The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Betelnut]

New question:

I want to have my basement finished (dry walled, etc.) but do it sort of piecemeal due to being cash poor.  Can you do the walls without doing the ceiling?  That is, what is "accepted practice" as to the order of things when it comes to dry walling?

I really want to do the walls first because my cats are finding it SO amusing to rip up the insulated walls and play with the insulation.  I don't want to restrict their access to the basement because is the best place in the house for their cat litter boxes.  The ceilings are low priority compared to the walls, at least for now.

[Slartibartfast]

Derp, you're right - I was thinking of soft-boiled.  Sorry!  Yeah, I wouldn't spin a poached egg on the counter 

[Virg]

Betelnut wrote:

"I want to have my basement finished (dry walled, etc.) but do it sort of piecemeal due to being cash poor.  Can you do the walls without doing the ceiling?  That is, what is "accepted practice" as to the order of things when it comes to dry walling?

I really want to do the walls first because my cats are finding it SO amusing to rip up the insulated walls and play with the insulation.  I don't want to restrict their access to the basement because is the best place in the house for their cat litter boxes.  The ceilings are low priority compared to the walls, at least for now."

Normally, all of the drywalling is done at once because it's easier that way, but there's nothing preventing you from doing part now and part later, so you can split the job if you like.  One suggestion I'd make, though, is to think about temping the walls.  If you put up cheap plywood or cheaper paneling, it'll keep the cats out of the insulation but won't cost much at all, and then you can save up and do the whole drywalling job in one shot.

Virg

[Betelnut]

Betelnut wrote:

"I want to have my basement finished (dry walled, etc.) but do it sort of piecemeal due to being cash poor.  Can you do the walls without doing the ceiling?  That is, what is "accepted practice" as to the order of things when it comes to dry walling?

I really want to do the walls first because my cats are finding it SO amusing to rip up the insulated walls and play with the insulation.  I don't want to restrict their access to the basement because is the best place in the house for their cat litter boxes.  The ceilings are low priority compared to the walls, at least for now."

Normally, all of the drywalling is done at once because it's easier that way, but there's nothing preventing you from doing part now and part later, so you can split the job if you like.  One suggestion I'd make, though, is to think about temping the walls.  If you put up cheap plywood or cheaper paneling, it'll keep the cats out of the insulation but won't cost much at all, and then you can save up and do the whole drywalling job in one shot.

Virg

That's a good idea Virg.  The situation is driving me crazy so even a temporary fix would help.  Luckily, my basement is virtually empty except for a few tubs and boxes (very little stuff, really) so it will be easy to cover the walls and then actually do the bit project later.

I did do some research and most people were saying do the ceiling first.  Sigh.  Time to get a budget done and start saving!

[GreenEyedHawk]

I think pressing the eggs with a spoon until I have roughly an idea of how long they take to get to the "doneness" I like, then just timing from there on would be the best bet.  I love poached eggs in many forms and make them a lot...it just drives me around the twist that it seems to be dumb luck whether or not I get them with runny yolks, like I like them. 

I use an egg poaching pot that has the little plastic cups for each egg so it's been a bit of a crapshoot to try and figure it out.

[snowfire]

One of the reasons to do the ceiling first is that then when you do the walls, the sheetrock on the walls helps support the edges of the drywall on the ceiling.  If you don't have it up already, you could do the heavy plastic vapor barrier on the walls which should keep the kitties out of the insulation and needs to go up before the drywall anyway.  Make the vapor barrier as airtight as possible, taping over where you have stapled it to the studs with either Tuck or Tyvek tape.  Seal around electrical boxes as well and use a bead of sealant where the vapor barrier meets the floor.  The object of the game is to have NO air movement in the wall at all. 

If you have more questions, PM me.  DH and I finished our basement ourselves from stud walls to wood & tile flooring and EVERYTHING in between. 

[Betelnut]

One of the reasons to do the ceiling first is that then when you do the walls, the sheetrock on the walls helps support the edges of the drywall on the ceiling.  If you don't have it up already, you could do the heavy plastic vapor barrier on the walls which should keep the kitties out of the insulation and needs to go up before the drywall anyway.  Make the vapor barrier as airtight as possible, taping over where you have stapled it to the studs with either Tuck or Tyvek tape.  Seal around electrical boxes as well and use a bead of sealant where the vapor barrier meets the floor.  The object of the game is to have NO air movement in the wall at all. 

If you have more questions, PM me.  DH and I finished our basement ourselves from stud walls to wood & tile flooring and EVERYTHING in between. 

Sigh.  I wish I were handy like that.  Plus, it is a huge disadvantage to own a small sedan when you need a big truck to transport things.  Good advice though and I might take you up on some advice! Thanks!

[snowfire]

You would be amazed at what I have gotten into a hatchback.    Eons  ago I had an '87 Mustang hatchback & I was able to get 4x8 sheets of plywood in it.  They hung out the back & I had to tie the hatch down, but I got them home.

Some of the big box stores have a truck you can rent from them for ~$20 or so an hour so that you can bring stuff home.

[CakeBeret]

How much credence do you give dreams?

I'm getting a new tattoo tomorrow and I'm really excited about it. To date, though, I've had 3 dreams of it going badly wrong. They're amusing once I wake up--I'm getting a column of Roman numerals down my spine. In the first dream, the tattoo artist said he couldn't do the numerals, so he would do cartoon apples instead. The second dream, he started the tattoo at my hairline rather than below my neck. And in the third dream, he tattooed someone else's kid's name across my neck.

I'm starting to wonder if something is *wrong* in my subconscious because of all the bad dreams. I believe in listening to intuition and instinct, but during waking hours I'm not getting any negative vibes/feelings. I'm just starting to get a little freaked out because of the dreams. Any thoughts?

[Virg]

I personally put zero credence in dreams as a window into future events, but I do think they're a good way to get a glimpse of your subconscious.  So, these whacked-out dreams may be your way to tell yourself that there's some reason to believe that something might go wrong.  I doubt any such failure is going to be as bad as what you've seen behind your eyelids but maybe you'd do well to think about the artist who's going to handle it.  Do you trust him/her explicitly to get it right and do you know his/her work well?  I'd give it all a bit of thought to see if there's any reason running around inside you to rethink the tattoo, but failing that then I'd just say it's random weird and go on as normal.  You can always do the safe route of having the artist draw it on before inking it to be sure you both agree with the result, although that'll probably cost more due to the extra time.

Virg

[CakeBeret]

I do trust the artist completely. He's done work for myself, DH, and others I know before. His process is to put the design on you in a temporary tattoo (one of those water-soluble stick-in things), have the customer approve it, and then ink it, so I'm not concerned on that front either. Plus the tattoo meets all my personal standards--meaningful, easily covered, and well thought-out. So I suppose I'll chalk it up to random weirdness. It was just the fact that I had three of these dreams that was beginning to weird me out.

[lilfox]

I personally put zero credence in dreams as a window into future events, but I do think they're a good way to get a glimpse of your subconscious. <snip>

Virg

Totally agree.  It's been on your mind a lot, very natural that it would come out in your dreams, especially if you tend to remember dreams.  Maybe it's a way for your subconscious to have a little fun trying out alternate scenarios.   

Or, it's a way for your brain to channel some other frustration or fear - for example, I've had dreams where I am ignored by a store clerk or disrespected in some way and I get angry and yell or otherwise try to take back control of the situation.  I usually realize that it's because I'm stressed about something else entirely, a real-life situation where I feel a bit powerless but I don't know how to solve it, so the dream is an emotional outlet of sorts.

[Tea Drinker]

Are you dealing with some other source of stress right now? Your brain might be grabbing the tattoo appointment and patching it together with "I am nervous about something." (I had bad dreams about missing a high school social studies test for at least a decade after I graduated.)

The other thing that occurs to me is that maybe your subconscious is having second thoughts about this particular tattoo. Maybe think about the symbolism, to the extent you can identify it. What you described doesn't sound like "I just really think it's pretty," which is part of the reason for one of mine.

[Elfmama]

I personally put zero credence in dreams as a window into future events, but I do think they're a good way to get a glimpse of your subconscious. <snip>

Virg

Totally agree.  It's been on your mind a lot, very natural that it would come out in your dreams, especially if you tend to remember dreams.  Maybe it's a way for your subconscious to have a little fun trying out alternate scenarios.   

Or, it's a way for your brain to channel some other frustration or fear - for example, I've had dreams where I am ignored by a store clerk or disrespected in some way and I get angry and yell or otherwise try to take back control of the situation.  I usually realize that it's because I'm stressed about something else entirely, a real-life situation where I feel a bit powerless but I don't know how to solve it, so the dream is an emotional outlet of sorts.

When I'm stressed, I have tornado dreams.  Usually I'm in a large public building with glass walls.  I try to make people get into cover, and they say "Oh, no, we never have tornadoes here." I can SEE the tornadoes, all around the buildings, and yet nobody else does.   

[kareng57]

I personally put zero credence in dreams as a window into future events, but I do think they're a good way to get a glimpse of your subconscious. <snip>

Virg

Totally agree.  It's been on your mind a lot, very natural that it would come out in your dreams, especially if you tend to remember dreams.  Maybe it's a way for your subconscious to have a little fun trying out alternate scenarios.   

Or, it's a way for your brain to channel some other frustration or fear - for example, I've had dreams where I am ignored by a store clerk or disrespected in some way and I get angry and yell or otherwise try to take back control of the situation.  I usually realize that it's because I'm stressed about something else entirely, a real-life situation where I feel a bit powerless but I don't know how to solve it, so the dream is an emotional outlet of sorts.

I agree, a lot of it is indeed the subconscious.  I thought I was doing "okay" a few months after my husband's death even acknowledging what would have been his birthday.

And I had one of the worst nights of my life - dream after dream of me blowing up at him over the stupidest things - like not putting his used dishes into the dishwasher right away (and I'm not exactly Suzie Homemaker myself).  Of course, it wouldn't take a rocket-scientist-psychiatrist to figure out that it was suppressed-anger over him "leaving".  Again, I'm functioning okay on a day-to-day basis, but there's no denying that there's still thoughts there.

I wouldn't worry too much about the tattoo since you're confident about the artist, but you can't help that concerns are on your mind.