go again. We pull the jeep and trailer inside the building at the building supply. They have the most awesome set up for their business. It's a huge metal building with a big door in the back and a big door in the front that exits out onto the main road. You pull around back, into the building and park. You go inside to the office and showroom area and pay for your items. Go back out and give the guys your ticket, they load you up and off you go. You stay dry the whole time, it's great customer service, and very convenient. We got the sheetrock loaded and wrapped up. Off we go. Fifteen minutes later I am opening our gate at the top of the hill. We made it and the sheetrock is dry. Yeah. We are happy campers. We bring it all into the house and we start working on the bathroom again. First he screws the bottom plate into the floor and through the concrete. He is installing the first piece of sheet rock for our water heater closet. Almost done. Next he goes into the bathroom with the spackle bucket. He has to tape up all the corners and fill all the screw head holes. After that he starts working on the closet door. The door is up and working. We decided to take take the big cabinet out of the bathroom because it was just too much for the room. Saturday 12-20 This morning I went to the library and scored on 3 new books I was waiting for. On the way home I did the grocery shopping. While I was out Mike installed the rest of the perimeter track and more ceiling tile in the bathroom. Later on he cut and installed some of the side pieces of tile. Sunday 12-21 Today we kicked butt. Mike was determined to get the bathroom done. He is almost done with the ceiling tile. And the bathroom ceiling is done. Next he had to redo the floor trim where we took out the cabinet and also do the trim around the new closet. After that he sanded and put the second coat of spackle on the closet. Hopefully it will be ready for paint. After dinner we moved into the office and started working on the washer/dryer closet. First we put up more studs to hold the sheetrock. All the wood is up for the closet. And the first piece of sheetrock is up. It was getting late so we stopped there. That is our story for the last week. I hope you all enjoyed. Lisa