Something about painting that I hate it...the mess...I can't seem to avoid the mess. At first it isn't too bad, I carefully avoid the mess then some gets on the drop cloth, then I forget about it and step in it then it gets spread around ARRRGH!!! My wife is one of these demented people (or maybe possessed) who can paint all day in her best clothes and never get one speck on herself, it's not natural. Not me, I get covered in the danged stuff. I even get it on me if I'm not the one painting. My adult daughter came home and painted our guest bathroom as a favor. I had very little to do with the project but managed to get a big stripe of paint on the sleeve of one of my favorite shirts GAWD. The paint seeks me out.
I will say for the investment of money and time it gives the best return. The room looks so much better but in the meantime there is the aggravation. One fun thing that happened this time was I had to remove wallpaper which I have been dreading (and avoiding) for years. That turned out to be the easiest part of the whole project. I got a wallpaper steamer and steamed it; it came right down. Then I steamed and scrubbed the glue off the wall with soapy water, it hardly needed any scrubbing at all. I may have got lucky but I hope not because I have a lot more wallpaper to remove in this house including the gold fuzzy stuff (and gold shag carpet yeah baby!!) in the dining room.
I'm taking today off to finish. I have two coats of the light color on the ceiling and closet wall of the middle bedroom. What's left is the second coat on the other three walls and the trim. Then she wants a wall of bookcases (built in) in the trim color so I will get the plywood for that and start that project. My wife likes books, we have a lot of books.
I forgot the crown molding, she wants crown molding in there too. That will cover up my stupid looking edge at the wall-ceiling boundary. I did crown molding in the front bedroom. My Makita 12" sliding compound miter saw made that a breeze, easy.
Dave Karoly, post: 398255, member: 94 wrote: Something about painting that I hate it...the mess...I can't seem to avoid the mess.
You know, the professional painters actually use brushes, don't you? While a gloved hand dipped in paint may seem efficient from an engineering standpoint, its unlikely to perform that well.
Kent McMillan, post: 398258, member: 3 wrote: You know, the professional painters actually use brushes, don't you? While a gloved hand dipped in paint may seem efficient from an engineering standpoint, its unlikely to perform that well.
Yes I dip the brush into the paint then some of it drips somewhere, etc.
My Dad who will turn 88 in February has always said that there are only two things that he can't do. Brain surgery and paint. I have never seen a paint brush in his hand.
Dave Karoly, post: 398255, member: 94 wrote: Something about painting that I hate it...the mess...I can't seem to avoid the mess.
Professional painters know this and take steps to prepare for the inevitable...
If you don't want paint on it; tape it or cover it; and don't step on the drips. :smarty:
RADAR, post: 398265, member: 413 wrote: Professional painters know this and take steps to prepare for the inevitable...
If you don't want paint on it; tape it or cover it; and don't step on the drips. :smarty:
Yes, I buy edge locking tape. My cut in skills are pretty poor :-(.
Years ago my brother Holden and I were painting one of his rent houses and it seemed to require a lot of beer. We stood back to back for a good long time while painting our respective wall and I finally spoke, "Now I know why painters drink".
Holden didn't even turn around when he said, "Now I know why drinkers paint...". 😉
Dave Karoly, post: 398255, member: 94 wrote: (and gold shag carpet yeah baby!!)
Just wait until your SWMBO wants the "popcorn" ceiling replaced, that's a whole lot of fun. 😎
paden cash, post: 398267, member: 20 wrote: Years ago my brother Holden and I were painting one of his rent houses and it seemed to require a lot of beer
The production house painters, down here in wonder world, have more beer than paint in their trucks. 😉
I can't believe you guys haven't figured it out yet...
If SWMBO wants something painted you need to make a horrendous mess and fubar it up soooo bad she will never, ever ask you to paint again..
It's worked with every wife I've ever had. 😉
I used to have neighbors who did that. Except it was the girlfriend who would fubar things up so bad that the boyfriend would wind up doing the painting and house repairs.
Tape and plastic sheathing......a lot of each.
Spackle is fun.
Getting the texture the right amount of lumps per square foot can test my patience.
FL/GA PLS., post: 398270, member: 379 wrote: Just wait until your SWMBO wants the "popcorn" ceiling replaced, that's a whole lot of fun. 😎
I lucked out on that. The house SWMBO picked has no popcorn ceilings, thank Gawd.
There is lots of wallpaper which I have been dreading removing for 18 years but this first time I tried it, it wasn't a big deal to remove two layers of paper and the glue. I probably did the easy wall first, gave me unwarranted confidence probably.
A Harris, post: 398280, member: 81 wrote: Tape and plastic sheathing......a lot of each.
Spackle is fun.
Getting the texture the right amount of lumps per square foot can test my patience.
I switched to using drywall mud, it's way better than the various spackle products. It doesn't dry very fast but it sands nice. I'm using it to fill finish nail holes in woodwork then sand, it sands perfectly flat to the surface which will be painted. Spackle seems to bulge out no matter how hard I try.
Dave Karoly, post: 398288, member: 94 wrote: There is lots of wallpaper which I have been dreading removing for 18 years but this first time I tried it,
Good to see someone is on the same home improvement schedule as I am. "I know I said I'd replace the kitchen when we bought the house back in 1997, but hell it took Karoly 18 years just to remove the wallpaper. I did that in 2008" 😉
James Fleming, post: 398296, member: 136 wrote: Good to see someone is on the same home improvement schedule as I am. "I know I said I'd replace the kitchen when we bought the house back in 1997, but hell it took Karoly 18 years just to remove the wallpaper. I did that in 2008" 😉
Bought this place in Summer of 1998.
Dave Karoly, post: 398255, member: 94 wrote: I got a wallpaper steamer and steamed it; it came right down. Then I steamed and scrubbed the glue off the wall with soapy water, it hardly needed any scrubbing at all. I may have got lucky but I hope not because I have a lot more wallpaper to remove in this house including the gold fuzzy stuff (and gold shag carpet yeah baby!!) in the dining room.
Great to hear you have the survey component down! I'd encourage you to collaborate with other innovators to solve the many facets of this competition (including the paperwork!). 🙂
It's good to hear we're not alone. We're just going into the 15th year of a 2 year remodel. I try to do lots of stuff myself: wiring, plumbing, new furnace & ductwork, replacing windows, etc.
One thing I'm swearing off is charity-case contractors.
1) Hired SWMBO's hairdresser's hubby to replace roof: "....he's out of work right now and we could really use the money..."
Roof's OK, only a couple of minor leaks, but what a mess they left, I'm still finding nails and pieces of old roof in the shrubbery. The shrubbery they didn't wreck, that is.
2) While SWMBO was going to be out of town for a week, I hired the cousin of a friend of a friend to drywall the hallway/stairway ceilings: "he's been sick and is out of work and his wife's real sick and can't work (with alcohol induced liver failure, I found out after the fact) but he's an excellent drywall guy...
Well, the 2nd floor hall ceiling is 22.5' above the floor below, requiring the construction of an elaborate Rube Goldberg scaffold on the stairs. Moving between floors became a contortionist's nightmare squeezing through and around this contraption. So, they got all the rock screwed to the ceilings by Thursday, and Drywall Dude asked if maybe I could front him half of the money "for groceries" and he'd come back and start mudding on Friday. They never showed up on Friday. Or Saturday. Obviously not on Sunday, when SWMBO, who knew nothing of my little project, got home. After a couple of trips through the jungle gym, she wanted to know how long she'd be doing this? Oh, not long, two or three more days. Ha. No show on Monday. Called him Monday night; no answer, no machine, no nada. No show on Tues. Drove 20 miles to his house at 10 AM. Answered the door in his jammies. I could hear Rachel Ray on the TV from in the house. "So," I asked, "when do y'all think you might shake loose to come and finish the ceilings?"
"Oh, man, I'll be there this afternoon to put on the first coat". And he did show up, but we were 'till the next week getting that scaffold removed. I still owed him a grand, and I paid him every cent- $50 a month. I even skipped a month once in a while, just to make him call and threaten me.
SWMBO likes to paint, and I don't paint. She's kind of a hurry-up-immediate-gratification painter, though - paints around switch and receptacle covers (mostly around, some on) and her cutting-in can be a bit ragged, bless her heart.
When we got the place, she decided she didn't like the Tuscan motif hand painted grapevines, bunches of grapes and wine bottle borders with which apparently the previous owner's 5th grade child had decorated the kitchen and dining room. All to go with the avocado appliances (since replaced), of course. After two coats of pigmented shellac and two coats of latex, the damned grapes still telegraphed through. Two more coats of latex resolved the problem.
When the entry hall and stairs needed prepping and painting, I hired a pro. OMFG, what a pleasure. Really - left to go work and when we got home, they'd made progress. They showed up every day but one (opening day of deer season) and the finished product was grand.
As soon as I save up 25K, we're renting an apartment for a month or two and having the kitchen replaced, but NOT by my brother-in-law, who hints around in that direction every time he comes by.
