When you walk into a new house, what do you see? You probably see the paint and wallpaper, the tile and the flooring. You see the cabinets and countertops, the light fixtures and the faucets. But what you don't see is the part that took the most time to install. That is because it is hidden.
The most complicated and time-consuming part of a renovation or house build is actually the part inside the walls. I always tell people that once the walls are up, your project is almost finished. The hard stuff is already done. So, what is inside your walls?
First, the entire structure of your house, all of the support, is hidden there. Every load-bearing piece of wood or metal has probably been wrapped in sheetrock and painted over. The frame of your house, those beams and posts, determine if your house withstands the wind and the snow. They are the bones of the structure, but you will almost never see them. And they are the first thing to be built.
Once the walls are up, there are three very important things that get installed in, through, and along that house frame. The electrical system gets wired, the plumbing (including gas piping) is run, and the HVAC is installed all within the space that will become your walls. There are wires, pipes, and vents that get run throughout your house in a maze of amazing utilities. This is where a huge amount of time, effort, and cost go: inside the walls. But these are all integral to the proper function of the house.
There is one more thing inside the walls. Insulation. Most insulation is used to keep the house temperature regulated. To keep the heat in and the cold out during the winter and the opposite during the summer. Those are usually placed in exterior walls. Some insulation can also be use in the walls between rooms, for fire protection or soundproofing. But you won't ever see it, because it is hidden in the walls.
Once all of that is ready, the crew can install the sheetrock, covering up all of the work that has been done. Then it is time for all of the parts you see. The wall paint, the flooring materials, the cabinets and counters, the fun finishes.
The finishes may be the flashy part; the exciting and pretty part of the house, but remember: most of the hard work happens behind the wall.
Comments