September 22nd and 23rd, 2020 – Well, I’m back from Lowe’s with the rigid insulation for the closet interior. It’s Kingspan’s 1″ thick moisture resistant GreenGuard XPS so it is. I’ll show you the photos and I’ll get on to the next blog.
Rigid insulation installed in the closet interior.
I got all the Carpenter Ant sawdust removed and the rigid insulation installed. At some point down the line, I’ll install the lauan paneling and corner trim and then the shelving and closet rod. Until then it’s back into the living room for more electric rough in and finish wall paneling.
September 21, 2020 – With the completion of the kitchen and living room windows along the railroad side, I can drop back and install the wall insulation. This will only take me an hour or so. After that I will start taking the inside of the closet bump out apart. We suspect there will be more carpenter ant damage just waiting in the walls.
The wall insulation along the railroad side of the kitchen and living room is almost complete.
Wall insulation on the railroad side.
The closet bump out that I wrote about before straddles two different rooms, the living room and the first bedroom. In the image below the inside of the closet is visible on the right side of the photo.
I reframed the roof of this bump out because of carpenter ant damage to the roof joists. The ants don’t really eat the wood but they chew through it leaving sawdust behind.
The inside of the closet is exposed in the living room.
To expose any damage I removed the paneling on the inside of the closet.
Removing paneling on the inside of the closet.
Carpenter Ant Sawdust
As we suspected there were piles of carpenter ant sawdust inside each of the joist spaces.
Carpenter Ant sawdust in the joist space. Eight inches thick!Carpenter Ant sawdust.Water damage and more ant sawdust.
I spent the rest of my time today removing all the paneling inside the closet and cleaning up the sawdust. With the interior framing exposed I will be able to insulate the closet interior. Unfortunately, the studs in these walls are sideways so the joist spaces are only a 1-1/2 deep. I will have to use a rigid foam insulation in these spaces.
Now I’m off to Lowe’s for rigid insulation and some lauan paneling. See you soon.
September 20, 2020 – Yesterday was the last kitchen window and today is the last living room window installation. I have a little more work to do on the window opening but it won’t be bad.
I already have the temporary ceiling support installed to allow me to begin. First up, I remove the temporary plywood and framing that secures the opening.
Removal of temporary plywood and framing.
Once the opening is open, I frame in a new jack stud on the right side of the window. The new window is not wide as the old window so I don’t have to replace the header. The new window is also slightly narrower than the old window so I have to raise up the window sill. You can see the new framing in the image below.
Framed opening for the new living room window.
On the outside of the new framing I install some plywood sheathing to close up the side and bottom of the framed opening.
Exterior plywood sheathing.
With the plywood sheathing complete I set the window in the opening, level it up and nail it through the nailing flange.
Last living room window from the inside.
After the flange is nailed the window is sealed with Pell Smart Flashing Tape.
The last living room and kitchen windows.
The windows in the kitchen and living room are now complete. I can now drop back and install the wall insulation and eventually the paneling on the railroad side.
The remaining windows are in the bathroom and bedrooms located in the rear of the cottage. They will get installed as the work progresses back through the cottage. That’s where I’m at.
September 19, 2020 – Today, I am installing the last new kitchen window. This is one of the eight windows that I brought down yesterday. The framing for this window opening was complete awhile back. It is ready for the new window. The installation should be pretty straight forward.
Temporary plywood covering the window opening.
Before I set the window in place, I remove the temporary plywood covering the opening.
Removing the plywood covering the window opening.Temporary plywood removed.
Once the temporary plywood is removed I can install the Tyvek building wrap.
Tyvek installation.
After the building wrap, I set the window in the opening. Once I have it level, I fasten it in place by nailing through the nailing flange. I complete the installation with Pella Smart Flash window and door flashing tape.
The last new kitchen window is set in place.
The kitchen windows are complete. Now I will move on to the last living room window.
September 16th and 18th, 2020 – The balance of our new windows have arrived. I picked them up at the Mechanicsburg Home Depot on Wednesday and delivered them to the cottage on Friday.
Picking up the balance of our new windows.
There are eight (8) windows in this order. One kitchen, one living room, one bathroom, and five bedroom windows. I am working my way back to the bedrooms from the kitchen so the bedroom windows will be stored for awhile. ( Other window installation took place here and here. )
To unload the windows I pulled the trailer alongside the porch. With some 2×4’s laid down, I slid the windows over to the porch.
Window unloading rig up along the side of the porch.
Here are the balance of our new windows stacked against the outside wall. Simple as that!
