Weekend recap
I meant to give a quick overview off all that was done this weekend, but it ended up being much longer than expected (rather symbolic, really).
Friday- we continued stripping trim. We got two of the walls in the living room nearly done.
Saturday- Kathy (Clint’s mom) headed up for some much-needed help. She tackled the kitchen while Clint heat-gunned more trim and I destroyed the bathroom. She probably doesn’t want this to get out- but she is a cleaner extraordinaire. She got every crevice of the kitchen more clean than it has probably been in the last twenty years. She was even able to point out some issues- like the refrigerator seal rusting off, and dangerous nails sticking out of the back of cabinets. We realized the previous owners not only have an affinity for duct tape (it is everywhere), but also all things sticky (which is also everywhere). It was no match for her abilities and Goo Gone, though. Having three sets of hands on Saturday was fantastic.
In the bathroom I decided to begin peeling paper off the ceiling which was held up by thumb tacks. In my mind it was going to be a quick and easy project- just take the paper off the ceiling, repaint the bathroom white to make it look clean, and get the shower curtain up and bath mat in so it’s ready to go. Just a quick fix to hold us over until we can afford to redo the bathroom, which is by far the worst room in the house. It was a great reminder that nothing is easy, and to always assume something will take four times longer than expected. I uncovered water-stained and discolored acoustic tiles on the ceiling, but of course couldn’t stop there. I continued on to the walls which were also covered in the paper, and in the end was left with walls that had bits of wall paper on, old layers of paint, some drywall with the paper on, and in some cases drywall where the paper had torn away. At this point I was thinking I had torn off something immensely valuable, would have to replace the drywall, and would either need to call in someone very expensive to redo the bathroom, or we’d be hosing off outside and using the shed as an outhouse.
Sunday-Luckily Clint’s dad was in town the next day to help him build the final wall in the studio- and I was introduced to the concept of covering any and all drywall problems with mud. I lathered on a layer over the areas with exposed brown paper, and am letting that dry for 24 hours. I also coated the ceiling with Kilz, and even with the respirator the smell was overwhelming. The ceiling is now white though, as opposed to green, white, brown and rust colored, although I’m slightly afraid all the paint will come down with our first shower. I was also able to get the kitchen relatively set up- thanks to Billy and Clint moving the packed kitchen boxes over on Thursday night. I very quickly realized that we have limited cabinet space. I got everything in, although I’m not at all sure where food will go. At the end of the night I got the upstairs floors swept and mopped in preparation for moving in. I think it was a sign I’ve watched too many reality competition shows like Project Runway and Design Star because I kept thinking that I was in the final few moments, where time is running out I’ve done all I could, and all I could do was clean up, cross my fingers and hope for the best. We sealed off what will one day be the living room so that Chloe doesn’t eat the lead paint chips or lick the stripper, and cleaned up the general mess we have created in the last week. (I can’t believe it’s only been a week).
On a side note, when Clint and I came together for lunch on Sunday (he spent the day working on the studio)- we agreed we were generally tired of working. We’ve literally been working from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. At first I was thinking the upcoming vacation would be hard because we’d want to be in the house working on stuff. Now I couldn’t be any happier to get away from it for a bit. We had our first conversation of wanting out, which I can’t believe didn’t come sooner, but his uncle John (who is graciously coming up tonight to help us move) said it wasn’t called “buyer’s remorse” for nothing. Good point. At those times, when I’m worn down by the immense burden we’ve gotten ourselves into and see nothing but problems everywhere I look, I remind myself that if we still want out in a year, we can sell and are still better off than if we rented. I’m sure (I hope) we’ll feel differently after getting a few of the in-progress projects completed, but it is definitely overwhelming at times. Yesterday, while cleaning the cabinets I realized that the part we were most looking forward to- being able to change what we want- is what makes it both a blessing and a curse. Because we can technically (although not financially) change anything, we constantly want to change everything, but can’t. I keep repeating to myself at those moments- it’s a marathon not a sprint, although I’ve never been particularly good at long-distance running. If all goes well, tonight will be our first night sleeping in the house.
Friday- we continued stripping trim. We got two of the walls in the living room nearly done.
Saturday- Kathy (Clint’s mom) headed up for some much-needed help. She tackled the kitchen while Clint heat-gunned more trim and I destroyed the bathroom. She probably doesn’t want this to get out- but she is a cleaner extraordinaire. She got every crevice of the kitchen more clean than it has probably been in the last twenty years. She was even able to point out some issues- like the refrigerator seal rusting off, and dangerous nails sticking out of the back of cabinets. We realized the previous owners not only have an affinity for duct tape (it is everywhere), but also all things sticky (which is also everywhere). It was no match for her abilities and Goo Gone, though. Having three sets of hands on Saturday was fantastic.
In the bathroom I decided to begin peeling paper off the ceiling which was held up by thumb tacks. In my mind it was going to be a quick and easy project- just take the paper off the ceiling, repaint the bathroom white to make it look clean, and get the shower curtain up and bath mat in so it’s ready to go. Just a quick fix to hold us over until we can afford to redo the bathroom, which is by far the worst room in the house. It was a great reminder that nothing is easy, and to always assume something will take four times longer than expected. I uncovered water-stained and discolored acoustic tiles on the ceiling, but of course couldn’t stop there. I continued on to the walls which were also covered in the paper, and in the end was left with walls that had bits of wall paper on, old layers of paint, some drywall with the paper on, and in some cases drywall where the paper had torn away. At this point I was thinking I had torn off something immensely valuable, would have to replace the drywall, and would either need to call in someone very expensive to redo the bathroom, or we’d be hosing off outside and using the shed as an outhouse.
Sunday-Luckily Clint’s dad was in town the next day to help him build the final wall in the studio- and I was introduced to the concept of covering any and all drywall problems with mud. I lathered on a layer over the areas with exposed brown paper, and am letting that dry for 24 hours. I also coated the ceiling with Kilz, and even with the respirator the smell was overwhelming. The ceiling is now white though, as opposed to green, white, brown and rust colored, although I’m slightly afraid all the paint will come down with our first shower. I was also able to get the kitchen relatively set up- thanks to Billy and Clint moving the packed kitchen boxes over on Thursday night. I very quickly realized that we have limited cabinet space. I got everything in, although I’m not at all sure where food will go. At the end of the night I got the upstairs floors swept and mopped in preparation for moving in. I think it was a sign I’ve watched too many reality competition shows like Project Runway and Design Star because I kept thinking that I was in the final few moments, where time is running out I’ve done all I could, and all I could do was clean up, cross my fingers and hope for the best. We sealed off what will one day be the living room so that Chloe doesn’t eat the lead paint chips or lick the stripper, and cleaned up the general mess we have created in the last week. (I can’t believe it’s only been a week).
On a side note, when Clint and I came together for lunch on Sunday (he spent the day working on the studio)- we agreed we were generally tired of working. We’ve literally been working from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. At first I was thinking the upcoming vacation would be hard because we’d want to be in the house working on stuff. Now I couldn’t be any happier to get away from it for a bit. We had our first conversation of wanting out, which I can’t believe didn’t come sooner, but his uncle John (who is graciously coming up tonight to help us move) said it wasn’t called “buyer’s remorse” for nothing. Good point. At those times, when I’m worn down by the immense burden we’ve gotten ourselves into and see nothing but problems everywhere I look, I remind myself that if we still want out in a year, we can sell and are still better off than if we rented. I’m sure (I hope) we’ll feel differently after getting a few of the in-progress projects completed, but it is definitely overwhelming at times. Yesterday, while cleaning the cabinets I realized that the part we were most looking forward to- being able to change what we want- is what makes it both a blessing and a curse. Because we can technically (although not financially) change anything, we constantly want to change everything, but can’t. I keep repeating to myself at those moments- it’s a marathon not a sprint, although I’ve never been particularly good at long-distance running. If all goes well, tonight will be our first night sleeping in the house.
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