I certainly need to make a point of posting more frequently, but I’ve been somewhat busy these past few weeks. I suppose that’s a lame excuse, but I figured “my dog ate it” wouldn’t exactly fly…

It didn’t take much time for the installers to mud, tape and sand all of the seams. I wish I had my camera on hand during a few visits to the house because the guys mudding were walking around on stilts. I’m pretty sure it would have made for a decent photo or two.

With the walls fully prepared, it was time for paint. It’s quite surprising how much larger the spaces feel now that walls are primed – particularly the clerestory, which obviously gets the most amount of light. Of course, the white walls also allow you to easily see the imperfections… which is a good thing because it gives us the opportunity to correct them now.

With a pencil in hand, we walked around the entire house and circled all of the flaws. Anything that needed to be sanded, filled, or repaired in any way was marked for the drywall guys to come back and correct before we start painting. For the most part, everything was in pretty good shape… although the clerestory walls need a little love, which isn’t all that surprising given the difficulties everyone has had working in that space. Apparently it’s a pain in the ass to work in an area 23’ tall. Shocking, I know.

It’s been 222 days since we began construction, and we finally have drywall. I’m actually shocked how quickly everything was installed—The insulation and vapour barrier was delivered on March 21st and subsequently installed on the 31st. Drywall was delivered on April 1st, and installation was completed this afternoon. They still have to mud, tape and sand everything, but for some reason I thought it would take a little more than 3 days to install the boards.

The installer’s efficiency has been quite remarkable and they seem to be leaving very little waste as well. I originally didn’t understand why they’d install 2 boards, skip a spot and then install another 2… but after noticing it in various places around the house, I realized they were leaving the odd sizes until they had leftover pieces that could be cut to fit. I’m also impressed their craftsmanship… These guys clearly understand how to measure and use a router.

For the most part we’ve used 1/2” drywall throughout, although we have 5/8” type X board along the south wall (which is close to the lot line) and Durock cement board around the tubs and shower.

All in all, I’m quite happy with how everything looks so far. I was certain that the rooms would all feel smaller once the drywall was installed, but thankfully that’s not the case.

I’ve posted a number of photos here.