Crossing the Finish Line....

I believe that we'll cross the finish line to completion by this coming weekend's end. The list of 'big things to finish' is getting smaller. The painter (me) seems to have a never-ending list of things to do.  I sorely underestimated the job or overestimated my energy/speed when signing up to do all of the painting prep/execution (or some combination of the two!).

My brother and sister and law were very kind and gave us a hand on Friday.  We got the last of the lighting fixtures in (a fan and a light). Most of the primed/first coated baseboard had been re-installed.  Stretches of it had something needful....nail hole filler, nail hole filler sanding and all of it had to be caulked.  But before caulking, there is cleaning.  My SIL cleaned all of the baseboard; I manned the caulk gun, and my SIL came right behind me to finish off the bead.  It was a huge help--as it reduced by 1/2 the amount of stooping and swiping that I had to do (or 2/3 if cleaning it were involved).

On Saturday, I was back on my knees painting the baseboard.  It's all cut-in work, but with a high quality brush, it went pretty quickly. Of course, my painting skills/speed have improved mightily since the beginning of the project.  I still have one more room to both caulk and paint.  It currently is housing the kitchen cabinet doors...I did not wish to move them for the 20th time.

With that accomplished, Mark was able to put down the shoe moulding which I had previously stained.  Boy, does it look beautiful put up.  The Helmsman Provincial wiping stain was the perfect stain to match the floors.  The floors are just gorgeous...just gorgeous.

Sourcing a 22' drain pan for the water heater turned out to be a major event.  Had I utilized Home Depot's on-line inventory reporting, I would have saved myself some time.  Also, the Williamsburg store is quite a bit closer than the store we normally go to (as the house is in eastern New Kent, not western New Kent where we live).  A 20 minute ride puts you right in touch with a Lowe's and a Home Depot--literally back to back.  Another forehead-slapping "had-I-known" opportunity. 

At the HD, we also achieved a major milestone in acquiring a vanity for the downstairs bathroom.  The existing cabinet was a strange size that meant that a custom top had to be made.  And 98% of that would have to be cut away for the sink. It had a granite top in just the colors that complemented the colors of the bathroom.  That the undermounted sink was white was fine, as it melded perfectly into the overall look.  We had to purchase a new faucet as the one that I had was for a widespread application. So the existing prepped cabinet was tossed and the new cabinet that we found on a back aisle at the HD will replace it.

In both bathrooms, I had to scrape the walls where the old back splashes were attached.  None of our replacement options covered the old space, and I had not considered that eventuality (to my chagrin).  Removing the old caulking meant that some of the paper from the drywall came with it.  I fiberglass-taped over the scraped areas, and then applied drywall.  My skills are nascent at best, but my lack of foresight gave me a chance to build some skill. Gratifyingly,  I produced a fairly professional looking finish that looked better than some of the drywall in that bathroom! Both spaces are primed and ready for 2 coats of finish paint. 


We did have a bi-fold door casualty--a fatality which occurs when one has to "take a little off" that cuts into the core of an MDF door.  When you add 1/2 inch to your floors, all manner of evils unfold--one such evil is that your door jambs have to be raised or you have to cut the bottoms off your doors.  Standard doors, are no longer standard.  We bought new interior doors (from the Re-store), and thankfully, none of those required trimming (but they were solid wood).  But the side door was a problem, and the front door (though it was newly placed and adjusted for flooring) didn't have enough clearance for the threshold.  Mark raised the door jambs on both.

Mark has really been a saint through all of this--though I have tested his sainthood in asking too many questions or offering unsolicited 'suggestions'.  I've known him long enough (32 years) to know that he has to try things his way before he considers the utility of my way.  There have been some instances over that period of time where my was really was the most feasible/efficacious way.  That being said...he is far more knowledgeable in any of this stuff than I am.

With the scotia moulding down on the floor, there is a beautiful, finished look to everything.  It is satisfying (miraculous!) to see how this filthy, poorly maintained home has been revitalized.  Rather than miles to go before we sleep, we have a few hundred feet which we'll cover by putting one foot in front of the other.