It would be nice to be able to one stop shop at Ace. The folks there are usually helpful and knowledgeable. The one by me is really small. At night, they don’t even bring in the trash cans & stuff stacked out front - I don’t think they have anyplace else to put it all.
I’m right there with ya! Everything about painting is awful to me…
The prep sucks - so frickin tedious - but if it isn’t done right, the job will look like crap in the end.
I don’t consider myself to be terribly creative or artistic, and there is a sort of art or feel to doing the paining. It doesn’t come naturally to me, I’m more precise and detail oriented (aka frustrated anal retentive perfectionist).
Then comes the cleanup, which is just awful. If you weren’t a splattered mess before, you’re going to be after doing a proper cleanup.
I have a buddy that kind of enjoys it. I think it is kind of zen for him, whatever that means… Peaceful? Calming? If I need to paint again, I’ll see if he wants to come over.
Well, it’s right there in their jingle, so…
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I can see that. I feel the same way about mowing the lawn or going out for a long, slow run.
Leave Suzanne Summers out of this.
Painting is making a mess to (hopefully) make someplace look nicer.
Yeah… no thanks.
But after living in the current Chez Dubious for 20+ years… we kinda gotta do some.
I hear ya, I’ve been spending my weekend fixing up a trailer my daughter and her SO got recently. The utilities finally all are run so I spent the weekend filling in utility trenches and screwing up the temporary skirting.
I’m dealing with a mystery leak from the kitchen sink. Then again, we’ve been expecting the garbage disposal to finally quit for at least a year.
Well, I got a better mattress and boxspring, but making the bedframe is going to have to wait until I know that I have the money for the lumber.
Also, I had a visit Friday from a guy from the gas company. They think they can help with the windows, and he’s pretty sure they’ll install one of the new compact swamp coolers. However, I have to get the kitchen exhaust fan replaced (and make sure it works), or they won’t replace the windows (because I have a gas stove).
Luckily, I found a replacement on Amazon, it should be here sometime this week. I had to find a different company than the one that made the original, because that company now only does automatic garage doors.
I made this one in a Twin size. It’s now a toddler bed for my grandson after working it’s way through two of my kids.
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Tip of the day: the cover plates for the surface mount cabling boxes for network/phone/TV/etc. you can get at Home Depot are only as wide and tall as the boxes themselves, which is 2.75"x4.5". In contrast, a standard cover plate for a light switch or power outlet is 3.25"x5".
I decided to mount the cabling boxes inside the wall cavity since I had all the sheet rock down while rewiring the house so they’d be flush with the surface except for the coax connector. As a result, now I’m having to figure out where I can get larger covers because I’ve been cutting the holes in the drywall slightly larger to allow some wiggle room as I put the new sheets up. Or, break out the repair compound and fill in around it, hoping I make it smooth enough that it’s not too noticable.
The wiggle room is necessary because the people who put in the floors didn’t take time to trim the ends so that there’s a nice channel all the way around the room to set the bottom of the drywall sheet into. As a result, I’m having to trim about 3/4" off one end to make the sheets fit on a couple of the walls.
As I told a guy a while back, the phrase “16 inches on center seemed to be a suggestion” to the people building this house. Having a stud off by a quarter of an inch every so often may not seem like much, but it adds up after a while and results in more non-standard sized sheets to make it fit width-wise.
Edit: after I got done typing this while taking a break from putting up one wall, I just remembered I’ve got a Dremel tool. I might be able to make the channel more even around the rest of the room. Hopefully the cutting disks are tougher than the 1950s hardwood floors.
When in doubt, explore other departments. Like as an example, you can get an access cover plate that’s normally used for a water shutoff anywhere from 8" to 14". Access Panel linky. Although thinking about it now, that might not work for what you’re doing. Still, I’m leaving the link and suggestion up cuz I’m a badass that way.
I like the idea of putting it inside the wall. I have a shelving project I’ve been meaning to do in my garage/store room. The cable box is in there buried behind the boxes. I hadn’t thought of what I wanted to do with it but that seems like a possible idea. If nothing else, you reminded me it was there and now I have to think about it.
I think I’ve gotten bigger ones from cabling contractors. Home Depot only carries the most common stuff.
Yeah, I need one of those when we re-do our basement bathroom as some idiot badly covered a clean-out access with drywall. Seriously, you can see a round bulge where it is. I’m thinking put one of these on and cover the whole thing in a cabinet (we can always use more storage) as part of the clean-up process. More accessible, looks nicer.
I gave up on the idea of using the Dremel when it had a tough time cutting through the hardwood that was used as shims around one of the closets. There’s no way it will handle the wood in the floors.
The drywall doesn’t look as good as it should. There’s way too many nails in the ceiling panels because I bought the thicker kind and didn’t realize that hardwood rafters might mean it’s tougher to drive nails into. Quite a few got bent. Didn’t even think to try pre-drilling the holes.
There’s gaps now between the ceiling and the wall panels because of the cuts along the bottom I’m having to make to get these to fit on the walls. In one corner, it’s obvious the ceiling panel is bowed upwards about a half inch. I’m considering going back up in the attic and see if a prybar can move the sheet down just enough to make it level, even though that will probably tear it where the nails are. The holes can be filled in.
I’m just hoping that the companies I get an estimate from on doing the taping and finishing will be able to minimize the mistakes I’ve made. I’m not really looking for perfection and don’t care about what effect it will have on the resale value of this house. I know they’ll do it better and faster than I could, and the walls are going to need that professional work.
I also just hope that they won’t say I did such a bad job that it can’t be patched or filled in and has to be redone. If I hear that from more than one, I’ll know it’s more likely they’re telling the truth, rather than trying to increase the scope of the job to get more money. If I have to go that route, I’ll start tearing the drywall down. I will also make sure they can cut the channel evenly along the outer walls so that none of the new sheets have to be trimmed like I’ve been doing. Baseboard will hide the channel nicely.
But repairs should be possible, because I’ve got evidence the original builders were sloppy with the drywall in at least one area. I took off the door to the bathroom and saw they cut the top of the opening for the door at an angle.
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I put together a hanging pot rack for less than $20, and installed it tonight. Pretty good, considering the only ones I could find online were $200 and up.
And just in case anyone is wondering, I used the only part of the stove the past owner left behind: an oven rack. Works pretty well, even holds the lids.
And I still haven’t found my keys.
If you feel like a read, here’s my project last weekend.
I’ve been second-guessing myself on a design for shelves in the kitchen, but you just put my fears to rest. Thanks.
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Ripped my Nest thermostat out and beat it into pieces before throwing it away. Piece of shit. Got it back in January and it’s been garbage since day 1. Latest screw-up was that it couldn’t keep its battery charged and remain connected to wi-fi at the same time. Found that out when I woke up at 2am wondering why the house was so hot. Oh, it’s 82F! Because the nest turned itself off five hours ago because its battery was low!
Die, die, die.
Installed an ecobee3 and I’m happy again.
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I got the lumber, there is now a 14-inch-square hole in my kitchen wall. I have to wait for the batteries for my tools to charge up, and I forgot to get wire nuts. I will have to take care of that first thing in the morning.
Hopefully I will have the new exhaust fan working before the contractors show up tomorrow.