Closing in the office overlook




 

Sunday, June 5: In the original house configuation, an interior opening provided an overlook from the loft/office down into the dining room. The opening is shown high on the wall in the photo at left.

I am now framing the interior walls of the new upstairs tea room, and part of that work includes filling in this overlook window.

That high opening no longer overlooks the dining room. Ever since I built the tea-room floor, it has looked like this:  just a big opening between the existing office (foreground) and the new room that I'm building.

The first step to closing up this space was to remove the drywall on the inside edges, along with the metal flashing that created rounded corners (above).



Next, I nailed these studs into the opening.



Here is the view of those studs from the tea-room side.



I asked the building inspector if it would be okay for me to install drywall on the office-side before he returned to check the new framing. I explained to him that I wished to close this wall off sooner rather than later – to reduce the amount of dust coming into the office from the construction of the next-door room. He said that was fine.

Above, I chalked lines to mark the studs on the 4' x 6' sheet of half-inch-thick drywall, then used screws to attach it to those studs.  When driving drywall screws (or nails), it is important to sink them slightly below the surface – yet not so deep that they tear the surface paper.  The point is to sink them so that they can be covered with drywall compound.  If using nails, you need a special drywall hammer to sink them correctly.  With screws, the best way is to use a drill-driver that has adjustable torque.



Around the seam – where the new drywall joins the old drywall – I applied a layer of yellow mesh drywall tape. This mesh is much stronger than paper tape, so it is less likely that any future cracks will appear at the seam.



Finishing drywall is a multistep process using various-width blades to apply compound. I picked up this skill in the 1980s while building my house in Texas. With each completed room the finishing looked more and more professional.

Step 1, above, is the taping coat. I applied the compound along all the seams and over the screws using a 6" blade.

I will come back and complete steps 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 at the same time that I am finishing the walls in the tea room. But just so you know what those steps are:

Step 2:  Fill coat – Use a wider blade (8" or 10"), and apply a generous coating of drywall compound to fill in all low spots. Do not skimp – use plenty of compound!

Step 3: Finish coat – Use the widest blade (12"). Feather the compound out in large swaths across the wall, blending the new with the old.

Step 4:  Sanding – The least fun.  But if you are skillful with Steps 1-3, not much sanding is required.

Step 5:  Texture coat – I will use an "orange peel" pattern. You can buy this texture in spray cans, but it is quite expensive.  I will ultimately need so much texture for the tea room and new dining room ceiling that I hope to figure out how to spray an orange-peel pattern with my air compressor.

Step 6:  Painting – Boring!



The view from the tea room:  no more opening – and hopefully, less dust on the office computer.