Den Drywall Texture

I finally got around to texturing the den last week. I borrowed an air compressor from a friend, and bought a hopper and some drywall mud.

Started out by practicing on some scrap drywall in the garage to get the texture looking right. Had to adjust the air pressure, as well as some settings on the hopper until it looked right.

 

After spraying the texture on, you wait about 10-20 minutes until it barely starts to harden, then you knock it down with the drywall knife for "knockdown texture."

I'm very happy with it, except for a few imperfections from my previous coats that still show through the texture. I'm going to go back in and try to sand and/or float the imperfections.

Den Setback

We were all ready to start doing the texture and finishing up the den. I even borrowed an air compressor and had bought all the materials I needed for the texture. Then I found out that two of our outlets didn't have any electricity. We had the electrician back out, and it unfortunately involved cutting the drywall open again!!! So now I have to fix these holes, and texturing is going to have to wait.

Getting ready for Spring

I mounted a grow light to a shelf in the garage. The grow light is on a timer.

We've got Brussels Sprouts, 2 tomato varieties, 3 pepper varieties, cucumber, 2 lettuce varieties, spinach, 2 onion varieties, and some herbs.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the compost tumbler! We've got a good batch going in there.

The Table

I just happened to be looking at furniture on Craigslist. I just happened to be looking even though I had been told a few times that we weren't buying anymore furniture until the den was complete. I just happened to find this table. It's beautiful isn't it?! I went to look at this table and found what I later told my mom was a "jackpot." A man was selling everything in his vacation house. The house was beautiful and had several items of interest. I quickly sized up everything I wanted and went back to report to Andrew. When I first saw the table I almost immediately dismissed it based on the size of the thing. It was huge!! I told Andrew this thing would take several men to carry and I couldn't even fathom how we could get it in our house. I had all but given up. Andrew was sure I was overexaggerating but would soon learn I wasn't. After having 3 women and 3 men move the table through a giant hole in our house where our sliding glass door once stood, the table was in place! I will say that it is big, heavy, and magnificent! It is 10ft long and 4 ft wide. I can't wait for the many memories that will be made around this table in the years to come!

Garage Ducts

Our garage had two vents hooked up to our AC/Heater. We did not want to pay to heat and cool our garage, and even with those two vents closed we were still wasting air.


So I ventured into our cramped attic and found the spot where the duct branches off to the garage. It takes about 15 minutes of army crawling across 2X4s and dodging air ducts and insulation to get there. I had planned everything out ahead of time, but of course nothing went like I expected. I ended up having to crawl over there twice, and the second time I spent about an hour and a half removing the duct and sealing it off. The duct on the right splits into two and goes to the two garage vents.

Sheet metal covers the hole where the duct was.

Hillary turned on the air while I was up there so I could verify it was air-tight.

Fruit Trees

 
We planted three semi-dwarf fruit trees on December 3. The nursery was running a sale and they were $15 each.




From right to left (above):
Beverly Hills Apple, Shinseiki Asian Pear, Puget Gold Apricot.



We planted the trees in a low spot in the back yard, where all the water from the roof runs off and collects.
That nice mesquite tree provides no shade for the house and will interfere with the fruit trees, so unfortunately it will become firewood after I get a chainsaw.

Den Door

Brother-in-law Paul offered to help put in a door while he was here. I was very happy to have his help, because it was a little beyond my abilities. I definitely would have had to hire someone to do it if he hadn't been here.

The somewhat finished product. After finishing the drywall, molding will go around the door and make it look nice. We re-used a door that we had torn out from one of the old bedrooms.