Progress update: board & paint

After the framing comes the drywall. In a matter of days, our walls were outfitted in a patchwork of soft grey orderly panels. The house felt quiet and calming. Likely because it hadn’t been so clean inside in months. It felt cohesive and restrained. I think I appreciated this phase all the more because I knew how much color and texture would soon follow.

Let me take a minute to make a note on the materials: We couldn’t get our first choice for drywall, Magnesium Oxide board, due to insane cost increase and lead times. And, we were running out of time to source alternatives because they drywall was already holding up so many other trades. I had about 48 hours to find something that met our sustainability criteria. After a bit of googling and a few phone calls to two drywall manufacturers, I came across the American Gypsum Sustainability page that explained how certain drywall meets a Greenguard standard. Here’s a list of products that meet their criteria, all of which would qualify for LEED certification. Now, LEED doesn’t always guarantee that a product is totally non-toxic, but it is a reliable indicator as someone has performed testing. I sent a shortlist of Gold Certificated products over to our drywall contractor and he selected ones that he could get in stock. ½ for the walls and 5/8in for the ceiling. Based on my conversation with the drywall manufacturers, the key characteristics that make drywall “eco-friendly” is the increased amount of recycled content in the paper backing and the lighter weight of the board, which makes it possible to transport more efficiently (maximize truck loads and consequently emit less carbon over less trips). There’s a few less harmful chemicals in order for it to pass LEED air quality standards, but it’s not saying that there’s a complete elimination any chemicals that will eventually off-gas. The other major benefit to using MgO board that we missed out on is that it is compostable. Wish we could’ve hauled off our off-cut gypsum board to our compost bins. Not so. Instead, it’s sitting in a giant pile, growing mold spores until we can get our dumpster (next week!) and haul it off to landfill. Bummer… I really was doing well with recycling as much as possible on site. I separate all the scrap metal, cardboard, and plastic each week and ask the guys to use up scrap wood as much as possible. We’ve made it through 15 months without a dumpster so far!

Ah, the other big breakthrough came during a late Friday afternoon sync with Master Plaster man, Tim White. I had been asking to forgo baseboards in favor of a clean, minimal transition from wall to concrete floor. Tim originally said No. Why not?, I pressed. And here was finally the real answer: “Because I won’t be coming over here to repair your walls when the clay gets damaged by vacuum cleaners, shoes, etc.” hmmm, “What If I promise to do the repairs myself and not hold you responsible for any damage?” He sighs, “Sure, then, we can plaster to the floor do without baseboards. But, I can’t guarantee that the drywall guys are gonna do a good job and that it will be as clean and beautiful as you have in your mind.” Face breaks from smile, “OK, it’s worth a shot. I’m so excited…I really hate baseboards.”

In order to achieve this look, the drywall team installed metal and plastic corner and edge beads and drove the mud into the floor.

After the drywall, comes the taping and floating over all the seams and nail heads with drywall mud, affectionately known as the “tape and float”. The, we can paint. All our exterior walls will be plastered direct to the Blox, but the interior walls that were made of wood framing require drywall. Most of the walls in will be plastered over top of the drywall, but a few in the Casita will be paint only. Couldn’t afford to do clay plaster everywhere, unfortunately. We volunteered to do all the painting to save money, so we have spent the last 8 weekends slowly making progress on walls, doors, trim and ceilings. Graeme gets to put his painting skills to use, while I, Amanda, dig into color theory knowledge to make paint color adjustments on site. Hot showers and massages feel amazing at end of day. Available for hire, folks! err..maybe not.