From the very beginning of this let’s-build-a-house idea, Tache has said, “I don’t do two things: insulation and drywall.” Before I get into the rest of this, can we all just take a minute to be amazed at everything Tache has done and will do to build this house of ours. Yes, he’s had some help, but all in all, he has had his hands on every inch of this house – foundation, framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical… it’s quite remarkable. If it weren’t for his already generous ego, I would tell him every day how incredible he is. For those of you who know him, you know he already knows that. And he knows I know he is, so we’re all good.
Now back to what he doesn’t do: insulation! When asked why, he simply said it sucks. I asked him to elaborate for the blog and got: it’s itchy and sneezy and a general pain in the ass. (Excellent details!) So, in lieu of pain in the assery, we had nearly 5,000 feet of insulation delivered, rolled out, and tucked into the walls and ceiling – sprinkling bits of fiberglass into the air with every move (the itchy and sneeziness of it). To meet energy codes, our insulation is R-21 in the walls and R-49 in the ceiling. Readers, I can’t tell you what those numbers mean exactly, but I know I will be dryer and warmer and generally more comfortable than boat and trailer life!
The drywall arrived next and the hangers (as I now know they are called) were either extremely dedicated or hated their job so much they wanted to get it done as soon as possible (Tache assures me it’s the latter). They had to take the ferry over from Edmonds, so they would show up super early and stay late into the night. They managed to hang the entire house in 3-4 days. They left the place looking like a disaster zone, which drove Tache bonkers, but at least I got to practice my Spanish: Dónde está el baño? Which reminds me – Tache put in a toilet for them! (Not for me… for them.) No hard feelings, I’ll take a real toilet any way I can get one. Gracias, amigos!
The real time consuming activity of this whole phase is what comes after the drywall is hung – the taping and mudding of seams, the filling of screw holes, the hiding of blemishes… then doing it over and over and over again until everything is flat. Looking back through my pictures, I see they started the process on October 12. They just finished this week – almost exactly a month later. I didn’t ask Tache why he doesn’t do drywall, but I have a suspicion the time-consuming tediousness of the work might have something to do with it.
It wasn’t actually all their fault the mudding took so long. Mother Nature decided to kick the PNW’s ass last Friday with a wicked windstorm that took down hundreds of trees around the county. More specifically, she dropped a tree on our street that left us without power for three days. We camped out at Meg and Jodi’s the whole weekend, watching football (go Wogs!) and playing euchre. On Monday, neighbor friends texted to tell us the power was back on. YAY! We left Meg and Jodi’s as light flurries began dusting the roads. Within the 15 minute drive back to our place, it became a full-on snowstorm. Tache nearly rear-ended me at one point as I fishtailed down a hill. My heart was racing and I honestly didn’t think it could get worse… then we pulled onto our street, only to witness Mother Nature’s sense of humor at its finest. She dropped a new tree in the exact same spot as the previous tree that took out our power. Hilarious! Luckily, Tache had a chainsaw in the back of his truck from dealing with the aforementioned windstorm. Dreaming of finally getting back to our cozy little trailer, we bundled up and began cutting the damn thing out of the way. As Tache fired up the chainsaw, I looked up at the evening sky as fireworks brightened the blustering ice chunks as they now were. How strange I thought… and how close… BOOM! The transformer blew and this time I wasn’t laughing at Mother Nature’s practical joke. We were once again without power and a tree away from getting home.
It wasn’t all bad. With other people doing the work, we were able to get out and have some fun! I went to IA to meet all my coworkers I chat with on the computer all day and had a helicopter search and rescue training. For Tache: another building project and a lucrative salvage gig (hmm, so he works when he’s not working??).
The highlight of the last month (or even last few years!) was a night with Elton John at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. People, he played all the hits – hits you forgot you knew and hits you forgot were hits. He’s a legend, an icon, the true definition of a rock star. We knew it was going to be an amazing night, and Elton completely delivered. He did ride a chair elevator off the stage, but hey, that’s pretty good for 75! I wanted to look my best for the show, so I popped into Goodwill in hopes of finding an appropriate outfit for the celebration. As luck would have it, the most perfect dress was waiting for me. See pictures below – and trust me, this won’t be the last time you see it!
We were just saying yesterday we needed an update….thank you!!! You’re getting so close to the finish! Tache, you’ve lived in houses a whole lot less along than this one😜
And yes, you are impressive.💕
Amazing! You both are amazing! I cannot wait to come visit, but will try my best not to have it occur during windstorm/snowstorm season. Go Wogs!
Next time the power goes out – we’re coming to your house!
Really impressive