Weekend Update...

Even for a long weekend, sometimes it's difficult tell the progress that has been made.  We ended up putting a a third coat of blue paint on the bottom part of the dining room (2 coats just didn't appear to be enough) and then took the masking paper and tape off the molding.

That's a reflection on the wall...

While Robyn was going around, touching up the places covered by tape (or pulled loose by the tape), I put the first coat of paint on the ceiling medallion.

There was a ceiling fan previously on the ceiling which was just attached to the slats under the plaster with 2 lag bolts.  I don't know how it didn't fall down.  I cut a hole in the ceiling where the wire was dangling and put a junction box in, attached to the ceiling joist.  I don't like plastic boxes, but the ceiling fixture we're putting in is much lighter than the ceiling fan, plus it won't have whirling blades.

Both of the wires were the same color, so I put a piece of black electric tap on the on that connects to the black wire.  The mirrored cap for the light fixture is also a little bit bigger than the hole in the medallion so I traced around it and then cut out a recess for the edges so it would fit flush against the ceiling and I would be able to attach the medallion to the ceiling.

This was a "paint" weekend with us priming the master bedroom, but forgetting to prime the closet.

We also got in a bit of shopping at... you guessed it... Home Depot.  Home Depot was having a clearance sale on floor and discontinued models of appliances.  Even though we were a week or two in front of when we intended to purchase appliances, we got such a great deal, saving several hundred dollars, we went ahead and purchased a side-by-side refrigerator, gas stove, dish washer, washer and gas dryer. This complied with our mantra... Never pay full price!!!

...and Robyn got drapes for the dining room windows as well.

This helper doesn't scream when you hit it...

Today, I continued the building of a soffit around the ductwork in the living room.  This particular run of ductwork requires a box 12' 8" long X 12" wide X 12" deep.  Building the box and then attaching it to the ceiling would basically mean that Robyn and I would have to lift five 12 foot long 2x4's and hold them up until they are attached; something we can't do by ourselves.  So I decided to build them in place.  Difficult still but not nearly as challenging.  Using "helpers" like the one below, I could put up a section at a time and attach it by myself.

I figured this was a more prudent approach after the first 2x4 came loose from the ceiling before I could get it nailed up and conked Robyn on the head, leaving a nice little mark on the back of her head where the 2x4 hit her and her forehead where it knocked her into the ladder.  She didn't scream either... but her eyes watered.

We also bought our first appliance for the house.

This way we can bring leftovers from home in the cooler Tammy got me for my birthday and heat them.  Today we had Cincinnati chili over spaghetti squash.

We also put the final coat on the dining room; Robyn did most of the work.  

No, dear, that isn't a scepter

Today was spent getting new Minnesota plates for Robyn's car, getting her oil changed, a quick trip to Home Depot for more painting supplies, and her surprising me at Sam's Club with a card and the receipt for my birthday present.

An awesome hybrid grill...

Too bad the food doesn't come with it.  I can't wait to put it together and use it.  It will be great to grill again after being in an apartment where it isn't allowed.

We did get some work done on the house today.  While I was painting the ceiling in the dining room, Robyn was taping off the living room.  Later she joined me in the dining room and we got the first coat of paint on the walls above the plate shelf.

After priming, it looks like we'll only need one coat on the ceiling.  The upper part of the wall will definitely need 2 coats.

As we were wrapping up the day, Robyn "discovered" one of my gadgets, the painter stirrer I use for the 5 gallon buckets of paint.

You should have heard her exclaim, "You use this with your drill to stir the paint? This is so cool!!"  You would have thought it was me.

Itchy... Itchy...

Wednesday while I was waiting for the City of St. Paul inspector to show up to inspect the water heater installation, I took the opportunity to put some fiberglass insulation around the ductwork where it passes through the ceiling and walls.

I will be boxing in all the ductwork with 5/8” sheetrock which is 1 hour burn barrier rated but in the meantime I wanted to add some additional protection by filling the open areas around the ductwork which could be a potential pathway between floors and rooms if there were a fire.

Not really that difficult to do.  A $15 25 foot-long of R19 unback insulation was my raw material.  I just cut off 6” strips to insert around the ductwork wherever it passed between rooms and floors.  Basically a 15 minute job.

I’ve installed insulation before so I know how itchy it can be if it gets in your clothes and on your skin.  For that reason I work long sleeves and gloves.

And wouldn’t you know, it still got on me in a few spots.  Fortunately, the itching is still mild and I’m not scratching like a maniac.

As for the water heater inspection, it passed.  The inspector, Steve Fernlund, was a great guy and gave me some tips on the City of St. Paul inspection process as well as some advice on when a permit is required and when it isn’t.

So that's why it's call a chip brush.

Today, I made it back to the house to take another stab at priming the dining room after yesterday's abortive attempt with the Wagner Power Sprayer.  In about 30 minutes more time (and with even more paint on me), I finished priming the dining room ceiling white and the walls gray. With the darker colors that we've chosen, we'll get better coverage using a gray primary rather than the usual white.

The other day, our friend, Joel, said he used a foam roller to paint popcorn ceilings.  So last night when I made my trip to Home Depot to pickup a paint roller, I grabbed some.

The foam roller is the bomb!  Easy coverage of the big popcorn texture on the ceiling.  The only downside was every once in a while a stray piece of texture would get stuck in between the slices that are in the foam.  My other new favorite item are the disposable paint pan inserts.  Clean up has always been a chore when you finish and these little $.77 items are worth the price.  When you done, just empty the paint back into the can and toss the liner.

A couple of weeks ago, I'd also bought a 15 pack of chip brushes.  The cheap little things are great for areas that don't require a really good brush.... like those little chips out of the wall that I missed when I spackled the holes in the wall.

Here's a four corner review of the dining room after priming this evening.

In these photos, the primer isn't dry yet but the coverage was unbelievable.  These walls were filthy and the gray primer covered everything right up.

I'd thought we'd wasted our effort putting plastic over the windows and doorway once I decided not to use the sprayer.  But rollers inevitably splatter paint and this plastic means we won't have to scrap the splatters off the windows later.

That's the smoke detector above the entranceway and the thermostat right next to it.

Wagner Power Plus Sprayer Review

I must confess... I am a gadget addict.  That's why I've been excited to try out the Wagner Power Plus Sprayer that I'd bought to paint the bedroom before we moved from Ohio.

Robyn was leery about me trying out the new sprayer on her bedroom.  I agreed because it was a smaller room and probably was a bit overkill.

Good choice on her part!

Robyn works late on Mondays, so I took the opportunity to run by the house and try the sprayer out on the dining room.  I figured in a hour or so I could have the whole thing primed and ready.

WRONG!!!

There are insufficient adjectives and adverbs that are printable in a blog for general publication that describes how bad the Wagner Power Plus sprayer is.

It is extremely difficult just to attach the sprayer to the paint container.  It is difficult to align and difficult to tighten.  But once you get it attached, the fun starts!!!

I spray painted about a 4 foot strip before the sprayer started spitting out little gobs of paint.  Not good.

I figured the primer might be a little thick.  So I dumped it back in the 5 gallon bucket.  Went downstairs.  Rinsed out the sprayer.  Sprayed water through it to it misted.  Went back up stairs.  Put a cup of water in the paint container.  Dipped paint out of the bucket.  Stirred it up really well, getting even more paint on my hands.

Struggled some more with attaching the sprayer to the container.  Spilled more paint.  And then started spraying some more.

This time I got about 4 square feet spray painted before it started spitting out little gobs of paint.  Jeez.

Most definitely not worth the time, trouble, or money.  A good gadget works easily and intuitively.  This does neither and ranks right up there in the Hall of Ignominy with the "As Seen on TV" boiled egg peeler.

Gift wrapped....

Yesterday, we got our first piece of mail at the house.  Our insurance policy...

Today we started doing serious prep work for paint.  Robyn and I carried the crown molding out to the garage to store it until we have a truck load of stuff to haul to the transfer station.  While Robyn was cleaning the built-in linen cabinets in the upstairs hallway, I took down the ceiling fan, hauled it out to the garage and then started taping the molding and windows and doors in the dining room.

It was like wrapping Christmas presents for everyone... hours and hours of taping paper around and over stuff.  And I'm almost as neat doing this as wrapping Christmas gifts.  Thank goodness for the tape machine that put a strip of masking tape on the edge of the 12" paper.

Robyn came along behind me and taped the bottom of the masking paper to the bottom of the plate shelf.  Thank goodness this is our most difficult room to mask because it took hours.

We also finally got rid of the three radiators that were left behind in the house. (Someone had saws-alled them but left these three behind.)  I'd put them up on Craigslist and someone took them away for a good price... free!!!  He's planning on using them in a duplex that he is rehabbing so I'm glad they're going to be reused rather than scrapped.

Heavy cast iron, the two upstairs were difficult to get downstairs and out.  But the one downstairs was a BEAST!!!  The heaviest thing I'd lifted since me and my cousin Charles had moved my grandmother's wood stove.  And nearly as difficult to move as the armoire I helped move out of Pat's and Bruce's house.

Thank goodness Joel and Sue had stopped by to chat and see the house.  Joel was drafted as manual labor to help tote the things downstairs and outside.  The guy taking them put the two small ones in the back of a compact stationwagon and the "BEAST" on a car dolly.  I suspect his front wheels were barely touching the road.

We were hoping to get the dining room primed today but with this little interlude we weren't able to get started.  I'm hoping this part goes quickly using the Wagner sprayer.  Here's a video of the room nearly completely prepped.  Turn your head sideway, apparently my phone doesn't auto-rotate videos...