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Crossing My Fingers

Wayfarer | Posted in General Discussion on July 15, 2003 06:49am

Finally!!!  Well, I’m just past my one-year anniversary on my project; haven’t attempted suicide, not taking any “prescribed” medication, haven’t busted a blood vessel resulting in a stroke where I fall flat on my face and die on-site, house uncompleted.

Oh yeah, back to my point; stucco lathe is going up and I just signed a contract for the hanging of sheetrock.  I finished my electrical with the instrumental help of a Breaktimer here, making a few punch lists, doing a little final plumbing, and a few other odds and ends to get ready for my rough inspection of framing, electrical, and plumbing.  It will almost be a little disappointing (nah, not really, but…) to close ‘er up.  I’ll miss the openess with all the ceiling joists, the flow looking through all the walls, etc.

My question though; is there some other consideration I should be giving prior to closing up the walls?  I know one school of thought is to block for cabinetry, but others have mentioned just hanging the wall cabinets on studs is enough.  Other than additional blocking and taking a bunch of digitals, any other thoughts about what I might do to prevent, “Oh dang, I wish I would have done that before having the sheetrock put on.”?

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Replies

  1. User avater
    IMERC | Jul 15, 2003 07:08pm | #1

    Block for closet shelves, hand rails. door stops, curtain rods, kitchen cabinets.

    Redundent telephone wiring.

    1. User avater
      Wayfarer | Jul 15, 2003 07:15pm | #2

      Imerc, thanks for that.  And funny, I did to the redundant phone thing and put one in the bathroom only to have my electrician comment that may not fly during inspection as it is or will be over the clawfoot tub.

      Forgot about the closet blocking...

      Stupid blocking question #1: okay, so I have the height of my wall cabinet, I just simply block, just on the "inside" of the cabinet height?  And do I need to do this both top and bottom, or maybe just top?  Probably use 2 X 6 material?

      Thanks...

      1. User avater
        IMERC | Jul 15, 2003 08:29pm | #4

        Cabinate tops is all I do. For standing cab 1x ply wood works. Block a little low for the uppers. (Paper towel holder and etc)  

        Surface mount medicine cabinate? Block for that too. Blocking for vanity.

        Block anywhere you think a door knob might hit the wall. Easier to repair dings than holes.

        Scrap on inside corners for base mld. Same for out side corners. Bloching for chair rail. Any place mld may terminate. Butt together. Crown mld.

        Over sized blocking L&R of the window headers and down from there. Wimmens love to change out curtain rods.

        1x and plywood works for blocking in a lot of places. Glue and pin it instead of nailing. A trim gun is made to order for this.

        Hyper critical eye plumbing, electrical or any thing else that could be threatened by nails and screws. Be anal about protecting now before it's too late.

        Tear out the phone line in the bathroom and add blocking for a magazine rack and do not disturb sign. Towel rack and TP holder blocking. Mirror blocking.

        Not sure of the excat location of a block.... put in a bigger block. Throw in some just because maybe.......

        1. User avater
          Wayfarer | Jul 16, 2003 02:31am | #9

          Good list Imerc, and Calvin, I did wire for speakers--in the masterbath too.  What I do need to do though is measure and record where those speakers are to go so that I can find the wire when I punch a hole in the ceiling (this part of the ceiling being between two floors).  I suppose I could fit some 1 X material and just hang the wire down and have the sheetrockers allow it to poke through, then drill my speaker holes right there.

          Geez Imerc, with your list, I might as well sheath the entire inside before sheetrock. <g>  But I hear ya on the crown molding stuff and would not have considered that.  Same with the blocking for door handles!

          Didn't think of going with plywood or much 1X, and I'm luvin' my Senco finish nailer, so just another excuse to use it.  Using that nailer makes me feel like I might even know what I'm doing sometimes.  Your "glue and pin" idea makes it like you are creating some sort of backing that will not pull through the sheetrock, and the need to anchor in studs less important I take it?  I've got a bunch of 1 1/8" from the stairs I redid from the temporary steps my framer put in during his stair construction.

          Anyway, thanks again.

          1. DaveRicheson | Jul 16, 2003 02:49am | #10

            Look at all you waste line runs and put in a extra clean out or two where you can. Same thing for water supply lines. Shut off valves are cheap insurance when a water line breaks. If you already have pex water lines, you have that covered.

            Dave

      2. calvin | Jul 15, 2003 09:44pm | #5

        I block for the cabs when given the opportunity.  If tile splash, I run continuous block around lower cab tops..........little less likely to crack seasonally.  Don't forget speaker wire.  And a pvc pipe chase to attic for that electrical you didn't think of yet.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

        Quittin' Time

      3. steve | Jul 16, 2003 04:02am | #12

        2x6 blocking for upper cabinets is always a good idea usually at 54 and 84 inches from the floor, but not nesessary for base cabinets usually unless a small cabinet is by itself and a stud is not nearbycaulking is not a piece of trim

        1. User avater
          Wayfarer | Jul 16, 2003 06:02am | #13

          Dave, what? "...are cheap insurance when a water line breaks."  When?  You mean I should plan on it?  Okay, noted...but, you guys have already loaded me up, but I figure I can put this stuff in after I get my rough inspection.

          Coma, doing that with a digital now.

          Steve, I'm kinda leaning towards Imerc's suggestion about the plywood.  I got that extra 1 1/8" plywood just waiting to get cut up with my table saw and attached with some 2 1/2" finish nails on the Senco.  Where this really works well as I see it is that I can cover some plumbing and electrical due to the shallowness of the plywood in my 2 X 6 walls as part of the blocking for the cabinets.

          You guys may look at this like pretty simple, remedial stuff, but youse all given me some pretty good direction on simplifying my finish work, which I plan to do most of, down the road.

          I'm not sure I really need to block for a chair rail though.  I'm not really sure that I really need to block for some left-over wainscoating I used at an exterior entry ceiling given I read another post about gluing to drywall.  It's only on an island.  But, with the plywood and finish nails, it could be very little effort to put some backing halfway of the length of island height.

          1. User avater
            IMERC | Jul 16, 2003 08:07am | #16

            Is that 1 1/8 plwood real plwood or some other kind of material?

  2. VaTom | Jul 15, 2003 08:26pm | #3

    Hi Wiley,

    Pre-wire for an alarm system?

    PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

  3. andybuildz | Jul 15, 2003 11:18pm | #6

    IMERC always seems to beat me to it. What he said!

         Too bad he doesnt live in my neck of the woods anymore,,,,,sure could use some reliable help about now.

     Be a chief

                     andy

     

     

    In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

    http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

    1. User avater
      IMERC | Jul 15, 2003 11:47pm | #7

      I keep asking... What's the pay?

      BTW, You squaw?

      1. andybuildz | Jul 16, 2003 12:59am | #8

        yeh yeh.sqaw in a G string,,,,,,eeeeee ugly sight..lol.

        Pay is whatever yer worth......what kinda wampam you lookin fer?

        I have an island to sell ya.....just turn me on to Pocahontas fer a few daze....lol.

             All kidding aside (that'll be the day).....if yer serious about getting out of the mtns  for a few...give me a call and I'm sure we could work things out...

        631 659 3007. Would be a gas I'm sure.

         and hey....I'd be willing to do the same for you..getting off the island that is, and into yer mtns......and lets not forgt the week with Ram Dass and friends up at Omega in Rhinebeck, N.Y in Sept.....Wanna share a tent up on a platform with electric and two cots? 

        Did it many years..its a total stoned gas.Surrendering to the Moment: A Gathering of Hearts

        Would love to share the week with you....let me know bro.

             BE well

                     Namaste'

                                andy 

         

        In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

        http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

  4. User avater
    artacoma | Jul 16, 2003 04:01am | #11

    Get a cheap camera and take pics of all the walls that have utilities inside of em. ............Rik

  5. donpapenburg | Jul 16, 2003 06:25am | #14

    I have never done it ,but a buddy of mine puts boric acid  powder in all the wall cavities . supposed to defeat the creapy crawlies . may do it in my kitchen .

  6. hasbeen | Jul 16, 2003 07:10am | #15

    IMERC's made you one hell of a list!  Seveeral things on there I've never blocked for.

    My two bits:  Add CAT5 cable.  Most homes will want LAN ability before you know it (I know of a couple that have already retro'd in CAT5 for a LAN).  Phone wire to all possible computer locations, possibly cable TV wire (possible source of internet service).  No less than 5 "pair" of phone wire to the house (from the network interface).  Ask other computer nuts for more suggestions in this regard.  This stuff is going to be standard in not too long, might as well do it now.  You may need advice from someone a lot more knowledgeable than me as to how to run all in proximity to house wiring and not cause problems (something about parellel high and low voltage to close together?  I'm not sure...)

    Probably overkill, but I've used scrap 1/2" ply to sheath the wall of a bathroom under the rock where I thought there'd likely be towel racks.  At our house we have towel racks two high and I think there's a likelihood that homeowners will put towel racks at all sorts of heights.

    Glad to hear of your project's progress!  I'm drawing plans this week for my new place.  Plan on being weather tight before Thanksgiving (we'll see...)

    Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

  7. toast953 | Jul 16, 2003 09:00am | #17

    Good stuff on these Boards, my 2 c's, you got all  your drywall blocking in??, if you have any slider's, I would, suggest, at least one block in the middle of where the active slider close's. Mark on the floor, then tape over with duck tape, anything you don't want to nail, or screw into. Uncover tape, after painter's are gone. I'am sure you have a light, and receptacle in the Attic, and crawl space, or do you? Either sight your walls, or use a straight edge, for bad studs, and check all openings for #'s and Plumb, especially the Mirror by-pass. If you have any recessed Lights  I'd address the insulation/ clearance's now. Congrates to you. Jim J.  ps rest up for the next wave of decisions

  8. User avater
    GoldenWreckedAngle | Jul 16, 2003 11:14am | #18

    Stick a few surprises in there while your at it. Never know how much an old scrap of newspaper, hand written note or photo might mean to the Andy C that is remodeling your place 300 years from now.

    If you want to be a smart alec stick a photo of the wall plumbing in the wall with a dated note that says, "now don't you wish you would have had this picture 15 minutes ago?" :-)>

    Kevin Halliburton

    "I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity."  - I.M. Pei -

  9. Texfan | Jul 16, 2003 11:37am | #19

    I use spray paint on the slab (unfinished  floor) to mark elec. wall recepticles and other pertinent outlets prior to drywall.This helps make sure nothing gets covered up by wallboard. It happens; and then a circuit doesn't get made up. Pain in the caboose! (Also mark studs for nailing purposes)I also turn a stud flat side at the end of a tub that's getting tiled and center it on the edge of the tub. It gives you something to fasten the lath for ####mudjob or whatever backerboard you might use , especially that 1" leg for the tile trim going to the floor. iTenir feliz tiempo!.......................(have a good time)

    1. User avater
      Wayfarer | Jul 16, 2003 06:52pm | #20

      Thanks for all the help gang; I will be busier than I thought in the next week.

      don, I never thought of that; what is the "shelf life" on that stuff I wonder?

      Imerc, that is real plywood I was referring.  Also, when you wrote "glue and pin" are you suggesting squeeze a bead of construction adhesive on the ends of the latter where it meets the studs?  That makes total sense.

      Kevin, LOL, kind of like a time machine, eh?  I think you're on to something.  I might type something up, maybe giving a brief history about the project, the property being in the family, maybe a little about me and make several copies, distributing it in an envelop titled something like "To whom now has this house" and put in a few walls.  Hopefully I won't have to find them myself down the road.

      Bill, you are spot on as my electrician suggested the same thing about marking out the boxes; he suggest some of the day-glo marker paint.  Regarding the tub area though; that is all closed up as it was a shear wall on the inside and I had to sheath the other side to accommodate a deck ledger earlier this spring.  Kind of bummer too cuz I would have switch around a little electrical.

      44, yeah, I think I am cool with the insulation as I got the IC cans which is suppose to allow contact with the insulation.

      Hasbeen; I went overboard I guess with what you are writing about.  I used structrured wire which includes in the cable, two coax and two Cat5 lines.  The dang box for all this structure wire is bigger than my main electrical panel. 

      Edited 7/16/2003 1:17:39 PM ET by Wiley

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