Cerebral Gibberish

I finally got around to ordering and installing the arch kit of my family room entry. I ended up ordering the Insta Arch product and over all the install process was pretty simple. I’m sure I would have been done a lot sooner if I was better was doing drywall work. I would not go through so many apply mud, wait for it to dry, sand, repeat cycles. In any case with the exception of a few very minor fill ins and of course paint, the arch is installed. I took pictures during the different phases of the install so check them out HERE if you want to see the process. The pictures are labeled “Family Room – Entryway – Arch Install”.

Before	After

Yeah! one less item on my family room remodel check-list.

This weekend I cut and installed the side drywall pieces so which finishes the prep work needed to the threshold so i can get the final measurements to order the custom elliptical Insta Arch. The final measurements ended up being 44 1/8″ wide by 4 1/2″ deep. I had to do some extra work on one side when installing the drywall since the builders used a wrapped 2×4 which would have caused the width of the opening to be different front to back. The fix was to use some wood shims to which allowed me to build up support under one side of the drywall and screw it down to make it level. Any ways, I’m not sure how long it will take for the custom arch to be made and shipped but I’m hopping it will be here next weekend which means I have to start making up my mind on the flooring again.

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As an added sub-project to the family room plus a way to postpone having to decide what type of flooring to get for the family room (carpet or hardwood), I’ve decided to modify the entryway into the family room by adding arches instead of just the standard framed box that it is/was right now. I’ve found a company on-line called Insta Arch that makes a product that should make the arch conversion a lot easier by creating a custom arch form that you nail up and then do the normal drywall work to blend it into the wall. The traditional / hard-way to make arches involve creating the a rough arch frame into the entryway and then taking a strip of drywall that has been soaked in water to make it some what flexible which is nailed to the rough arch frame and hope the bending of the drywall does not snap it. After I removed the existing frame around the entryway today I found that I’ll be gaining almost 2 inches in height to the entryway which will be nice. Over all the removal process was pretty easy and I did not damage the existing drywall. Now I need to buy some drywall to cover the exposed wood and then I can take the final measurements to buy the arch conversion kit.

If this arch conversion works out I’ll be converting the other three entryways I have down stairs to arches as well which are the kitchen to dining room, the main hall to the living / pool table room and the dining room to the living / pool table room. For the dining room to living / pool table room, I will give a different arch conversion product a try from a local Raleigh company called CurveMakers. They make some really elegant / fancy arch conversion kits that I think this entryway needs. Fun and exciting stuff right?

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I’ve actually been working on this project for awhile but did not have this site up and running to talking about it. Any ways to catch everyone up, my family room has not really been used all that much since my after college roommate, Justin, moved out to get his own place. The carpet in this room was not all that great to start with, then throw in a cat, that shall go un-named 🙂 hehe, using the carpet in this room as their litter box, pretty much finished it off. I ripped out the carpet, pad and pulled up the tack strips a few months ago which unveiled a whole lot of dirt (Geezz, would be nice if home builders sweep up before installing carpet) and of course cat urine stained sub-floor boards. Cat urine, it turns out, is hygroscopic which is why the odor stick around. Well before I install new carpet or hardwoods, still not sure, I have to take care of the cat urine. I could either 1) replace all the stained sub-floor boards or 2) apply a stain & odor sealer to the sub-floor. I decided to do options 2 since it would the the cheapest and quickest solution (Well I hope its a solution, if not, a new sub-floor it is). I also ripped out all the baseboards since there is a chance they are also contaminated with urine as well. Ripping out the baseboard left some scares in the dry wall so I patched and sanded all of that. Before the painting starts I had to prep the floor by pulling up all the staples, nails and other loose material. I then took a hand planer and shaved down any sub-floor joints that were not even with each other. This will make install hardwoods easier if I go that route. This is pretty much the state I left the room until today.

The first thing I did today was sweep and vacuum up any loose debris from the floor then I applied a thick layer of the odor & stain paint along the border of the floor, basically cutting in so I can use the roller easier later.

Letting this dry gave me time to take care of a work related issue since the on-call person decided to go see a movie with the pager. Next, out came the roller and I applied the first coat to the floor. Over all this process went quickly and I did not paint myself into a corner. I did run out of paint and did not finish all of the first coat but not a big deal.

After a quick trip to Home Depot, enough time past to allow me to start the 2nd coat and apply the 1st coat to the last part I did not finish. I still have to apply the 2nd coat to that one spot and do some spot touch ups but that will be tomorrow.

Any ways, after the paint drys I still need to install new baseboard, repaint the walls and decide if I am going to install hardwoods or carpet. I’m leaning towards carpet still since the rest of the downstairs is already hardwood and being that the family room has a fireplace, I think carpet would make it more cozy. I also never understood the whole, lets install hardwood so I can place a rug over it, concept.

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