insulated - slow progress

The wall is finally insulated, and the insulation is wonderful! I am told it was easy to install, from cutting to hanging. We used a stone wool product called ComfortBatt, made by Roxul. You can read more about it on their website. I had to special order it from Lowe's. I tried to find the denim insulation you always see on those home improvement shows but it turns out, this product is better suited for a garage/studio. We'll hang fireboard drywall, since our township has a code on what you can hang in a garage. We also had a friend/contractor come by to look at the floor and yikes! It will be a big expensive project to fix. I didn't allow for that kind of expense when I made my studio budget so I think I'm going to have to live with the slope. There is a section across the space that is level, everything else will have to be shimmed or leveled and bolted to the walls. My main concern was my wheel since I can't see shimming that. The laundry area is in the level section so now we're looking into moving that back into the basement when the septic system is fixed or to try to convert a small unfinished powder room into a laundry closet. I guess you can say I'm taking one for the team/family. We're still a couple or few months from having the new septic system installed due to design, permit approval and waiting for the ground to dry out so what's a few more burdens?! I'm trying really hard to get back to work as soon as possible, my studio is packed and ready to move. I'm cleaning up an area in our new basement to use. Nothing is easy here, the entire floor is covered in silt from a previous flood. So now I need to rent a floor scrubber to make a clean area to work. It's looking like our rough couple of months is going to be one long hard year. We put ourselves in this situation which makes it hard to complain, it is what it is! I'm now spending my days going between our new and old houses with a toddler and a dog, along with laundry and bathing items. It's sort or comical! I set up a pack and play in my old studio so the little lady can hang out with me while I organize things and clean, she's such a good sport. And in our new home, I'm trying to finish our new bathroom (not that we can use it) to get the giant vanity out of my new studio. I'm to the less intimidating part of covering the new tile floor and priming the ceiling and walls. Much to do, much to do...

much to do

Look at the beautiful job my sweetie did framing out the studio wall! I had to special order the insulation which I believe is made of wool so we had a slight delay. I'll fill you in on the insulation after we pick it up. I'm hoping I made a good choice.
I started with something positive because I'm pretty upset about the state of things with our house and my studio. I mentioned that the laundry is now in my space, well, another problem is pictured above. We haven't figured out how to deal with this just yet. It's quite a slope... We have a lot going on and really don't need another expense but, shimming everything from kilns, my wheel, tables and shelving just won't be realistic. If anyone has experience with this, I'd love some input. How did you deal with a sloped floor? We're going to get some quotes on having a new floor poured. Our other issue is why the laundry is in my space. Our septic system is filled with ground water. And the ground just won't dry out. We found out we're months from having a fancy new system installed and we're a good 1/2 mile from the nearest sewer, so close yet a zillion dollars and a lot of bureaucracy away. We're going to move forward with my studio conversion, new septic systems don't pay for themselves! Once we figure out the floor I can move, I am pretty much packed and more than ready to get back to work. Most of the summer show applications are up and I'd hate to miss show season. I do have a small collection of wares ready and a few bins of seconds and older pieces to sell. Not too bad ; )

Here's a picture of our new neighbors, I want to leave you with something positive! Taken from inside our house! There's a little red fox that runs around here too, he's my favorite to look for, but quite shy, I'm hoping to get his picture too.

squished- a studio update

Packing is in full swing, there are my supplies, tools, equipment, old stock, wonky pots, 2nd's and then the smash box. I'm purging as I go. This process is going so slow because I am doing it with only 2-3 hours each day dedicated to this. The above photo is from this morning... It's a big task but now it's under control. Almost all of the pots are packed and all of them are sorted, finally! I do realize it looks like an episode of Hoarders in there, but in my defense, everything is out and 3/4 of my shelving is already empty and ready to move. I closed my etsy shop today which is a little sad, I need to have a moving sale but things are not working out that way. Our new home is turning into a bigger and bigger project. Hence the below photo of my still unfinished studio. Oh where, oh where will I move my studio to?! I'm trying my best to have a good sense of humor over this but, the laundry area that we moved to the basement is now back in my studio space. My new studio is 480 sq. feet. That's not tiny but it's small for a pottery studio. So to give up an entire corner to a washer and dryer and leave room to do the wash is far from ideal. My excitement over this new space is quickly getting squished. We were supposed to be working on the walls and floor this week so I could start to move in. So here it is February and still no studio... we knew this would be rough... and it is.
More pictures on facebook.