So, are you ready for another attic update? Neal and I and his parents worked out butts off this weekend mudding and taping drywall seams.

Numerous people told me that mudding and taping was way worse than hanging drywall. This discouraged me greatly, because I pretty much LOATHED putting up drywall. Seriously, it made me angry I hated it so much. I hated measuring, taping, holding drywall, screwing in the screws on the studs… Ugh.

Well, as always, I’m a little weird and of course I liked mudding and taping 10x more than hanging drywall. To be honest, now that I’ve done it a lot, I think I’m actually quite good at it. It might be my calling.

First, I have to show you the halfwall Neal and his dad built. See, we had to build some sort of wall at the top of the stairs so we didn’t just walk off the edge and fall. I’m super impressed with the wall. It’s very sturdy and is seamless. It was definitely a lot of work. We had to take up the subfloor so they could secure it to the floorboards, which is really the only way to keep it sturdy.

So, after three trips to Home Depot, the wall was finally finished! Neal and his dad hung drywall. Here’s what it looks like coming up the stairs

And then this is what it looks like from the inside of the room.

I was tired and grumpy at the end of the day and yelled at Neal because I didn’t want this half-wall to take all day like it did. But I realized I was just being a bitch and that Neal and his dad worked very hard to make this a nice, sturdy wall. It’s level and wasn’t done half-assed, haha, so I really needed to quit my bitching. I’m really happy with it, and I know Neal’s proud, too.

Neal’s mom and I taped and mudded (is that a word) all day and it was pretty exhausting work, but we got so much done!

And then Sunday, we had contractors install our HVAC unit in the attic. It is very quiet and does a great job cooling the attic, as well as the second floor. I can’t wait until we have the place carpeted and finished so that we can leave the door open to let the cool air in the second floor!

Whew!

Of course, there’s more work to be done, but I really feel like the end is in sight now. Neal and I are so excited to have this room finished. I’m not sure what we’d do without his parents helping us and showing us what to do. Actually, I do know what we’d do -  we’d either not finish or have to pay out big bucks for a contractor. I have to say, I watch DIY shows on TV in a whole new light. Oh, and I need to amend my previous post about the carpet. We have decided to go with the lighter of the two swatches at this point.

Poor Ferris and Simone have been very neglected lately. We can’t let them in the attic when we are working. Poor kitties.

Neal got some shots of Simone when she was in her “crazy mode.” We’re still not sure what she was doing on the stairs, but I think she didn’t quite have her bearings.

Ha! She’s so weird.

I’ll have some pics later in the week of some flowers. Our yard has been severely neglected because of the work we’ve been doing in the attic, but I still have some pics

Thanks for stopping by my blog!