2007 Adding Molly's Office and Our 2nd Floor Parlor
Page 2 of 2: Interior Work (Sept 12-Oct 31)
Last Updated 1/20/2008
2007 Adding Molly's Office/2nd Story Parlor Part 1
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Below: Electrical and Insulation. With the exterior work completed we turned to the inside of the room. First on the list: electrical work. Soviet style homes and apartments have one electrical outlet per room or, if all the stops were pulled out, two. We wanted to have plenty of outlets and plenty of lights so that old guys like me could see to read. We ran 150 meters of cable to wire the room. Noah still remembers the day he spent twisting all the ends after I had stripped them. After testing all of the sockets and switches we disconnected the power and began insulating. Then we used two layers of insulation in all the walls. First a layer of rigid foam insulation followed by fiberglass bat insulation followed by a vapor barrier just behind the dry wall.
Concrete demolition. Above: We had two areas of concrete wall to tear out. First (above left) we needed to enlarge the attic window so that we could install a doorway into the attic. Second (above right) we had to remove the old living room back door, window, and half wall to make an archway between the living room and the new room. The Kazakhs have a saying: "The eyes are cowards but the hands fear nothing." So we attacked the concrete with patience, determination, and a hammer drill. The concrete itself is fairly easy to drill and cut but the rebar is a nightmare. First you have to expose each piece with the drill and chisel and then you have to cut each piece with a metal cutting blade. You can see the outline in the photo below right with Amanda ready to push the piece through into the attic.
Dry Wall/Mud. With the dust still settling from the first concrete demolition we removed the living room door and window (but not the half wall yet) and finished off the dry walling. Noah and Amanda became expert at mudding over the drywall screws.
Then it was time for the dust to fly again. We sealed up the living room as best we could and began chipping away at "THE MONOLITH". Three days, 4 drill bits, and hundreds of sledgehammer blows later on Oct 4, it fell. Now the only thing standing between the living room and the new room was the old radiator. But for that we required local help from a plumber and that means waiting ... waiting ... waiting.
With the radiator holding out against our steady advance, we smoothed out the concrete, framed and dry walled the archway and began sanding and applying the 2nd and 3rd coat of mud. DUST was everywhere despite our best efforts to seal everything. Oh well, "where there are no oxen, the manger is clean."
Paint. After the drywall it was time to trim the inside of the windows and add the sills (4 days) and then begin to paint. We painted the concrete with a very smelly red floor paint to seal it. It took 16 hours for the smell to be tolerable after each of 2 coats. Then we primed the walls and ceilings and began painting.
CHOICES. I have until now maintained a rule in our house that all the walls will be white. This was primarily because there are only 5 colors to choose from in Kazakhstan and they are all ugly. Until now! I knew that I wanted to find the best polyurethane possible for the "hard" wood floors so I began asking at the market. One day I got a fantastic lead about a new Finnish paint store that had just opened. It turned out to have everything we needed. They had computer mixing technology and 15,000 colors to choose from. That's where the trouble started for our family. It turns out that Amanda and I like the same colors and Noah and Molly like different colors especially green. We had no trouble picking the downstairs color (blue) and we decided to allow Noah to choose the color for the upstairs. You can see his choice below right. He absolutely loved it and Amanda and I absolutely hated it. Molly was very fond of it but was open to other choices. In the end we decided that the green was hideous and sentenced it to being forever covered by a sunny, happy yellow. We gave Noah a few minutes alone with the doomed paint, took a few last photos, and began the execution. We did save enough of the green paint to paint a newly dry walled corner of Noah's room green so that he could gaze upon it every day and be happy. You will see the new yellow in photos of the 2nd floor below.
Hardwood Floors. The next step was installing the "hard" wood floor. It is about 3/4ths as hard as oak. We know this because we have seen it "dent" from sharp chair legs. We put down a vapor barrier, framed and insulated the floor and then installed the hard wood flooring and sealed it with 4 coats of polyurethane. Not all of the seams are perfect but it didn't turn out too bad for my first try at hardwood flooring.
Above: The glorious yellow and the flooring before it is sealed.
Below left: the first floor after four coats of polyurethane. Below right: the trim, baseboards, and crown molding have been installed and painted.
Above Left: Amanda looks up through the folding "attic ladder" that we installed instead of stairs. The room was finished except for removing the old radiator and connecting the new one on Oct 27. We had to wait two weeks before putting any furniture on the polyurethane.
Above Right; The room after we moved in Molly's desk and a sofa.
Below: The plumber finally showed up in December. Below right: The archway is open!
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Above: The completed archway without the old radiator. Above right: Looking back toward the living room from the new room.
Below: Amanda and Noah looking down from the 2nd story.
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Above 4 views from the 2nd floor. It is small (first floor 100 sq. ft., second floor 60 sq. ft.) but we love to sit on the 2nd floor and look out at the mountains or read. We have our daily devotions up there as a family. It is our little prayer closet and refuge from the pressures and sadness of Kazakhstan. A place to dwell on the greatness of our Creator and Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ and regain lost perspective. It allows us to leave Kazakhstan any time we wish. Praise God. Now isn't that yellow a beautiful color!