Drywall Phase I and Ceilings Phase II

With the insulation in and the ceiling planks installed it was time to put up the drywall on the interior walls.  Once they had brought in a pile of the drywall sheets they went to town!  Oscar and Marco made it look easy.  The big walls were covered quite quickly with only minimal cutting required.

Oscar and Marco putting up whole sheets

Long step ladders make the job easier

Marco hanging the drywall over the bench

Once the big areas were covered the real fun started.  There are plenty of areas that require detailed measuring and cutting.  A great example of this is on the soffits in the kitchen.  

Soffit of the refrigerator and stove

Oscar installing the drywall on the soffit on the north wall of the kitchen

The main bath required some extra detail for the medicine cabinet cut-out

Drywall is actually pretty easy to cut.  If you score one side it will break along the score line.  It was amazing to watch Oscar and Marco make quick work of what looked like complex cuts.

Oscar showing off his skills part 1

Oscar showing off his skills part 2

The bench was a unique challenge since it had both an  "internal" wall and a rounded section.  The "internal" wall took a little effort, but with a few simple score lines on the inside of the curve they were able to make the drywall wrap around the bench's curved corner.

Curved bench corner covered

Once all the drywall was hung, the next step was installing the corner beads on the outside corners.  The hallway by the craft room and bench provided a great place for Oscar and Marco to practice their craft.

 

Lots of corner beads here!

The kitchen soffits needed the beads also

Once the house was done it was on to the casita.  Things were a little more challenging here as it was a smaller space, especially in the loft, but they made quick work of the task.

 

Refrigerator bump out in the kitchen

The bathroom got drywalled too

Once the roughed-in installation of the drywall was complete we were able to schedule the walnut blasting of the ceilings.  The farther and son team of Armando and Ivan were our guys and they were super excited to be doing it in the middle of June with the temperatures pushing 100 F / 38 C.  Especially since the dust created by the blasting is not something you want to breath in so they have to wear a special suit that has air pumped into it so they can breath.

Ivan donning the special suit

The machine used to blast the walnut shells is mounted on a trailer and then the shells are blown through a hose to do the blasting.  This all took place before the monsoons started and reduced the temperature, so the excessive heat kept overheating the motor which slowed down the process and made it a two day job instead of just one.

The blasting machine/motor

They had to drag the hoses, air and blasting, wherever they went.  Even with our well insulated buildings, doing all this work in the heat took a toll on them.  They had to switch out who was in the suit doing the blasting several times.  It was hard work holding the heavy blasting hose up over their heads.

Lots of hoses to manage

We were trying to accomplish a couple of things with the walnut blasting.  First we wanted to even out the weathering/fading to give the ceilings a more even colored look and also clean off any chalk lines that were still visible.

A couple of before pictures showing the weathering/fading lines left by the stickers that were used to separate the planks

The weathering/fading lines just disappear!

Getting the ceiling in the "great room"

Lots of nooks and crannies to get