Have been working since before Christmas to finish the 2nd phase of re-wiring the house. The first phase was completed in tandem with our kitchen project back in 2007. That thread is: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f90/kitchen-project-picture-heavy-18628/. The final phase includes pulling up the T&G attic floor, rewiring the 2nd floor, insulating the attic, & re-installing the floor.
First, a little background…
The house was built using what we’ll call 2x4 sheets of cement board which was finished in plaster. The cement board sits on a1x4 ledger board nailed to the stud wall. The baseboards nail to the ledger board.
Everything was going well until the last room.
Shop setup in bedroom…
Baseboard & ledger board removed… Take advantage of the chase created by using a right angle drill to drill holes thru each stud for wire. Outlets are installed in the baseboards, like the originals.
An aside - Unwelcome visitors… Wasps & mud-daubers. Wonder how they got in…
Same picture w/no flash – note the daylight that shouldn’t be there…
Wiring finished & baseboard reinstalled…
The punchline… The week before last, while working on the last room, having completed 3 bedrooms & a bath – when things went a little differently. The ledger board wouldn’t come out – it was sitting on the hardwood floor; creating a risk of damaging both the floor & the plaster if it was forced out. So, I took out the drill & trusty Sawzall to cut a hole between each stud to allow drilling the holes anyway. When sppessssshhhhhhhh, I’d hit a water pipe. A flood ensued. The Sawzall had lived up to its name.
I didn’t cut all the way thru…
I have to admit, sitting in the floor with water shooting out of it with a plugged in Sawzall I’d dropped in it, was a scary thing. As I was sitting there with my hand up against the wall blocking the water, calling for my wife for what seemed like an eternity (10-15 seconds), I kept thinking ‘hair dryer in the bathtub!, hair dryer in the bathtub!’, She ran in with towels to slow the water til I could run out to the street & turn off the water with a T-bar. Fortunately, most of the water stayed near the wall & followed the stud cavities to the basement where it could be mopped up. Very little water came out in the foyer & living room ceilings downstairs.
Crisis averted! As I say, we’re to the point of laughing about it now.
First, a little background…
The house was built using what we’ll call 2x4 sheets of cement board which was finished in plaster. The cement board sits on a1x4 ledger board nailed to the stud wall. The baseboards nail to the ledger board.
Everything was going well until the last room.
Shop setup in bedroom…
Baseboard & ledger board removed… Take advantage of the chase created by using a right angle drill to drill holes thru each stud for wire. Outlets are installed in the baseboards, like the originals.
An aside - Unwelcome visitors… Wasps & mud-daubers. Wonder how they got in…
Same picture w/no flash – note the daylight that shouldn’t be there…
Wiring finished & baseboard reinstalled…
The punchline… The week before last, while working on the last room, having completed 3 bedrooms & a bath – when things went a little differently. The ledger board wouldn’t come out – it was sitting on the hardwood floor; creating a risk of damaging both the floor & the plaster if it was forced out. So, I took out the drill & trusty Sawzall to cut a hole between each stud to allow drilling the holes anyway. When sppessssshhhhhhhh, I’d hit a water pipe. A flood ensued. The Sawzall had lived up to its name.
I didn’t cut all the way thru…
I have to admit, sitting in the floor with water shooting out of it with a plugged in Sawzall I’d dropped in it, was a scary thing. As I was sitting there with my hand up against the wall blocking the water, calling for my wife for what seemed like an eternity (10-15 seconds), I kept thinking ‘hair dryer in the bathtub!, hair dryer in the bathtub!’, She ran in with towels to slow the water til I could run out to the street & turn off the water with a T-bar. Fortunately, most of the water stayed near the wall & followed the stud cavities to the basement where it could be mopped up. Very little water came out in the foyer & living room ceilings downstairs.
Crisis averted! As I say, we’re to the point of laughing about it now.
ccasion1.
