The Second Worst Job

Once framed, the next part of the closet project was to slap on some sheet rock. I say "slap on" with no little irony, because I find that the work demands a certain level of precision to get pieces to fit just right on the first try. And I never achieve that level of precision.

So I brought in an expert for the job. Well, perhaps "expert" is a strong term. But because of circumstances beyond either of our control, he has much more experience in sheet rocking than I do. Here's my father-in-law and I beginning the project.

Paring, scraping, cutting, and cracking--all these are part of putting up sheet rock, and all four produce an obnoxious level of dust. It's another factor that makes this work, in my opinion, the second worst job in construction.

I think this was the third or fourth time we tried to get this piece to line up right:

At least I cut the hole for the thermostat in the correct place the first time, even though this floor-to-top piece I mismeasured and cut three inches short. Thank God for tall floor molding!

But two heads are better than one, and the work went without critical mishap.

I say "without critical mishap" because you'll note here the aforementioned inadvertent three-inch gap at the bottom of this section of wall--I guess I need to modify the old adage to "measure thrice, cut once":

And because of a miscalculation of supply, we had to leave the day's work done with one inside wall and ceiling of the closet uncovered:

One positive side effect of this horrid work, however, was learning that red chalk for the chalk line is so much better than white when working with sheet rock:

And at last, a couple of weeks later, with the help of Jordan-of-the-Creek, we delivered and slapped on the last interior wall and ceiling. And here it is, ready for the worst job in construction:

More to report on that later, I'm sure.

~emrys