May 21, 2024

As of Tuesday morning, we had nine of ten windows installed in House #49. The exception being the one above, where Kristin and Lorenzo got so enthusiastic about cutting window openings in the plywood that they sawed right into the window. Oh, well. Actually, despite the fact that we have made just about every imaginable error over the years, our success rate is actually pretty good.

So now it is on to siding House #48 and mudding and sanding the walls in House #49. Here our brave warriors start to get set up for siding.

Meanwhile next door, we are working on sanding down the walls. First you mud the rough and uneven spots or the seams between pieces of drywall, then when the mud dries, you sand it down to create a smooth surface. Simple, right?

These are sanding tools. On the right is a sanding block which gets the job done and is useful for fine detail. On the left is a rotary sander. I started bringing these along the year after we had to redo somebody’s door and cabinets because of the poor job the group ahead of us had done. Doing it by hand can be tedious.

Using the sander is much more efficient, but it has the disadvantage of creating a cloud thick enough to make you feel like you are navigating a sandstorm. The water bottle in the picture above is helpful for rinsing the plaster dust out of your mouth and nostrils. These sanders do come with a bag to collect all the dust. I usually do not bother with them because they always fall off. But perhaps I should have considered that while working inside. Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow I will remember to bring a mask.

It also has the disadvantage of making you look like Caspar the Friendly Ghost when you are done.

Here JD points out to Charlotte the spots that have to be mudded in the bathroom. We will be sanding those down tomorrow.