It's electric!

Wherein I Don't Really Write Much About the Post Title

Somehow I felt like having the opportunity to use a terrible post title like "it's electric!" was too awesomely awful to pass up. This post could talk some about the electrical bits of the room, but upon reflection, technical talk about 20 and 30 Amp circuits, sub-panels, and consummate dimmer switches is not the way to increase my readership. So I will talk super-briefly about the only sorta interesting thing I have going on up there, electrically speaking.

As anyone who has visited my house can attest, there is a metric embarrassment of electronics wiring that was done by the previous owner. This includes in-ceiling/wall speakers throughout the house, speakers out on the back deck, automated lighting controls, and much more. This "wired-to-the-hilt" mentality carried through to the third floor, as well. There were lots of signal wires, two network cables, two phone lines, several cable TV runs - the whole deal. Although lots more elaborate schemes were dreamt up, I put together a design that will pull it all together in a panel with a cable TV hookup, network jack, telephone jack, speaker terminals, and a feed of audio from the central system in the basement. The room will require an amplifier, and then will run to a pair of wall-mounted speakers that will supply the room with tuneful bliss.

Come back, I promise that's all!
As much as anything, that last paragraph was to remind me what I'm supposed to do with all these wires when it's time to put it all together. Moving right along...

Is it warm in here, or is it just all the insulation?
I'm glad you asked - it is the insulation (or at least it needed to be). With the electrical wires in place, the major barrier between me and drywall was insulation. Since my alleged purpose for the renovation was improved thermal performance, insulation was key. Framing as we did with 2x4's, we were able to use R-13 fiberglass batting insulation. This was definitely not the thickest available, but it was the best compromise between wall space and performance.

In the photo, you can see the front of the room mostly insulated. The straight, evenly spaced studs were very appealing as a practice spot for the novice installer. The insulation is unrolled from its bundle, measured to fit the space, then cut with a razor knife to the right length. It is then wedged into the cavity between the studs, and often will stay there on its own from friction. In cases where it's not a tight fit, or when gravity is fighting you (like in the photo), each run is stapled to the studs. The photo above has a rookie mistake (can you spot it?! Interactive!), and much of the rest of the room was done better once I knew. To make it easier to drywall over, it is recommended that the paper should be stapled to the inside of the studs rather than their face, since it helps them stay visible until the drywall goes up.

The photo on the left shows the back of the room, with a new skylight (!), and lots of insulation, including along the ceiling. A trick that Mike taught me is shown on the left of the photo - when insulation doesn't want to fit the regular way (in this case - cavity was too wide), turn it and make a patchwork to cover the space. Maybe not ideal, and definitely more work, but it picks up the slack from either sloppy or tricky framing.

The most important thing that I learned from all of this insulation nonsense was that wearing the proper gear to do the work was critical. I could get away with wearing shorts on the warm evenings up here, but long sleeves and gloves were very necessary, as well as a respirator and safety glasses. I have only a moderate itchy reaction to fiberglass, but I had enough of it that I learned to take precautions against having much of it, and always showered immediately after I was done working, which seemed to help.

Next Up...
I call some contractors and get some bigtime work done. To be fair, this was always the plan - DIY on things I can do (framing, insulation), and get the experts where it's going to be most visible (drywall, tile), or for systems I have no business tinkering with (HVAC).

Next post will cover HVAC install, beginnings of bathroom tile, and the final framing before drywall.