Hi guys! Life has been a bit crazy since my last post, 6 weeks ago. I’ve been working on my bathroom renovation but I’ve not been functioning at 100%. Long story short…
First, I had some excruciating pain in my abdomen that resulted in a trip to the ER. (I’ve been having similar pain for the last several months -but this was the worst.) I then had follow up appointments with a GI specialist and a GYN. We think ovarian cysts are the culprit of the pain. We seem to be managing that since I have not had a recurrence in the last 6 weeks.
About a week later I get the respiratory virus crap that’s been going around. Lasts a couple weeks. Teases you by getting better and then getting worse. Then going away and then coming back… I went to the doctor last week, convinced that I had bronchitis or pneumonia. Doc said my lungs were fine and the virus just had to run it’s course. I’ve still got a croupy cough that hurts my lungs, and I sill think I must have bronchitis or pneumonia. But the doc said my lungs were fine!
Anyway, remember where I left you 6 weeks ago? I found moldy sheetrock in the attic below a vent stack. Here’s what I’ve done since then, when I’ve felt good enough to get things done.
I covered the leaky vent stack with a $3 Rain Collar. Simply slide it over the existing boot and you’re done! The fix was 100 times easier than I was expecting it to be. I left a disposable tin pan under the vent stack (in the attic) just in case this setup ever fails. The water evaporates from the pan and the drywall never gets wet. I’ve put pans under the other two vent stacks in my attic also. Just in case!
The hardest part of that job was maneuvering on the steep roof and getting from the roof to the ladder. Wes’ job is always to hold the ladder and break my fall if anything goes wrong. So far so good!
After finishing that whole “detour project”, I finally finished installing the rest of the sheetrock.
And then my favorite part — mudding! (NOT) I covered the screws and taped and mudded all the new joints. The ceiling required additional reinforcement because it has so many broken parts, holes, patches and seams. (Because I left the sheetrock on the ceiling while I completely reconfigured the space. I patched the areas where the walls and pipes had previously existed so it was pretty messed up. See picture above.)
I covered the entire ceiling with 36″ wide, FibaFuse reinforcement fabric. 
You definitely want to wear nitrile gloves when you use FibaFuse tape because the fiberglass shards are sharp! I applied the reinforcement fabric with thinned joint compound. Roll it on the ceiling with a paint roller and then press the fabric into the compound with a trowel.
I find rolling it on is the easiest way to apply large amounts of joint compound quickly. Like when you’re skim coating over textured walls.
I used a 24″ smoothing blade to skim coat the textured walls that remained from the existing bathroom and to apply the reinforcement to the ceiling.
Then I had to sand. Because I go room by room and do all my own drywall work, I finally invested in a Festool drywall sander. Expensive and heavy – but works!
I did a little more sanding with a hand sponge and looked for any and every imperfection I could find. I used spackling past on a few spots and then sanded again.
I vacuumed the walls and the ceiling to get any dust that was left, and then I primed.
I also painted the ceilings. The walls are only primed because I am not deciding what I want to do with them yet. I wanted all options open. They may end up getting covered with wainscot, but I also may end up painting them. So they need to be paint ready if that’s what I decide.
I’m building the cabinets now and that’s what we’ll talk about in the next update. Hopefully “life” will cooperate and let me WORK. I’m not good at multi-tasking so all these interruptions in my project are causing me some major irritation. LOL
Wes Womack says
Great job! Did you say TWO WEEKS? Oh boy in day three and I wish I could find something to vacuum my head out. Keep up the good work
Sandra says
I hope you get over it quickly. For Wes and Madison it only lasted a couple days. Other’s it lasts weeks and weeks.
[email protected] says
I hope you find a good solution to your health situation and are able to continue doing all the great work you do. I also don’t like mudding, it’s just so fussy and messy and when I think I’m finished I find more lumpy spots!
Sandra says
Thanks Julie. I think we are on the right track for the cysts and this virus –just sucks. But it will pass.
Ileana says
I love everything you do ! Thanks to your tutorials I have learned so much. I will pray that you stay in good health. Installed drywall over my stipled ugly ceiling in the dining room and now going to second coat of skim coating.
Sandra says
So glad to be of help and that you’re diving in to your projects with confidence!
Barbara H. says
I’m so sorry you’ve been experiencing pain and that darn respiratory stuff. Hopefully it will all stay under control. I’m so impressed by all you do.
Sandra says
Thanks Barbara. The virus is a total pain, but it will pass. Hits people differently and it’s hit me hard. Wes and Madison only had it for a few days. I’m glad, but I’m on week 3 now… Come on! LOL
Vickie H. says
Oh my goodness! I had that SAME ugly upper respiratory virus you described and it presented EXACTLY as you described! 3 trips to the doctor over a 5 week period….I DO believe I am going to live but it was SO inconvenient to be sick for so long. Glad to hear you are on the mend and tackling your fave project full steam ahead. So far it looks great! Building cabinets: GIRL! you ARE WONDER WOMAN!!!
Sandra says
OMG — FIVE weeks!?! Nooooooooooo! LOL Hope you recover fully and get back to 100% soon.
My Crappy House says
THE worst pain of my life was never definitively diagnosed, but my doctor thinks it was an ovarian cyst that burst. If you and I had the same thing, I sympathize. It was excruciating. The good news though is that mine was about 6 years ago and hasn’t happened since. Hopefully, you will be as lucky.
Sandra says
Yes, in the ER, the ultrasound showed fluid on my right ovary so the doctor said it looked like a cyst had burst. Apparently I’m very cyst-y. I have them in my breasts too! Yeah!
Tammy (Pa.) says
Sorry you went through so much pain. Hopefully your infection goes away soon too..!1
I was wondering where you were. Glad your back..!!
Sandra says
Thanks Tammy – I hope to recovery fully soon too! I’m so over this! LOL
Steve says
Hello Sandra,
I just read the following article a few hours after reading about your illness. It may not apply to you, but thought you may want to be informed about all possibilities. Praying for your speedy recovery. http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BBykWFz?ocid=se
Sandra says
Steve I actually saw that a couple days ago too. So scary. They did a CT scan and two ultrasounds in the ER and found evidence of a burst cyst and I have no more pain so I feel confident that I don’t have what he had.
Steve says
Whew, glad to hear that.
Priscila says
What paint and primer do you use for your ceiling?