House Rehab: Caulk it!

My constant lament on the project is that the windows are just junk and the trim job was done with an emphasis on speed v. quality.  There are gaps in the trim at the corners (inside and outside), between the wall and the trim (normal)  So anything that I can do to 'tighten them up' is not such a bad thing.  Accordingly, yesterday was the day that I embarked on caulking (and I will continue today).  I know that caulking these gaps between trim/jambs, trim/trim, is going to give upgrade the look of this trim overall.  Of course, nothing will ruin good trim work than a bad paint job...but it is also worth remembering that painting will not eliminate structural imperfections of a poor trim job. By carefully applying caulk to well prepared surfaces AND carefully painting these well prepared surfaces, I will optimize my outcome.

To tighten up, I armed myself with a caulk gun and Red Devil Speed Demon Acrylic caulk.  I found these attractively priced at .99/tube at the local salvage place.  The also have Frog Tape at $2.99 a roll.   Like most things, caulking is harder than it looks--but caulk is very forgiving, and imperfections can be smoothed easily with the aid of a moistened finger.  It is worth taking time to have the right size bead, and to take your time and pay attention to balancing speed of moving the gun and pulling the trigger. I found  a Handi-Wipe which saved my fingertip from going over multiple linear feet of trim.  Now and again I would wash it out to keep it caulk free.

I took my digital camera, and Olympus Camedia (C-5050), to the home to take some pictures. I wished I had some before/after pics for you.  Unfortunately, when I powered it on,  I was greeted with a technicolor screen that indicated that something very much was amiss.  This happened some years ago (the camera is about 8 or so years old (ancient in digital years), and I had to have it repaired at a cost of $150 or so.  It has been a great camera, but it might be time for a new digital camera......sigh.

I still have a small digital camera that works for convenience settings when you don't want to fool around with settings and what not.  Though my Olympus was old, it still took great pictures--even if the megapixels were 5.1.

I had to forage a bit for some more supplies--one being a work light.  The lighting at the house is not great, and I found that while painting, I had some holidays from the mere fact that I could not see very well.  I bought a 1000w work light.  It was very useful--and very hot.  The amount of heat it generated (500w halogen bulbs) was surprising.  It was like a furnace!  However, it was a useful and inexpensive tool ($32 @ Lowes), and it will improve the quality of my work.

Off for more transformation.