July 31, 2020 – Well, we reached the end of July, 2020. Despite all good intentions to complete the kitchen ceiling insulation today, I didn’t make it.
After we got up, we cleaned up a bit, packed and headed home. It’s been a long week. Tomorrow we have Ross and Lauren’s wedding to attend. It’s going to be awesome and we are looking forward to the party.
I will be back to the Cot-Taj-Mahal on August 8th to continue the kitchen ceiling insulation and the renovation. Stay tuned.
PS: As I write this post, I realize that I am only seven (7) months behind on this renovation story. Ugghhh!
July 30, 2020 – In the new kitchen we will have an exposed cathedral ceiling. When complete, it will be covered with 1″×8″ pine barn siding. Today, I started installing the rafter vents and batt insulation in the joist spaces for this ceiling.
R30 batt insulation for the cathedral ceiling.proVent rafter vent installation in the cathedral ceiling.
Above and below, the rafter vents or rafter baffles provide a continuous air flow from the soffit vent through the roof ridge vent. In the summer this helps to keep the cathedral ceiling structure cooler and guards against mold, mildew and rot. I used proVent that I purchased at Lowe’s.
proVent rafter vent installation.
I started the rafter vent installation on the river side of the kitchen. When I had the vent on this side complete, I dropped back and installed the R30 batt insulation (below).
Batt insulation between joists.proVent installation on the railroad side.
With the insulation on river side of the ceiling complete I moved over to the railroad side and repeated the whole process. Rafter vents followed by batt insulation (above and below).
Batt insulation on the railroad side.
Tomorrow I need to wrap up the cathedral ceiling insulation. We’ve been at the Cot-Taj-Mahal all week long and tomorrow evening we are heading home. We have a big wedding to attend on Saturday. Ross and Lauren are tying the knot!
July 29, 2020 – Today I continued the wall insulation and started the framing at the interior gable end of the new kitchen.
I hung the television to have a distraction but, today I have to take it down to insulate the wall behind it. We used a Sanus Advanced Full-Motion TV Mount so it’s really easy to mount and un-mount the TV.
Interior of the wall at the television.
Below, installing the insulation in the kitchen wall above the river side window.
Insulation in kitchen wall above window.
Wall insulation behind the TV is complete and the television is re-hung and covered (below).
Wall insulation at the television.Interior gable end framing.
Above, I am working on the framing to close in the interior gable end of the kitchen. In this wall there will be a access door to get into the attic above the living room and the remainder of the cottage.
Below, wall insulation in the newly installed gable end framing. I have a rolling scaffolding which would make high insulation process quicker but we just have too much stuff in the way. For this reason I am working from a ladder. Needless to say it is a whole bunch climbing up and down.
Insulation at interior gable end.
Tomorrow I’ll be starting the insulation in the cathedral ceiling above the kitchen. At this point, my designer tells me she is okay with surface mounting conduit and boxes to hang the kitchen light fixtures from. This will give us a more “industrial look”. Okay….let the insulation begin.
July 28, 2020 – Continuing the electric rough in with a wing wall for the new electric panel and I finish the end wall insulation. Plus, it’s Happy Birthday to me, Gyeem Raj Du-Kamar. It has to be a good day, right?
As part of the electrical renovation we are going to upgrade the electric service from 100 amp to 200 amp and relocate the main panel from the kitchen to the living room. The framing below is a “wing wall” between the kitchen and the living room. This is the location for the new 200 amp panel.
Wing wall framing for new 200 Amp electric panel.
All the electric wire will be pulled to this location and eventually terminated in the new panel. The wire dangling in the image below will power the new refrigerator along the end wall.
Wire for a new refrigerator receptacle.
Most of the overhead wire show in this image (below) is powering the cottage from the existing 100 amp panel. Eventually, I will disconnect this wire from the old panel, drop it down into the wing wall and reconnect it to the new panel.
Electrical wire rough in.
After the rough in of the refrigerator outlet is complete the remaining wall insulation in the end wall can be installed.
Insulation in the end wall of the kitchen.
The new refrigerator will be located in the center of the wall as you see the old one below. There will be cabinets and countertops below the windows, on both sides of the fridge.
Kitchen End wall insulation.
What’s up for tomorrow..? Well, you guessed it, more electric rough in and more insulation. Oh joy!
July 27, 2020 – The electric rough in continues today with the installation of eight outlets in the kitchen. These are in the outside wall along the driveway side. Outlets along the river side were roughed in a week or so ago. It takes quite a bit of extra time because we are trying to keep something of a kitchen in service. I have to move stuff back and forth, out of the way until it gets in the way, and then repeat. I was able to start the exterior wall insulation in the kitchen and the new ceiling insulation in the living room. So there’s that too.
Electric Rough In – Outlet boxes and wire.
There are two outlet boxes under this window on the left side, and two boxes under the window on the right side. Each box will house one duplex outlet giving us a total of eight outlets along this outside wall.
Lots of clutter in the kitchen makes the going sloowww.
Exterior wall insulation above kitchen window.
The wall insulation proceeds left to right. These are basically 2×4 stud walls so the insulation is R-13, three and a half inch thick fiberglass batt.
Electric Rough In – Outlet boxes under the kitchen windows.
One of the outlet boxes under the right window is visible in the photo above.
The insulation in the ceiling is a bit thicker. It is R19, six inch thick fiberglass batts. Yes I was watching tv as I insulated.
July 22, 2020 – Just a short blog for the work today. Since we have the dumpster we want to get as much of the remaining demolition completed as possible. To that end, Jess and Phil are removing the old siding and I am taking out the living room and kitchen windows.
Siding demolition along the back of the cottage.
The last time we were removing the siding we stopped at this point. We have to finish setting up this scaffold section to remove the siding that remains on the gable end. Once that is complete we can continue around the corner towards the driveway.
Close up of the siding removal.
Above, removal of the living room window and time out for a beer.
Below, the framing to temporarily close up the living room window opening is ready to install.
Above, the kitchen window demolition is next. Siding removal down to the next corner by the electric service conduit.
Below, the kitchen window is removed and the living room window is temporarily closed in.
Kitchen window demolition.
When I took out the kitchen window we found Mikey Mouse’s brother, Mortimer Mouse hiding behind the window frame. Similar to Mickey, he has seen better days.
Skeletal remains of Mickey’s brother, Mortimer Mouse.
After the siding demolition we install tyvek building warp to keep the elements from entering the outside walls.
Building warp installed on the exterior wall.
That does it for today. I guess this post was a little longer than I though it would be. Oh well…
