Where I left of on 205#2 - Walls, windows, and ceilings oh my

As I'm starting back up the blog to capture the work that has been done in 205#2, I'll attempt to fill in the gaps in the pictures that I took along the way, but most of what I've learned is that it's the thousands of  small things that really add up and take the time towards getting things completed.

Ok, so one of the first things that I did after demo was to put up the insulated foam boarding next to the furring strips so that drywall was ready to be put up on most of the walls. This was mostly to keep the heat from sinking into the brick walls in the wintertime and to keep the apartment quieter from outside sounds and adjacent apartments. I also tuckpointed the gaps in the brickwork between the two sides of my building to prevent sound/air transfer and to strengthen the building structure.

And here is an example on the bathroom before and after the foam board was fit for the space between the furring strips. The walls behind the furring strips were plaster on brick and had multiple layers of flaking paint. It may or may not have been lead paint (I didn't test), but I treated it with caution as if it were. We sealed it behind the foam and made sure to vacuum up any that fell off. 

The next thing to point out is the Safe N Sound insulation going up into the joist cavities. This increases the fire protection between floors and apartments a little bit, but mostly acts as a sound dampener. I wanted to make sure that the sounds from above wouldn't transfer every time someone walked (since while we were working you could hear almost everything up there). This is the first step in reducing the noise by killing the acoustic air sounds.

The second step in reducing the noise was to reduce the impact sound transfer by properly installing resilient channels to the joists in order to frame the ceiling. The key is to screw the metal channels into the joists, but then only screw the drywall sheets into the metal channels, but not actually into the joists themselves. This decouples the impact vibrations as they travel through the joists through the screws and then the drywall ceiling. [In hindsight I've learned that in the process of putting up these metals channels that we should have used a taught mason's sting and a laser level. The job we did was good enough, but I saw other builders nearby using this method to ensure level ceilings and framing.... #stillabeginner]



In addition to walls and ceilings, I also took this as an opportunity to upgrade my 3 main windows in these front rooms. (~$425 per window in case you are wondering for these custom vinyl giants). The top couple feet had been boxed in behind the drop ceiling, which made it look really goofy from the outside. The whole point of raising the ceiling was to regain the light into these rooms, but as I renovated the room I realized that just raising them wasn't enough since they were still single hung (meaning the top sash was fixed in place).

One of the lost secrets of these historic buildings is the built-in air conditioning that high windows/ceilings offer when done correctly. Heat rises and opening the top sash lets it escape and draw in cooler fresh air through natural convection and drafting. With the fixed upper sash, this kitchen was destined to be a hot box even with the addition of a ceiling fan. To return the historic usage of the space, I needed new windows and opted for something that was energy efficient in the winter by getting big vinyl windows that matched what I already had on the front face of the building.