Saturday

Yesterday was a good, solid work day. Mom-Mom and Papa arrived at around 9:30, and Papa and I were working on the shower wall right off the bat. We put in a couple of small 2-by-4 pieces to reinforce the front wall, then we put up roofing felt with staples. The roofing felt isn't completely necessary, but it's something suggested as just one more barrier against moisture penetration. After that, we installed the backer board for the tile. I bought a product called Hardibacker. It's a half-inch board made of some sort of cement that's meant for use in wet areas like the shower. We cut it with a small table saw and a masonry blade. We secured it to the studs with coated screws (whose holes we had to pre-drill with a carbide-tipped bit).

In the meantime, Mom-Mom and Jessica painted cabinets. Then, after lunch, Wayne and Tammie came by and the four of them went to Home Depot. Jessica bought light fixtures for the living room and the bathroom. Wayne helped install the living room fixture, and it looks great.

Late in the afternoon, my dad delivered some sheetrock (which we'll eventually use to fix the giant hole in the kitchen where the soffit used to be) and retrieved some unused insulation from the attic, then stuck around to help me finish up installing backer board after my grandparents had left.

This afternoon, while Jessica is working on stuff for school, I hope to make a lot of progress on the shower wall. Perhaps this evening I can write another blog entry and thus not be a day behind anymore.