Monday, May 27, 2019

Welcome to the Neighborhood!



Looks who's moved into the neighborhood... Bigfoot!

Delia, this is Bigfoot.

Rumor has it, he's been scouting the area since Christmas (ahem) and it looks like he finally decided on a spot on our property! Eep!

Bigfoot, this is Delia.

He's set up his lair about halfway between the house and the road among the spring wildflowers.







Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Overbooked? Making our Library Space 1D




I have been ogling indigo/brass/wood interiors for the last year or so. I thought it would be hard to sell Eric on this, but it was not. YEY! So, I dug out my paint decks* and narrowed my choices down over a few days while checking out how the samples looked at different times of day. The hardest part was choosing a ceiling color. I did not want white. I also did not want to just carry the wall color up onto the ceiling which is something I frequently do like. But then Eric bought new running shoes and guess what colors they are. Go on, guess. Yup, like navy blue, brass and a warm, light greige. Huh.

I do not have the skills to make an interesting photo of the ceiling and its decidedly not-white or ivory color, so here's this one.

Speaking of lacking photography skills, there is this photo of the walls. 

How about this pic, then? Nope, still no good, but I was excited enough about getting the color up that I took one.

These are a big commitment, so I decided to take advantage of the Benjamin Moore Sample Pints. Luckily, I loved them! They are 2061-20 Champion Cobalt and OC-27 Balboa Mist. Also. luckily my local Authorized Benjamin Moore Retailer sold me the tint for Champion Cobalt so I could mix some Venetian Plaster. WOO!




*This is not true! I had done this way before even mentioning this colorway to Eric. [wink]
______________________________________________________________

THE BREAKDOWN

Phase I
1. Empty that room!
2. Remove base moulding
3. Remove closet doors & hardware
4. Remove the carpet and pad
5. Remove tack strips and staples
6. Remove chair rail and paneling
7. Determine if wall paper is removable
8. repair walls
9. prime walls and ceiling
10. paint walls and ceiling
11. decorative finish(es)?
12. Replace light fixture (back-ordered, supposed to be available July 7)
13. Replace switches and outlets, covers
14, make and install closet shelves, etc.
15. prime existing subfloor x 2
16. pour self-leveling subfloor
17. install LVP
18. reinstall base moulding
19. reinstall closet doors
20. install transition piece at doorway
21. make window covering
22. install window covering

Phase II
1 - ?. Build built-in bookshelves
... Finish last course of flooring
... Add base shoe or other moulding to bookcases
... picture rail

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Overbooked? Making our Library Space 1C



I struggled to get excited about getting started with this room. I thought I'd start demo in February. And then we got DUMPED ON by the Snow Gods in Feb and I spent a goodly portion of many days dealing with snow removal, sometimes plowing & shoveling twice a day for at least an hour each time. I honestly don't remember exactly when I really got started emptying the room, but it was probably near the end or March or beginning of April. For some reason, I didn't remember that once I got past the Undoing Phase and onto the Doing Phases, I would feel that old enthusiasm. Or at least some of it. Sigh.

You may notice a slight difference in color on the left and right. The left is the still-wet second layer of skim coat, the right is the dry first layer. My trusty hawk and trowel sit on my trusty step stool.

Since my last post, I have A) primed the seriously damaged drywall substrate I was left with after removing wallpaper and fake paneling (no photo), B) skim-coated the appropriate walls, and C) primed those walls, and D) primed and painted the ceiling.

Paint this knock-down (i.e. "brocade") textured ceiling is a humongous pain in the butt. Even with the long-nap roller, the priming, the slow and tedious attention to every stroke the first coat was riddled with holidays. Brining in the halogen work light helped a lot with the second coat, but boy did this whole thing go a long way to supporting my personal distaste of this texture.

I know most people love light-and-bright, but dark-and-cozy is my jam, so it was a little it of a thrill to get this darker grey primer up in preparation for the dark, indigo blue.

I have also ordered some Modern Masters brand (acrylic) Venetian Plaster in the Ultra Deep Tint Base, and picked up sample pints/quarts of paint to give the colors a test run, then gone back to purchase a gallon of each. I also did a test tinting of the Venetian Plaster with tint purchased when I picked up the gallons.



______________________________________________________________

THE BREAKDOWN

Phase I
1. Empty that room!
2. Remove base moulding
3. Remove closet doors & hardware
4. Remove the carpet and pad
5. Remove tack strips and staples
6. Remove chair rail and paneling
7. Determine if wall paper is removable
8. repair walls
9. prime walls and ceiling
10. paint walls and ceiling
11. decorative finish(es)?
12. Replace light fixture
13. Replace switches and outlets, covers
14, make and install closet shelves, etc.
15. prime existing subfloor x 2
16. pour self-leveling subfloor
17. install LVP
18. reinstall base moulding
19. reinstall closet doors
20. install transition piece at doorway
21. make window covering
22. install window covering

Phase II
1 - ?. Build built-in bookshelves
... Finish last course of flooring
... Add base shoe or other moulding
... Add picture rail moulding

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Overbooked? Making our Library Space 1B



Demo is mostly accomplished! Tearing out the carpet and pad were the least of the issues. All that kneeling and crouching wasn't super comfortable, but that part of the demolition was straightforward and surprise-free. I realized after the fact that I don't think I took a photo of just the carpet, but this one gives you the idea; dingy tan shag with really obvious seams.





What you see sitting on the carpet is a piece of the fake paneling, some of the base moulding, a piece of the plastic moulding that went with the paneling, and the end of a piece of the chair rail. Speaking of all that, look what that paneling did to the wall! Why? Well, instead of using panel nails, they used panel adhesive. I realize that's probably standard, but I sure wish more people in the industry on all sides would consider more carefully the un-doing of their products when designing and executing their installation methods. This is what "the next guy", me in this case, is left to deal with.



I'm just trying to remember to be grateful that they paneled not quite half the room and only to chair rail height. There is at least a sheet of this stored in the shop loft, so it really couldn't been worse.


ANNOUNCEMENT: 

THERE IS A REASON THERE IS A DRYWALL TEXTURE SPECIFICALLY FOR APPLYING WALLPAPER! 



Anyway... the wallpaper. Oh, sweet baby Bigfoot, the wallpaper! The steamer could not handle the painted-over-ness of it. This method has worked for me in the past, but not this time. Sigh. And indeed, just like every single other roll of the stuff in this house, it was applied directly to the drywall which at least this time seems to have been primed. Still, this is what removing it did. Those dark spots are the torn drywall paper bits. Admittedly, this is the worst of it as I got better at finessing it off as I continued around the room.



BONUS BITCHING! During all of the various projects we've done around here over six-and-a-half years, there have been a few, repeated, uh..., issues that indicate that whoever did the drywall here, was not an expert. Or even really especially competent. The first thing we noticed, and by far the most common issue, is that just about every single hole for the electric boxes - switches, outlets, and fixtures - is cut too large. This means that the outlets are not secure and that some plates and most of the light fixtures we've bought to replace the old, dated ones do not cover the holes. I'll replace the outlets and switches to fix these. I've had to add small medallions on three ceiling fixtures in the house so far and hope that I won't have to do another.

But that's not what I want to show now. What I want to show now are these examples of what I'm starting to think of as Bullshit Workmanship.



Yes, that's the same image as the first in this post. Apparently there was some kind of significant savings in time or money to not finish the corners behind the chair rail. Oh, and this. This part where they didn't think that the whole surface above the closet opening needed drywall, just allllmost all of it. It's not just this little bit either, it's all along that top edge.


______________________________________________________________

THE BREAKDOWN

Phase I
1. Empty that room!
2. Remove base moulding
3. Remove closet doors & hardware
4. Remove the carpet and pad
5. Remove tack strips and staples
6. Remove chair rail and paneling
7. Determine if wall paper is removable
8. repair walls
9. prime walls and ceiling
10. paint walls and ceiling
11. decorative finish(es)?
12. Replace light fixture
13. Replace switches and outlets, covers
14, make and install closet shelves, etc.
15. prime existing subfloor x 2
16. pour self-leveling subfloor
17. install LVP
18. reinstall base moulding
19. reinstall closet doors
20. install transition piece at doorway
21. make window covering
22. install window covering

Phase II
1 - ?. Build built-in bookshelves
... Finish last course of flooring
... Add base shoe or other moulding

Monday, May 6, 2019

Overbooked? Making our Library Space 1A



I had a lot of books. Eric really had A LOT of books. Together we have SO MANY BOOKS and we've only acquired more. But as everyone knows, it's not hoarding if it's books. YEY! It's not really a surprise that when we left all those Craftsman built-ins in Portland, we lost a lot of book storage. Even though all our books are out of boxes and most of them are on shelves that are not in closets, the storage is unsatisfactory and makes the craft studio/library/auxiliary guest room layout unsatisfying. And since we (well I mostly, let's be candid) need to entirely empty the craft studio/library/auxiliary guest room in order to rip out the carpet and to install the new flooring, it seemed like the perfect time to figure out every other surface in there as well as address the book shelving situation.

I forgot to get a photo before I was well into the process. This big shelf was FULL of books on both sides and full on top.

These 24 boxes are tightly packed with all (well most) of those books! They will stay right there until most of the remodeling is done since that wall is where the new bookcases will be installed.

In addition to the carpet and the bookshelves, there are a few other issues. The dreaded painted-over wallpaper for one. If that wallpaper was put in by the original owners, then it is very likely glued directly to the drywall and will have to be skimmed over. If not, there's hope it can come down with my trusty (slightly crusty) steamer.

What is even under there? Did they throw dirt at the wall while putting up the paper?

There are also some seemingly random applications of that faux paneling popular in the 1970s when the house was built. This stuff could very well be glued to the drywall, too. Which could mean lots of repairs. I do believe there is a full or nearly full 4' x 8' sheet of this stored in the shop loft, too.

My guess is that the paneling was an afterthought, because of the extra mouldings applied above the base and below the chair rail.




The dinginess of the photo quality here betrays the feeling the finishes give the room. 

And to complete the wall renovation triple threat, a chair rail that goes all the way around. It was also painted over when the wallpaper was, so it's going to require some extra work to get off and also not be especially appealing to reuse in the future.

I don't know what the original look was, but it seems like when they decided to paint over the wallpaper they just pained painted over everything that wasn't fake paneling, including the chair rail.


Just as with the guest room, this seems like the perfect time to improve the storage capabilities of the closet as well as repaint in there. (no photo) In fact, I'll have to repaint the whole room and perhaps utilize my old decorative painting skills. [wildly waggles eyebrows]

I actually find both the ceramic base and the glass globe charming, but less so together. It's also inadequate in terms of both providing light as well as for scale. It's a very small light in a rather large room. Each of the pieces may find their way to other spots in the house.

And finally, we want to change out the central ceiling light fixture - hopefully with something that could give us more light around the room, which is actually quite large for a 2nd bedroom in a house this size. Which means installing a dimmer and while I'm at it I may as well update all the outlets and the closet light switch, too.

______________________________________________________________

THE BREAKDOWN

Phase I
1. Empty that room!
2. Remove base moulding
3. Remove closet doors & hardware
4. Remove the carpet and pad
5. Remove tack strips and staples
6. Remove chair rail and paneling
7. Determine if wall paper is removeable
8. repair walls
9. prime walls and ceiling
10. paint walls and ceiling
11. decorative finish(es)?
12. Replace light fixture
13. Replace switches and outlets, covers
14, make and install closet shelves, etc.
15. prime exisiting subfloor x 2
16. pour self-leveing subfloor
17. install LVP
18. reinstall base moulding
19. reinstall closet doors
20. install transition piece at doorway
21. make window covering
22. install window covering

Phase II
1 - ?. Build built-in bookshelves
... Finish last course of flooring
... Add base shoe or other moulding