Getting the walls ready

Getting the walls ready.

Cabinets removed.
Straight wall.

Now that the mechanical room is in it is time to prepare the walls for the services to be installed in them. First thing we needed to do is put furring strips on the studs to bring them out past the steel beams so we could work with a flat wall. While we did like and are going to use the steel beams as an accent to break things up, allowing the wall to go to the ceiling without interruption was necessary to make things easier and looks better. This was especially true in the kitchen and bathroom where there was a 1/2″ bump out from the wall to the ceiling. This would make installing the upper cabinets almost impossible.

We would have liked to just spray paint the “I” beams black and leave them exposed but the previous owner had welded tabs on all the “I” beams and attached furring strips to them. I don’t know what he was going to attach to the furring strips. In order to return the “I” beams back to original I would have to cut every tab off and grind down the welds. Then we could paint them black. Also there are water pipes exposed on the side of the “I” beam.

Our plan is to attach ½” plywood to all exposed sides then we will glue alder laminate to the plywood giving the impression of wood beams. We will be doing something similar for the support braces.

We removed the drywall to the ceiling and furred in to get a flat wall to the ceiling

So attaching furring strips to the studs will allow us to drywall straight to the ceiling with no obstructions.

Another thing I did was remove all the conduit, electrical boxes, water pipes, and propane pipes.

And of course any screws, nails, or other obstructions left after removing the drywall needed to be removed. It’s amazing how a drywall screw can be overlooked up until when you are placing the drywall back up and it interferes with your work.

With the walls all prepared for services to be installed it is time to start installing the propane lines.

Mike OQuin

I'm a computer professional since 1971. Additionally I am an explorer both on the ocean and land. I enjoy both brewing and drinking beer.