Closet Remodel: Walls and Floors (Part 3)

I thought How hard can this be? Tongue and groove boards that fit together should be easy to install. I failed to realize the intricacies of a wall in the shape of a triangle. And walking up and down stairs with my bad foot has been a nightmare. Unfortunately, the first construction day I continued to baby the foot which placed much stress on my opposite leg...and my hip went out causing me to collapse on my garage floor. Lots of pain! Again, I was forced me to convalesce and take some time off. Consequently, this remodel is taking forever as I've slowed down in order to not overwork the appendages.

 

Anyway, back to the triangles. Lots of planning, measuring, measuring again, walking up and down the stairs to check the measurements, sawing, doing it all again if the board still doesn't fit. My first wall was OK, but the gaps started getting too big. I just couldn't get the angle correct. I'll cover them up with a nice piece of molding.

For the second wall I used a cardboard template and this worked wonderfully. This is the "Mango" closet (north closet), although I might rename it "Habanero". Below you can see the comparison between the right (first and bad) wall with the gap at the top, and the very nicely done left wall.

Once all the walls are in, it smells really nice, like healthy, untreated, natural wood. No more insulation smell! And what is really great is the closets don't get hot like they used to which means the insulation is working and this winter they also won't be cold. Love it!

See the little square box I built at the back left corner? It's covering the electrical box that I needed to keep open for access. Not a great solution, but it works. There were many challenges that a professional carpenter would know how to remedy. Most of the time I was just flying by the seat of my pants. I'm sure there are better ways to do just about everything!

In the above photo the floor issue is obvious. Someone recently told me drilling holes in a beautiful wood floor is or was the procedure for adding blown-in insulation to the floors of older homes. Then they filled them with some kind of putty but not all the way so there are still deep indentions in the holes. What an ugly mess! I have discovered in the last few weeks my house is packed with insulation. Even crawlspaces that should breathe are packed full. The roof should have been left with airspace at the top for ventilation and heat control, but it's packed. The previous owners did a lot of remodeling and I'm sure it's more energy efficient now, but the insulation is gross and I wouldn't have damaged these floors to do it.

 

I used wood filler and puttied the holes flush with the rest of the floor as I plan to paint the floors. Nasty stuff when you sand it. That dust got all over everything and filled the closet with haze. Then I used fans to suck it out the window, but had to clean the floors (for the fifth time!) and dust everything so it was too much work.

Cantaloupe (south closet) is coming along. (Soon to be renamed...what is a good name for a pink-orange color? I think "cantaloupe" is too yellow-orange to be a good color synonym. Maybe just melon, but I think that's too red.) The ceiling went twice as fast as the first closet as there are benefits to experience, but just when I thought I figured out the triangle wall plan and templates, I started getting gaps again! Damn.

I think the angle was off. You can see in the above photo I finally figured it out and got the angle back on track, but again, an ugly, gapping hole. I'll camouflage it with molding. One very important discovery I've made is I'm lazy. This is really nothing new. Some things I just don't like doing, and only do them because I like the finished product. I was constantly saying to myself, "Good enough. It's just a closet." A professional construction worker wouldn't say that...well...unless they are from Rathole where there is a lack of professional anything which is why I'm doing this myself in the first place! And it's saving me hundreds of dollars in labor.

Another challenge are the teeny weeny boards I have to cut to create a wall on the sides of the door. These are about 8 1/2 inches long but because my house is so odd, they start at 8 1/2 inches and get progressively smaller the higher they go! UGH! Still, they are square. Much easier.

Then there is the other side. These boards are about five inches long. The challenge is trying to use the left over smaller pieces of wood and use the circular saw to cut them! The proper tool would be a table saw or chop saw but those are hundreds of dollars. I'm doing what I can with what I have. Looks nice though, uh? I'm getting better at this!

At this point I realize I don't have the stamina to build a house myself, even a tiny house. Hammering makes my wrists and hands hurt, and bending, lifting, holding the circular saw makes my whole body hurt. The dust makes my lungs hurt and I'm not really fond of breathing insulation even if this is the less toxic version. It's a slow process. Even though I get really compulsive with my projects so they tend to go very fast, I'm not as fast as I used to be nor as physically resilient. It would probably take me years to get a house built and I really don't know if I want the stress. This has been a good learning experience though and I'll enjoy the finished product.

Next step: PAINT! I can't wait. I'm pretty sure my whole reasoning for remodeling these closet is so I could paint two more rooms!  I found this low-VOC designer paint called "DEVINE". Incredibly expensive, about twice as much as other brands, but it seems to be very non-toxic which is what I wanted.