Progress on the Hallway

This was a busy weekend working around the house. I submitted my building permit to the City of Ann Arbor for the bathroom on Friday so while waiting to get it approved I did some work in the hallway. 

The east wall of my hallway was super crazy. Because the hallway was part of the house where it got expanded when the neighborhood grocery was added the wall had four jogs in it and looked crazy. I had pulled the old drywall off of the section with the different surfaces a while back but decided to attack putting it back together this weekend.

Having one bump out was unavoidable due to the existing framing in that section of the hallway. On Saturday I made a plan to sister the existing studs with 2x4s adjusted to make the wall even with the old 8"x8" post in the wall that was the farthest protruding.

I aligned the 2x4s and held them in place while Frank screwed them in and then we hung the drywall together. I like to hang my sheets horizontally since it is easier to sand a horizontal seam at waist level than a vertical seam. With the drywall hung I taped and mudded the seams, corners and screw holes and then let it all dry overnight. On Sunday I sanded everything and then put another layer of drywall compound on the wall. Here are pictures of the hallway and me after the first sanding:

Yeah, I know that I am not very good at mudding, so I use too much and have to do way too much sanding. In the end all that matters is that it is eventually smooth!

I was at a bit of a standstill at this point since it would not be dry for me to sand again until the next day so once all of the dust had settled I decided to work on the ceiling. First, I added more beadboard to the ceiling in the little nook at the top of the basement stairs in the same way that I put up the rest of the hallway beadboard.

Next I moved on to paint. My plan is for the ceiling to be Benjamin Moore's Gray Sky with Nimbus Gray on the walls and Simply White for the crown molding and door trim. Sorry for all of the primer on my hands but this is how things are when I am in project mode.

It is hard to see in this picture (you have to love lighting with work lights!) but the left side of the beadboard in this photo is Gray Sky and the right side is primed white. I love that the Gray Sky will add a little color to the ceiling and set it apart from the white trim.

Two coats of primer and a coat of paint on the ceiling and the hallway looked like this:

The hallway still looks like a hot mess but it is undeniable progress. I can't wait to get the hallway finished and painted! If only drywall compound would dry a little faster. Or, if only I was better at mudding so that the process would go faster... 

Comments

[Sandy]

You can already tell that your hallway is going to look fantastic; your colors are beautiful. You are an inspiration when it comes to home projects!

[Lisa]

Sandy- Thank you so much! I hope it looks nice when it is all said and done!