(They sure are after this week!)

by David Perevala

Monday started off by sanding our first layer of dried joint compound to smoothly apply our next coats of “mud.” Hiding away the beige drywall tape and beginning to make the walls and ceilings as smooth as possible. Some rooms of Casita de Vida required more work than others, but our leader, Ben, spread us out to cover different areas and ensure this job will be completed with efficiently! If we weren’t dirty in construction before, there is no way anyone came out of work today clean. Mud and dust can get everywhere! Before that was finalized, we still had other work to do.

While some started off sanding and mudding, the cedar shingles on the exterior gable wall still had to be finished. Two of the crew got to work completing this task and the result speaks for itself! Finally, the roof of Casita de Vida has a personality of its own!

Significant progress in the bathroom this week! We modified a cabinet from the “bargain trailer” at Cowls Building Supply to fit in the limited space needed where the sink will be and added a color-matched end panel to complete the finish. We are leaning into shades of green for this house!

Bathroom tiling is coming soon for next week, so prepped the floor with the Schluter®-DITRA membrane for decoupling (crack prevention) and waterproofing. Seams were sealed using the KERDI-BAND and more mortar to ensure a tight barrier. Looking pretty good!

After many days of work, our first windowsill – crafted from locally grown and milled ash donated by the DCR – had its final adjustments and was fit to our Southwest living room window. More windowsills are coming through the production process of templating, cutting, adjusting, and sanding as the rest of the gang are completing the finishing touches to the drywall and exterior siding.

Final LP SmartSide panels of siding have been delivered to the site, and we couldn’t wait any longer to hang them all to completely cover the exposed weather barrier. Along with the final window trim and flashing.

For the final working day of the week, we applied a primer coat to the drywall. The bathroom was the first room to be primed. Testing to see any imperfections and look of the primer. When all looked great, we continued priming the main living, kitchen, and mudroom areas of the house until the entire house was primed. Finishing off with ceiling paint. Needless to say, even we are starting to feel at home with the clean, sharp, and crisp walls! 

Pro tip: Wear old clothes and/or proper protection before priming. That stuff does NOT come off easily.