Beetle Pine'ing the Downstairs Ceilings

After cutting up the remaining beetle-stained pine into usable lengths and discarding the cruft, we brought it all upstairs and sealed it with polyeurethane BEFORE installing it.

Finished pine drying.

Installing the pine we finished earlier that morning.

Tuesday afternoon/evening progress on the basement ceiling.

Thursday evening progress.

Finally, on Saturday we completed the downstairs rumpus room ceiling.

Completed ceiling in downstairs rumpus room.

And we completed the downstairs bathroom ceiling.

And, before we could complete the downstairs ceiling, we installed
all the railing posts throughbolted with 1/2" bolts to the floor joist.

Finally, a week later Monday, we finished the utility room ceiling.

CEILINGS DONE. Heavy sigh. Whew.

For our final project of the day, we installed the lower rails between the porch and back deck posts; and took measurements so I can order the custom mesh sections that will be in each railing opening.

Front porch with bottom rails installed.

Next up: Concrete floors need to be sanded, stained, and sealed. And the finish stair case needs to be installed.

6 Day Ceiling Blitz

We worked 6 of the last 7 days to finish up the ceiling panels. Exhausted. 

Day 1 - Begin Bunkroom

Bunk room ceiling at the end of July 2.

Day 2 - Finish Bunkroom

Bunkroom ceiling finished at the end of July 3

Day 3 - Almost Finish Master Bedroom

All but the last row finished in the master bedroom by early evening July 4.

Day 4 - Finish Stairwell/Hallway and Master Bedroom

Work slowed down on July 6 to carefully setup and move the work platform
over the staircase. (23 ft from the top of the ceiling to the landing on the floor below.)

The platform is shakey at that height. And it's psychologically worse when it spans over an additional 10 foot drop. Nope, I don't like it. 

Katie putting in the last panel in the upstairs hallway.

Selfie with the stairwell ceiling finished on July 6.

Day 5 - Finish Master Bathroom

At the beginning of the day, I ran to Home Depot and bought a few more 4x8 sheets of birch plywood and had them cut them there. (I wish I'd been able to do that for all the sheets -- their saw is crisp and accurate.) Katie sealed those panels at the end of the day. 

On July 7 we finished the last row in the master bedroom
and completed the master bathroom ceiling.

We also started installing the door hardware.

We wanted to start on the ceiling in the bunk bathroom in the hallway, but we ran out of black tape (which was thankfully waiting for us on the doorstep when we returned home in the evening.)

Day 6 - Finish Hall Bathroom & Prep Pine for Basement

Selfie with the hall bath ceiling in the background. 

At the outset of the ceiling project, I ordered a 5 lb. box of screws. We were one screw short. Katie and I foraged and found a solitary screw hiding at the bottom of the tool bucket for the win!

The fireplace repair folks were also up in the morning to inspect the Winter's damage and make plans for a permanent fix that will include a custom built snow hood/shed. They took measurements and will return in a few weeks to install the new snow hood/shed.

After we finished the hall bathroom, we moved all the tools downtairs and I went to the basement to begin working on preparing the remaining beetle-stained pine. (This is the same pine that I've used on all the walls with windows.) I sorted through the entire pile of remaining pine (that has been sitting in the house for 4 years!) to clear out the bent/warped, heavily knotted, and heavily sappy pieces -- about 20% waste! (I won't use that supplier again.) I cut the waste into 16" lengths to be used as firewood. 

The chop saw worked hard today. 

The beetle stained pine waiting to be sealed BEFORE installing it.
(We forgot we'd run out of sealer the day before when sealing the plywood panels.)

The basement is now finally clear of the stacks of 14 foot pine boards.

The various hand tools we used to install the ceiling panels, all resting peacefully.

A "59er Diner" lunch with the extended 'crew'.