Building An Arch...a Step by Step Guide!

OOOPS...the pantry door I built in the kitchen of the old house is too short...my wife cannot access the top of the pantry (and she's NOT happy)!!

 

An "elegant" solution:  build an Arch on top!

I started by drilling a sheetrock screw in the center over the lintel...and attaching a string and pencil

Then,  I drew an round arc and cut along the line with a sharp blade

Followed by a handsaw...

I removed the wallboard...but it broke in pieces!

One side done!

It would be easier just to place the removed sheetrock on the opposite wall and trace...but since it broke in small pieces, I had to lean my carpenter's pencil against the cut wall and traced around the inside wall...the hard way!

Finally,  both sides of my arch are exposed...

To remove the studs,  I used a reciprocating saw to cut a pilot line horizontally...

and then down following the edge of the sheetrock.

Here's the arch cut out on both sides!

You can get a kit to finish your arch...but the local home improvment warehouse didn't have one...so I used a thin piece of plywood cut against the grain instead...

And secured with sheetrock screws at each of the three studs.

Finally,  I took fiberglass sheetrock tape and cut little triangles so it would fold around the edges...

and impregnated it with joint compound, just like cast material used in a hospital

 

Here's the almost finished arch with the first coat of "mud,"  ready for more sanding and compounding.

My wife now has access for two more shelves in the eighteen or so inches above the arch and it adds a little more character to the kitchen in our old house!

The Secret Room...

I was putting an outlet box in the Hallway ceiling upstairs and noticed a large empty space above the

 sheetrock.  Upon further "investigation" (with a hammer); I discovered this:

 

A Four foot attic extends the entire length of the house...and this mysterious cedar-shake room is in the middle, under the actual roof!  Was it from an older house?

Ooops...I accidentally put my foot through the fragile sheetrock on the ceiling!

And my hands, with multiple cuts and permanently attached black 100 year old dust,  have had enough for one day!

(But I did put up an attic stairway from the Habitat Restore...anyway...now for insulation and planks!)

And in other news, the upstairs vanity now works...despite a Rube Goldbergesque PVC trap due to the fact that the plumber put the wall drain too low!!

And finally, a winter scene for you!  Happy January...

Spring comes soon!

Has it been a Year Already?

Well, almost.... 

Here's some More Before and Afters for you!

The "Parlor:"

The "Amityville Horror" Attic Closet:, now with lights and new flooring:

Dining Room:

 

And: 

Joyce' Sponge Paint in the Bedroom:

Meanwhile,
The Downstairs Bathroom has added a PVC Beadboard Tub surround and black and white tile trim;

(You'll notice the old electrical outlet between the toilet and tub is gone!)

Now for what is left to do...

Here is the List of Everything you've been wondering about that still needs to be done but were afraid to ask (in no particular order):

 



Purchase a microwave oven, glass shower doors, finish vinyl siding outside kitchen wall (Carpenter hasn't shown up for three weeks);  Upstairs bathroom; install wood floor, attach sink, do SOMETHING about the ceiling; finish laundry room, attach closet doors, finish my tiny closet...kind of like a jigsaw puzzle, put pantry shelving together.  Not to mention MOVING...and next year,  er, this year,  maybe  a garage and a new deck. (I am probably forgetting about twenty things).

And since I've started off the New Year with the flu...nothing is getting done today...but I wish you a GREAT 2011!!