N's spent the days when I'm out of town painting the bathroom the last couple of weeks. It got pretty well covered, and we decided 48-72 hours after the last coat that we are happy with it. There's a spot on the ceiling that needs to be touched up, but overall the color is consistent and bright.
I cleaned off the dust that had covered the light fixture, and then installed the two accent pieces to the ends of the fixture.
Then we gathered together the supplies to install the new switches and outlet. We actually did not have a lighted switch available, but we decided to remove the lighted switch in the master bathroom. It's not a switch that we really need - both of us are used to using it, and it makes more sense in a public bathroom where there are two switches to choose from.
We replaced the lighted switch in the master bath with a regular switch. Then we replaced the two switches in the yellow bathroom. The installation's a little wonky, so we might go back later and fix this, but we weren't sure what to do right now.
Then we tried to replace the outlet. It took seven attempts with the poorly labeled circuit box before we found the correct circuit breaker. Once found, we installed the new, white outlet, and then returned the power to the bathroom. Ta-da!
We tore off the tape on the door, removed the towels that were protecting the floor, and swept up the dust.
We then began to assemble the sink parts, but we hit a snag when we realized that the new cabinet places the sink a couple of inches higher than the old sink, and we'd need a connecting pipe. So, we quit here, to wait for some help from my genius family.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Project 1: Redo the Half-bath, Part VI
The half bath under the stairs had its door installed so that it opened outward from the right to the left (I can never remember which way door "handedness" is determined, but the pictures below should suffice to explain the situation). This had two disadvantages. First, it swung into the path that people normally use to get into the room. Second, it was awkward to reach the light switch when entering the room. I had never realized before that most light switches are installed on the same side of the door as the knob and latch.
I have to assume that this was part of the original design of the house, and my best guess is that it was done to avoid a situation where the bathroom door could collide with the utility hall (the adjacent room with the washer and drier) door. It's a smart idea, but a smarter idea is to have the bathroom door open the other way and to use a hinge mounted doorstop to prevent the two doors from entering each other's path. The bathroom door never has to be opened much more than 90 degrees anyway.
It was our good fortune that we had just removed an opposite door from the upstairs bathroom (and replaced it with solid wall). It was an identical size and style, so we decided to use it to replace the awkward door.
I bought a 3/4" wood chisel for this work after checking our house books and the Internet for advice. I took off the old door with a screwdriver. So lets get to the pictures already.
Here is the precision cutout from the old hinge on the left side of the door frame:
I measured carefully by shimming under the new door to hold it at the appropriate height (using a level and a builder's square all the while), and then I used a hinge to sketch the areas to be chiseled:
I started by using a hammer to gently tap the chisel, but I soon discovered that it was easier to just push it by hand. After some time, I had two hinge cutouts that looked like this:
After the cutouts were both capable of holding a hinge piece flush with the frame, I drilled pilot holes and pulled the pin out of each hinge. I screwed the frame sides of the hinges in place. Then I screwed the door sides of the hinges onto the doors. I took a deep breath and tried to fit the door into place. It went together like a dream. Here is a completed hinge and then a picture of the door at this point (you can see how the two doors would collide if they were both opened all the way):
Having chiseled the rounded holes for the hinges, I felt that cutting the square hole for the new latch plate would be cake. First, I installed the new doorknob and latch in the same manner as I had already done for all of the other downstairs doors. Then I carefully measured the place where the new latch plate would need to go, starting by marking the place where the deep hole would hold the latch. I eventually had a diagram:
And again it was time for chiseling. I accidentally dug a chip out above the pattern, but it can be filled in. I made the latch hole as deep as possible without having to hold the chisel at an awkward cutting angle (in this picture it's at about half of its final depth):
Once the plate was installed, the door looked as good as any other in the house (at least when you can't see the half-and-half paint job and the pieces of scotch tape that someone had painted onto the inside of the door). In this photo, the door stopper is also installed:
Here are the tools I used for this project, clockwise from upper left: cordless drill/screwdriver accessories, bucket o' hinges and door stoppers, Dremel tool with wood bit, Phillips screwdriver, old and new doorknob kits, 3/4" wood chisel, 16-oz. hammer, carpenter's square, level, leather gloves, cordless drill/screwdriver, flat screwdriver, tape measure, and some other stuff that wasn't part of this project. In the second picture: drill bits, wastebasket full of wood shavings, chisel holster, bag o' screws, and utility knife. Not pictured but very important: safety glasses, ear plugs, and vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess!
In order to move this door installation project from "fully functional" to "lookin' good," here are the steps that still need to be done:
I have to assume that this was part of the original design of the house, and my best guess is that it was done to avoid a situation where the bathroom door could collide with the utility hall (the adjacent room with the washer and drier) door. It's a smart idea, but a smarter idea is to have the bathroom door open the other way and to use a hinge mounted doorstop to prevent the two doors from entering each other's path. The bathroom door never has to be opened much more than 90 degrees anyway.
It was our good fortune that we had just removed an opposite door from the upstairs bathroom (and replaced it with solid wall). It was an identical size and style, so we decided to use it to replace the awkward door.
I bought a 3/4" wood chisel for this work after checking our house books and the Internet for advice. I took off the old door with a screwdriver. So lets get to the pictures already.
Here is the precision cutout from the old hinge on the left side of the door frame:
I measured carefully by shimming under the new door to hold it at the appropriate height (using a level and a builder's square all the while), and then I used a hinge to sketch the areas to be chiseled:
I started by using a hammer to gently tap the chisel, but I soon discovered that it was easier to just push it by hand. After some time, I had two hinge cutouts that looked like this:
After the cutouts were both capable of holding a hinge piece flush with the frame, I drilled pilot holes and pulled the pin out of each hinge. I screwed the frame sides of the hinges in place. Then I screwed the door sides of the hinges onto the doors. I took a deep breath and tried to fit the door into place. It went together like a dream. Here is a completed hinge and then a picture of the door at this point (you can see how the two doors would collide if they were both opened all the way):
Having chiseled the rounded holes for the hinges, I felt that cutting the square hole for the new latch plate would be cake. First, I installed the new doorknob and latch in the same manner as I had already done for all of the other downstairs doors. Then I carefully measured the place where the new latch plate would need to go, starting by marking the place where the deep hole would hold the latch. I eventually had a diagram:
And again it was time for chiseling. I accidentally dug a chip out above the pattern, but it can be filled in. I made the latch hole as deep as possible without having to hold the chisel at an awkward cutting angle (in this picture it's at about half of its final depth):
Once the plate was installed, the door looked as good as any other in the house (at least when you can't see the half-and-half paint job and the pieces of scotch tape that someone had painted onto the inside of the door). In this photo, the door stopper is also installed:
Here are the tools I used for this project, clockwise from upper left: cordless drill/screwdriver accessories, bucket o' hinges and door stoppers, Dremel tool with wood bit, Phillips screwdriver, old and new doorknob kits, 3/4" wood chisel, 16-oz. hammer, carpenter's square, level, leather gloves, cordless drill/screwdriver, flat screwdriver, tape measure, and some other stuff that wasn't part of this project. In the second picture: drill bits, wastebasket full of wood shavings, chisel holster, bag o' screws, and utility knife. Not pictured but very important: safety glasses, ear plugs, and vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess!
In order to move this door installation project from "fully functional" to "lookin' good," here are the steps that still need to be done:
- Fill in the old hinge cutouts, the old latch plate cutout, and any other holes with wood filler
- Repaint the door and frame
Mini Project: Improving Toilet Flow
Hi, I'm "N" and I've never written a blog before (mostly because I'm not so vain as to think that strangers want to read my ramblings), so I'm starting with a very small project that is related to the renovation of the half bath under the stairs.
The paint in the area the toilet was finished, so I put the toilet back together. There's nothing very interesting to say about that; it fit back together just as it had come apart. While putting it together, I remembered that the tank on this toilet fills slowly. So I looked up the fill valve system online.
According to the printed text on the device, it is a Fluidmaster 400A series fill valve. And lucky for me, there is a troubleshooting guide for this particular apparatus on the company website.
http://www.fluidmaster.com/html/troubleshooting.html#q8
I assumed that it might be plugged, so I opened the cap...
...and sure enough, there was sediment plugging most of the holes...
...so I grabbed my Fluidmaster cleaning tools...
...and went to work.
The mini screwdriver was too big, so I mostly used the paperclip and the tweezers. And those little LED flashlights are the perfect size to hold in your mouth while working. It was annoying work, but eventually I fished out or broke up all of the sediment. The cap prevents the water from shooting straight up, so I used the cup to cover it while testing the water (this is illustrated in the troubleshooting web page, but they use a tiny china teacup for some reason...I felt that it was a job for a sturdy polypropylene travel mug).
After cleaning the apparatus, I snapped the cap back on and did a field test to see if the flow had improved. The toilet in the master bathroom has an identical Fluidmaster 400A, so I compared the fill times for the two toilets. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to time the half bath toilet before cleaning it for comparison. Here are the results:
Half Bath: 68 seconds from lever pushed to finished filling.
Master Bath: 39 seconds.
So the toilet is obviously still slow, but my heart tells me it's better than it was. And if we need to replace the gasket like the troubleshooting guide suggests, it should be an easy job.
Alright, now I think I'm ready for some hardcore blogging.
The paint in the area the toilet was finished, so I put the toilet back together. There's nothing very interesting to say about that; it fit back together just as it had come apart. While putting it together, I remembered that the tank on this toilet fills slowly. So I looked up the fill valve system online.
According to the printed text on the device, it is a Fluidmaster 400A series fill valve. And lucky for me, there is a troubleshooting guide for this particular apparatus on the company website.
http://www.fluidmaster.com/html/troubleshooting.html#q8
I assumed that it might be plugged, so I opened the cap...
...and sure enough, there was sediment plugging most of the holes...
...so I grabbed my Fluidmaster cleaning tools...
...and went to work.
The mini screwdriver was too big, so I mostly used the paperclip and the tweezers. And those little LED flashlights are the perfect size to hold in your mouth while working. It was annoying work, but eventually I fished out or broke up all of the sediment. The cap prevents the water from shooting straight up, so I used the cup to cover it while testing the water (this is illustrated in the troubleshooting web page, but they use a tiny china teacup for some reason...I felt that it was a job for a sturdy polypropylene travel mug).
After cleaning the apparatus, I snapped the cap back on and did a field test to see if the flow had improved. The toilet in the master bathroom has an identical Fluidmaster 400A, so I compared the fill times for the two toilets. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to time the half bath toilet before cleaning it for comparison. Here are the results:
Half Bath: 68 seconds from lever pushed to finished filling.
Master Bath: 39 seconds.
So the toilet is obviously still slow, but my heart tells me it's better than it was. And if we need to replace the gasket like the troubleshooting guide suggests, it should be an easy job.
Alright, now I think I'm ready for some hardcore blogging.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Et cetera: Fences
When N and I bought the house last September we were aware that the fence was in crummy condition. Two days after we signed the papers Ike decided to make things worse.
We're not sure how old the fence is. If it's the original fence, it's at least 20 years old. Which is why it doesn't look good, although Ike did not help matters.
We share fence with four different neighbors:
Gail on the right is a good neighbor: we never see her. Anyway, she redid the fence between her property and ours a couple of years ago. From the way she talks, it sounds like McVicker refused to pay. Sorry, Gail. But thanks for reducing our workload! This fence survived Ike just fine.
Tony and Shanna on the left...have at least 7 showdogs. The dogs are fine, since for the most part they stay inside. [It's funny, because Gail has a dog, and we have 7 - 9 dogs on the other side, and yet the only animals that we ever see belong to one of our backyard neighbors. Two cats visit us at various times. But, back on topic.] The dogs are pretty well behaved, although I've caught them wandering into the back of our property more than a few times. Along with their owners. The point being, we need this fence repaired to keep out the humans more than the animals. Although those stupid dogs did steal one of my favorite shoes that I left on the patio. In my backyard.
The back section of fence is shared with two neighbors. The neighbor on the right is Rob, a nice enough fellow. He priced out what it would cost to redo the 50 feet of fence we share, and asked us a few weeks ago if we'd be willing to split the cost. We will have the nice side of the fence (do not want). I'm willing to pay the $500 for someone to take care of at least this much, since you can see we have LOTS of fence to replace.
Rob is the one who owns the cats that visit N from time to time. (We think.)
Anyway, the last neighbor we actually haven't met. I doubt our experience is unqiue, but when we moved in our neighbors were SO quick on tattling on each other for being cheap sakes about replacing fence. Tony and Shanna's other neighbor (Pam) came to tell us not to accept a check from Tony or Shanna (their checks bounce), Tony and Shanna then complained about Pam to us and practically called her a old, dumb hag, and as mentioned previously, Gail seems to want us to reimburse her for something that occurred when McVicker owned the property. But everyone - Pam, Rob, Tony and Shanna, say that these unknown neighbors, who have a pool, are the worst. Rob says that when we went to show them the quote for a section of the fence between the two properties the pool-neighbors said, "It's your fence. You replace it." I'm not sure the HOA would agree, but no one wants to fight. Everyone prefers backstabbing and snide comments instead.
So that's what we're up against.
In terms of the fence we own, the right hand side has the gate, but the gate is pretty much broken and the fence looks the worse for Ike.
The left hand side of fence facing the street was almost entirely demolished in the storm. We used to have a tree right outside the fence, but it got cracked and fell on top of the fence. We're almost glad that there's no fence for the time being, since it makes it easier to move around the house while I'm removing the bricks from the front bed. However, it has led to people wandering onto our property, because apparently people forget private property rules when fences are missing. A few months ago there were many maintenance crews visiting the street to mark for electrical lines, sewage pipe routes, etc. They would knock on people doors to see if they were home to give notice that they needed access to their backyards. If no one answered, they just went around anyway. But when they got to our house, no one knocked, and I heard them wandering in the backyard. I confronted one group to ask what they were doing -- and they behaved as if I was crazy and rude for asking them a question. We've had trouble with others (see: Tony and Shana's dogs; Tony and Shana; people evading police questioning). We need fence!
When we do eventually get to replacing this fence, we intend to bring the whole thing forward about 10 feet so that the AC unit will be enclosed in the backyard and not publicly available as it is now.
The section with Rob will be fixed professionally later this month (February 21-ish), we might end up teaming up with Team Tony and Shana to fix the shared fence, and N and I plan to do the sections of the fence on the front of the house ourselves, as soon as the weather is warmer. The fence "shared" with selfish-pool-neighbor we'll wait on: if he doesn't want to contribute, we figure we can do it ourselves in our own sweet time. But aren't people with pools supposed to have fences for insurance purposes?
We're not sure how old the fence is. If it's the original fence, it's at least 20 years old. Which is why it doesn't look good, although Ike did not help matters.
We share fence with four different neighbors:
Gail on the right is a good neighbor: we never see her. Anyway, she redid the fence between her property and ours a couple of years ago. From the way she talks, it sounds like McVicker refused to pay. Sorry, Gail. But thanks for reducing our workload! This fence survived Ike just fine.
Tony and Shanna on the left...have at least 7 showdogs. The dogs are fine, since for the most part they stay inside. [It's funny, because Gail has a dog, and we have 7 - 9 dogs on the other side, and yet the only animals that we ever see belong to one of our backyard neighbors. Two cats visit us at various times. But, back on topic.] The dogs are pretty well behaved, although I've caught them wandering into the back of our property more than a few times. Along with their owners. The point being, we need this fence repaired to keep out the humans more than the animals. Although those stupid dogs did steal one of my favorite shoes that I left on the patio. In my backyard.
The back section of fence is shared with two neighbors. The neighbor on the right is Rob, a nice enough fellow. He priced out what it would cost to redo the 50 feet of fence we share, and asked us a few weeks ago if we'd be willing to split the cost. We will have the nice side of the fence (do not want). I'm willing to pay the $500 for someone to take care of at least this much, since you can see we have LOTS of fence to replace.
Rob is the one who owns the cats that visit N from time to time. (We think.)
Anyway, the last neighbor we actually haven't met. I doubt our experience is unqiue, but when we moved in our neighbors were SO quick on tattling on each other for being cheap sakes about replacing fence. Tony and Shanna's other neighbor (Pam) came to tell us not to accept a check from Tony or Shanna (their checks bounce), Tony and Shanna then complained about Pam to us and practically called her a old, dumb hag, and as mentioned previously, Gail seems to want us to reimburse her for something that occurred when McVicker owned the property. But everyone - Pam, Rob, Tony and Shanna, say that these unknown neighbors, who have a pool, are the worst. Rob says that when we went to show them the quote for a section of the fence between the two properties the pool-neighbors said, "It's your fence. You replace it." I'm not sure the HOA would agree, but no one wants to fight. Everyone prefers backstabbing and snide comments instead.
So that's what we're up against.
In terms of the fence we own, the right hand side has the gate, but the gate is pretty much broken and the fence looks the worse for Ike.
The left hand side of fence facing the street was almost entirely demolished in the storm. We used to have a tree right outside the fence, but it got cracked and fell on top of the fence. We're almost glad that there's no fence for the time being, since it makes it easier to move around the house while I'm removing the bricks from the front bed. However, it has led to people wandering onto our property, because apparently people forget private property rules when fences are missing. A few months ago there were many maintenance crews visiting the street to mark for electrical lines, sewage pipe routes, etc. They would knock on people doors to see if they were home to give notice that they needed access to their backyards. If no one answered, they just went around anyway. But when they got to our house, no one knocked, and I heard them wandering in the backyard. I confronted one group to ask what they were doing -- and they behaved as if I was crazy and rude for asking them a question. We've had trouble with others (see: Tony and Shana's dogs; Tony and Shana; people evading police questioning). We need fence!
When we do eventually get to replacing this fence, we intend to bring the whole thing forward about 10 feet so that the AC unit will be enclosed in the backyard and not publicly available as it is now.
The section with Rob will be fixed professionally later this month (February 21-ish), we might end up teaming up with Team Tony and Shana to fix the shared fence, and N and I plan to do the sections of the fence on the front of the house ourselves, as soon as the weather is warmer. The fence "shared" with selfish-pool-neighbor we'll wait on: if he doesn't want to contribute, we figure we can do it ourselves in our own sweet time. But aren't people with pools supposed to have fences for insurance purposes?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Note on Posts
Currently there are seven posts that are drafted but I have not published yet. This is because most require a few more pictures before they are complete. N and I have made it this evening's project to spend an hour taking pictures and uploading them to the blog. I have drafted a list of necessary pictures, and soon there will be plenty of posts. I have at least been writing up project reports promptly, so that nothing will be forgotten. I've been very busy with school the last couple of weeks, and it's hard to take pictures of the house when I'm gone for half the week and then busy working on the house the rest of the week. But, we want to finish those seven pesky posts, and plan to do it tonight, together.
But, I should clarify that once those posts are published, they will most likely be before this post. I will be placing them in their appropriate place in the time line, so that it doesn't get too confusing later on.
Happy Monday everyone!
But, I should clarify that once those posts are published, they will most likely be before this post. I will be placing them in their appropriate place in the time line, so that it doesn't get too confusing later on.
Happy Monday everyone!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Project 2: The front walkway, Part II
This past week N has been ripping up the landscaping fabric from the front bed and raking dirt away from the front of the house. The soil in this bed is 5 or 6 inches higher than the grass, and near the pine tree it has built up at least 12 inches, maybe more. The most important part of this project, for the near future, was removing the soil that came too high on the front of the house. The soil in the front bed covered the foundation, and when we had the house inspected we were told to move the soil away so that the foundation could be seen. Raking away all that soil caused the pipes from the dismantled sprinkler system to become exposed in a few areas. N also ripped off the ivy that was growing up the house.
On Saturday we went out to buy a square-point shovel and a wheelbarrow/wagon to help us move the dirt from the front yard to the back yard. We have a giant live oak in our backyard, but the roots are completely exposed in some areas, and it could stand to be built up, if only to prevent tripping. We found both tools we needed at Walmart, and we also picked up some Ortho fire ant killer and a bottle of Round-up.
Once home we started shoveling piles of dirt from the front bed into the wagon, and then dumped the wagon contents in the backyard. N and I took turns removing the bricks that outline the bed and stacking them on the concrete foundation of a former shed in the backyard.
There's a pine tree in the front bed, and its roots have grown in between many of the bricks. Here's a picture of three bricks stuck together by a big root:
We treated the two fire ants piles in the front bed, and I sprayed the weeds that are growing in-between the sidewalk and driveway. After we were done moving dirt for the day, I raked out the dirt we dumped in the backyard.
Other yard-work things were completed this weekend as well. This coming Friday is a junk waste pick-up day for our neighborhood. We only get these every other month. We hauled out the vanity, and then stacked some of the former shelves from the garage, as well as the parts of the chimney that were torn off, and some of our broken down fence.
We treated another couple of fire ant colonies in the backyard, and pulled up these paved stones that were haphazardly placed in the backyard from the patio to nowhere.
And, for a bit of fun, we took the chance to douse the two stumps on the left side of the yard with gasoline and then built charcoal pyramids on each and set the whole on fire. The gasoline was left over from McVicker and we had been trying to get rid of it anyway. Our neighbor is the one who actually suggested it, which was good, since we didn't want to be setting fires on stumps and making them worry. I get the impression that they don't worry about a lot of things. We took precautions, such as wetting the ground around the stumps with water, and keeping a water-hose handy. Both fires burned for several hours. Next weekend we might try this again on the stump in the backyard.
There's still a lot of work to look forward to in the front yard. My long-term vision for the front yard is a paved area with a bench, so that the beautiful yupon that we've rescued can be appreciated. N would like to build a grill in the backyard out of the remaining bricks from the front bed, and perhaps recycle those silly stepping stones as well. A grill matching the herb spiral and the house sounds like a cool idea to me!
Our de-bricking tools:
Broken bricks:
Treated anthill:
While moving bricks N and I found a garden snake in the wagon:
On Saturday we went out to buy a square-point shovel and a wheelbarrow/wagon to help us move the dirt from the front yard to the back yard. We have a giant live oak in our backyard, but the roots are completely exposed in some areas, and it could stand to be built up, if only to prevent tripping. We found both tools we needed at Walmart, and we also picked up some Ortho fire ant killer and a bottle of Round-up.
Once home we started shoveling piles of dirt from the front bed into the wagon, and then dumped the wagon contents in the backyard. N and I took turns removing the bricks that outline the bed and stacking them on the concrete foundation of a former shed in the backyard.
There's a pine tree in the front bed, and its roots have grown in between many of the bricks. Here's a picture of three bricks stuck together by a big root:
We treated the two fire ants piles in the front bed, and I sprayed the weeds that are growing in-between the sidewalk and driveway. After we were done moving dirt for the day, I raked out the dirt we dumped in the backyard.
Other yard-work things were completed this weekend as well. This coming Friday is a junk waste pick-up day for our neighborhood. We only get these every other month. We hauled out the vanity, and then stacked some of the former shelves from the garage, as well as the parts of the chimney that were torn off, and some of our broken down fence.
We treated another couple of fire ant colonies in the backyard, and pulled up these paved stones that were haphazardly placed in the backyard from the patio to nowhere.
And, for a bit of fun, we took the chance to douse the two stumps on the left side of the yard with gasoline and then built charcoal pyramids on each and set the whole on fire. The gasoline was left over from McVicker and we had been trying to get rid of it anyway. Our neighbor is the one who actually suggested it, which was good, since we didn't want to be setting fires on stumps and making them worry. I get the impression that they don't worry about a lot of things. We took precautions, such as wetting the ground around the stumps with water, and keeping a water-hose handy. Both fires burned for several hours. Next weekend we might try this again on the stump in the backyard.
There's still a lot of work to look forward to in the front yard. My long-term vision for the front yard is a paved area with a bench, so that the beautiful yupon that we've rescued can be appreciated. N would like to build a grill in the backyard out of the remaining bricks from the front bed, and perhaps recycle those silly stepping stones as well. A grill matching the herb spiral and the house sounds like a cool idea to me!
Our de-bricking tools:
Broken bricks:
Treated anthill:
While moving bricks N and I found a garden snake in the wagon:
Project 1: Redo the Half-bath, Part V
Monday night N mixed up a small amount of grout and we together grouted the 12 tiles in the half-bath.
I painted the baseboards with one coat of alkyd paint on Tuesday before I left for school. Friday when I was back home I cleaned up the grout around the tiles in this bathroom and the upstairs bathroom.
Sunday morning we then sanded the mud from the patches, cleaned the walls, and sprayed on oil-based texture. After letting the area air out and dry, we decided to use the little bit of paint remaining from the gallon of paint that we bought two or three weeks ago to paint the trim work.
N used this funky brush that we bought from Big Lots:
I then used a smaller brush to paint up to the ceiling while N painted over the patches. At this point the bathroom walls are ready for a final coat (or two) of yellow paint). The texture looks good, nothing else has bubbled, and we are thoroughly sick of the bathroom.
N will buy more paint this week, I will do another coat of alkyd on the baseboard, and we will continue on this next weekend.
Our texture materials:
The new vanity, currently sitting in our den/office:
I painted the baseboards with one coat of alkyd paint on Tuesday before I left for school. Friday when I was back home I cleaned up the grout around the tiles in this bathroom and the upstairs bathroom.
Sunday morning we then sanded the mud from the patches, cleaned the walls, and sprayed on oil-based texture. After letting the area air out and dry, we decided to use the little bit of paint remaining from the gallon of paint that we bought two or three weeks ago to paint the trim work.
N used this funky brush that we bought from Big Lots:
I then used a smaller brush to paint up to the ceiling while N painted over the patches. At this point the bathroom walls are ready for a final coat (or two) of yellow paint). The texture looks good, nothing else has bubbled, and we are thoroughly sick of the bathroom.
N will buy more paint this week, I will do another coat of alkyd on the baseboard, and we will continue on this next weekend.
Our texture materials:
The new vanity, currently sitting in our den/office:
Monday, February 2, 2009
Project 5: Fix the Upstairs Bath, Part II
In the second part of Project 4 I explained how my parents framed and patched the hole from the door that N and I removed a few weeks ago. In the bathroom we decided to buy beadboard to reduce the amount of wall space we would have to repair, texture, and paint.
The drywall installed:
The beadboard installed:
After my dad used the mortar to lay the tile in the half-bath, we came upstairs and removed the tile that was broken. Upon second inspection, the tile found in the upstairs bathroom cabinet did not match the tile in the bathroom. The tile left by McVicker was more peachy in color. One must assume that McV never knew that two boxes full of the correct bathroom tiles lay in the garage. Oh, boy.
McVicker's Tile:
The correct tile:
The two side by side (correct tile is on the left). Notice that the McVicker tile is smaller than the correct tile.
My dad cut off a nail head that probably made the tile uneven in the first place, and then laid down a new tile. Sunday morning before they left my dad mixed up a small amount of grout, and then my mom demonstrated how to grout on the single tile in the upstairs bathroom.
Also discovered in the bathroom this weekend: a plastic bag full of light bulbs for fans. Along with the receipt of purchase from the former Mrs. McV.
When we bought the beadboard we also bought chairrail to go on the top, and baseboard to go along this wall. I will paint the baseboard later, and N and I still have to install the remaining 12" of beadboard before we can nail in the chairrail. We also need to mark above the studs we found in the wall when installing the beadboard to make installing the chairrail easier.
While we were up in that bathroom for an extended period of time I noticed that the door of this bathroom (and some of the other upstairs doors) has been repainted - in places. I'm not sure it shows up much in this picture, but it looks like someone decided to use up a little bit of paint by painting certain parts of the door a brighter white. But it's been poorly done and I almost wonder if this was a trick that either the Wards or McVicker tried to pull in order to make the house look better for showing. At first glance it's hard to notice, but once seen, it is not forgotten.
The right hand side of the patched wall still needs to be built up some. When it is completely built-up and sanded, we intend to retexture the entire wall (and perhaps entire bathroom, minus behind the giant mirror). Overall, though, we are very happy with how things are shaping up! Doesn't the bathroom look much longer now?
The drywall installed:
The beadboard installed:
After my dad used the mortar to lay the tile in the half-bath, we came upstairs and removed the tile that was broken. Upon second inspection, the tile found in the upstairs bathroom cabinet did not match the tile in the bathroom. The tile left by McVicker was more peachy in color. One must assume that McV never knew that two boxes full of the correct bathroom tiles lay in the garage. Oh, boy.
McVicker's Tile:
The correct tile:
The two side by side (correct tile is on the left). Notice that the McVicker tile is smaller than the correct tile.
My dad cut off a nail head that probably made the tile uneven in the first place, and then laid down a new tile. Sunday morning before they left my dad mixed up a small amount of grout, and then my mom demonstrated how to grout on the single tile in the upstairs bathroom.
Also discovered in the bathroom this weekend: a plastic bag full of light bulbs for fans. Along with the receipt of purchase from the former Mrs. McV.
When we bought the beadboard we also bought chairrail to go on the top, and baseboard to go along this wall. I will paint the baseboard later, and N and I still have to install the remaining 12" of beadboard before we can nail in the chairrail. We also need to mark above the studs we found in the wall when installing the beadboard to make installing the chairrail easier.
While we were up in that bathroom for an extended period of time I noticed that the door of this bathroom (and some of the other upstairs doors) has been repainted - in places. I'm not sure it shows up much in this picture, but it looks like someone decided to use up a little bit of paint by painting certain parts of the door a brighter white. But it's been poorly done and I almost wonder if this was a trick that either the Wards or McVicker tried to pull in order to make the house look better for showing. At first glance it's hard to notice, but once seen, it is not forgotten.
The right hand side of the patched wall still needs to be built up some. When it is completely built-up and sanded, we intend to retexture the entire wall (and perhaps entire bathroom, minus behind the giant mirror). Overall, though, we are very happy with how things are shaping up! Doesn't the bathroom look much longer now?
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