Since the end of February upon the completion of the spray foam insulation there has not been one singular project started and completed in sequence. After the spray foam, sheet rock and rockwool insulation was installed in the pantry, bedroom, and kitchen. The pantry was completed. The bedroom was lacking a couple strips of insulation and sheetrock, and the kitchen was a complete sheet rock disaster by the time the Bantry ceiling was started. After the Bantry ceiling was the shower tile and so on and so forth. Stopping one project and starting another is fine. It’s normal. It’s to be expected. Stopping and starting is not the problem. Tooling is the problem. Stopping sheetrock to start ceiling is a different set of tools. Stopping ceiling and beadboard for tile is another set of tools. All these different set of tools, all the materials laying around in various states of being used, all the unfinished projects. Having completed a major step with almost a fully finished out bathroom, I decided some smaller projects needed to be done, tools needed to be cleaned up and rearranged, and materials given a toss for junk and restacking for reuse later.

Tools first. Tile tools borrowed from the Sailor were placed back into their tidy box and stored outside. Kitchen tile is so far from the agenda right now there is no need to be have this box and all its residual tooling such as grout bags, caulk, caulk guns, etc… inside. PVC and all of its components were returned to their various storage locations. At this time, I cannot foresee any future needs for PVC or electrical conduit. Table saw will stay not that it is needed but more because it offers a great work platform. Nice and large and level. Bending over to work from the floor is not an option and the saw horses will be in use for the upcoming project along with the folding platforms and ladders.

Materials next. More ceiling boards were delivered. Sadly these were in terrible condition. Terrible. Broken on the edges from forklifts, warped, bent, weathered. Less than 10% of the boards delivered were usable. After much argument, the local lumber supplier took them back and promised fresh boards straight from the factory. Excellent. After promising to restack them and bind them accordingly the company then agreed to come collect the unwanted straight away. If BIF had storage the boards would have held until the new delivery came. Covered space is limited. Laminate sheets leftover, which was minor, was placed between two cardboard sheets for protection and then stored in the tractor box with all the other lumber and plywood. Plenty of laminate will need to be done at a later date and those white sheets can be brought back inside at that time. The same went for cabinet grade plywood. Pantry cabinets are going to be made and we are thinking about having them made at the Doubters since he has plenty of space to store them as he works. Then when they are done we can collect from his house all at once on the trailer. Of course, they will still be need to be sanded and painted but having the buildout completed will be a huge space saver.

Kitchen Wall. After the tools and materials were sorted and rearranged, the Planner decided to try his hand at the kitchen wall again. His thinking was if he could finish out the kitchen wall then we could quickly knock out the tile that was delivered a few days ago. He is confident the kitchen wall will be easier to install than the bathroom as we have a better understanding. After adding to the disastrous kitchen wall, the Planner called it quits and the tile was stored in a corner for later date. Too bad the decision couldn’t be made before a further mess was made.

Ceiling Prep. Way back in March during the Bantry Rocked and Ceiled it came to our attention the ceiling was never marked for light fixtures nor was electrical lines installed before the spray foam was installed. Six months later the kitchen, nook, and bedroom area still are not marked. One ladder and one spray paint can later the ceiling now has bright orange chicken pox.

Odds and Ends. Other odds and ends completed were resealing the door jam, sweeping, vacuuming, wiping down walls, mopping, washing windows and their tracks. The amount of debris, dust, and who-knows-what on the window tracks is impressive. Not even sure the windows would open if needed. At my last job the professional cleaning service would tell me about their new construction jobs. At certain points during a new construction, the entire area would need to be cleaned before the next phase could start. While the contractors would get the major debris removal duties, the cleaner would get the nook and crannies and various tight corners and wide open walls spaces. Now I understand. Construction dust goes everywhere.