Transitions #renovations

The walls and the ceilings are painted in the suite. All of them. Today Matt is going to move the table saw out, all the tools and equipment are getting shifted out to the shed. The space is no longer a construction site, it is now a new living space in the final stages of completion.

I painted until midnight, rolling, rolling, rolling. There is still the trim to paint, and there are still projects to finish up, but now it feels like it is actually going to become a living space.

I love it down there. It takes me 10 minutes to sweep the entire suite. The counters wipe up easily, and it is a pleasure to contemplate the beauty of the concrete as I do so.

The electricians are due today, and the plumbers are due on Friday. Once they have completed their work, the appliances will finally be installed.

Today I am taking a rest day to give my body a chance to recuperate from the painting, but tomorrow, I will begin painting the trim. With luck and  a breath of good grace, we will get through this renovation and live to tell the tale.

 

Last week we received the sad news that my dear Mother-In-Law is being transitioned into hospice care. We continue our labours in her honour, even as we yearn to fly back east to see her and sit with her. We cannot leave until we have completed this renovation, and we are within two weeks of getting to final inspection.

The renovation itself is a tough process that demands every wit and wisdom that can be brought to bear on the myriad of puzzles and problems that emerge at every stage. Add to that government legislation that changes lending and borrowing terms and results in interest rates much higher than planned, a dissertation that is overdue, the dual financial pressures of servicing mortgages and credit card debt from the reno while need to apply hours to the house to finish the renovation, and then add the family dimension: weddings, illness, celebrations, loss. It really comprises a very tough couple of years.

Fingers crossed for good luck and successful completion of the never ending task list.

Improving my painting technique #renovations

I have begun applying the final coat of paint. Hopefully I will have it all done before the electricians arrive  to install light fixtures and switches next week. I think I will be okay with it, although the finicky finishing bits devour time just when I think I am going to be sailing through.

My brush technique is good. One thing I have noticed is the quality of the brush counts for a lot, that, and a steady hand and a good eye for the edge. My roller technique, however, left a lot to be desired.

I don’t know if it is just me, but the rollers I am using don’t like to do what I would assume a roller does, roll back and forth with paint on it. When I tried to use it this way, I was left with this large ridge of paint rolling off one end of the roller. I was also fighting the roller to keep it on the holder. Every time I re-loaded the paint, I had to tap the roller back onto the holder.

Instead, I figured out that it is much faster and better to only apply paint rolling in one direction. I am finding this is going much faster and I am getting a nice even application of paint. I have also noticed that if I apply a lot of paint passing with the roller going uniformly in a vertical pattern, then I can pass again in a horizontal pattern and not have to recharge the roller with paint. This is getting me the best finish.

I am also finding a diamond patter is working well on large wall surfaces. This technique is based on applying the first pattern on a diagonal with a well loaded roller, and then going back over it a second time perpendicular to the first pass.

One last point. If the light is not good I cannot see whether there is a problem in the paint surface or not. I am setting up my lights so my surface is well lit and I can see every bump and blemish.

Okay, now this is the last point. In the past I have been unrealistically optimistic about paint drips and drops. I have tended to neglect proper draping and even painting in good clothes, because I thought I would be careful enough not to have any problems. Well, a penny saved is a penny earned. A little extra draping and wearing painting coveralls is worth it in the long run.

painting trim

While I am waiting for Matt to finish installing the countertop framing, I have been keeping myself out of his way by painting the exterior of the renovation. The siding has 4 coats of this lovely deep green. I have painted the door trim an even deeper forest green to match the window frames. The last few days I have been prepping the antique white trim. I have been caulking all joints and holes with NP1, filling the odd crack with expansion foam and then coating it with NP1.

The whole bottom half of the house did not get new trim. The utility wall on the west side is a bit of a mess and I don’t know how to fix it. Perhaps Wallace will give me a hand tomorrow.

Today I am going to go around and spot coat all the NP1 patches. Tomorrow I should be able to paint the whole exterior trim and finish the job. The main floor and upstairs of the house are going to have to wait, though. There is still much work to do after this renovation is completed.

Painting

Today I painted the interior of the basement. I spent the day cutting in all the corners with primer. It is now ready to have a full coat of primer rolled on. In the meantime, Chris, the carpenter, mocked up an example of how the trim is going to lay out. He has to biscuit joint the window sill, so he spent most of the day putting that together. I am madly trying to stay ahead of him, to get the primer and top coat onto the gyproc before the trim goes on.

I should have had all the painting done yesterday, but when I was prepping the vapor barrier repair around the windows, Wallace, our contractor, noticed the windows hadn’t been sealed. So that was my Sunday job. Sealing the windows involved spraying expanding foam around the windows, trimming it flat after it hardened, installing the vapor barrier, and caulking the vapor barrier to the window frame. By the time I had the windows done and the basement thoroughly vacuumed and swept, it was too late to do anymore that day.