The Gypsum Circus

At the end of last week, I was driving past the house with not  a moment to spare when I saw this:

Holy Sheetrock, Batman!  For this I have to stop!

Look at all that sheetrock!

They just popped out a few windows and loaded it onto the crane and through the window where  waiting hands loaded it onto dollies and wheeled it into the rooms.

Oh, and could I have a side of joint compound with that?

This fine fellow ran the crane:

The sheetrock hangers were trembling with anticipation.  They couldn’t wait to get to work.

They worked so fast!  They banged up the sheets and then… zip!

A quick hole for the smoke detector. 

I actually had a hard time taking pictures, because there were so many workers carrying sheetrock, nailing sheetrock and putting in nails and screws.  I was in the way wherever I went.

The overall process seemed chaotic, but they sure did work fast.

Now this, my friends, is called working under a deadline.

You see the fellow below had the job of making sure that there was no foam insulation sticking out beyond the profile of the studs so that the sheetrock wouldn’t bulge.  The guy straddling the stairs is hanging sheet rock.  And dropping nails.  That’s where the dead part of deadline comes in.

And speaking of straddling like that, I remember climbing walls and doorways (especially doorways) like that when I was a kid.  Did anybody else do that?  I think it drove my mom nuts.  We would run around outside barefoot and then come in and climb the walls and doorways with dirty feet.  It’s amazing that I lived long enough to build a house of my own, isn’t it?

Another load of sheet rock went around to the back and into the garage for the basement.

 

By the end of Saturday, you could no longer see through walls.  The only openings were the carefully designed axes that we first saw on the plans.

Here is the center line (or axis) from the front door through the foyer, past the coat closet and on to the living room windows.

And here the line or axis from the library through the foyer and on into the dining room.  Looks like we’re having sheetrock mud for dinner.

And then here is the line from the living room down the hall, past the stairs on the right and the powder room and pantry on the left and on into the kitchen.

The master bedroom is starting to look like a room.

And so are the kids’ bedrooms.

 

 

 

And of  course the heart of the home – the kitchen/family room now has doors, sheet rock, fireplace and

… a pyramid of sheetrock mud.

Oh, and speaking of fireplaces….

the brick mason (Santa to be precise) finished the raised hearth on the porch.  Now we can put the floor down and finish the siding above the French doors.