Bathroom project update
subtitled, Why It Takes Me Forever To Get Anything Done Around Here
This is how a project develops around here.
1. Completely do a room (in this case, a bathroom) by wallpapering it. Then, wait for a few years and watch while your children decide to pick pieces of the wallpaper off. And also watch them begin to pull the toilet paper holder out.
2. Realize that you need to do something to make the room look nice again. Wait until the toilet paper holder is almost out of the wall, and try to figure out what to do and fix that hole at the same time. Come up with a design (lower wall paneling so you don't have to fix the hold and paint for the upper walls).
3. Purchase materials after intensive online searches. Find out local box store has what you need.
4. Begin stripping the wall paper. This took only 3 days. I had to go back to the store to get more remover. Wash the walls of residue.
5. Prime the walls. Have some problems, so put second coat of primer on.
6. Paint the upper walls. Have the first coat go on just fine. Have second coat bubble on one wall (and also a small bit on a second). Realize the the type of paint has botten both high and low reviews. (I was being "artistic" and went for a "soft gloss" finish on the upper walls. That uses a "enamel" as the base which is different from the base used for semi-gloss or satin. I think that was my mistake.)
7. Have meltdown while sanding the walls to try to get some even-ness to it. Take a break from the project for a full week.
8. Go to store and get small bit of blue paint in satin finish. Put it on walls as thirs coat. Realize that it worked, although there are still major bits of wrongness on the one wall. I'll be trying to find a picture or two to hang on it. It is apparent, but not glaringly appararent.
9. Rip up quarter round and baseboards so I can put on the special baseboards needed for the panneling. Have some problem with the baseboard being lower than the wood floor in one section so I cannot get it out without help from Siegfried once he is home from work. Discover damage beneath boards, but nothing that will interfere with installing new boards.
10. Install baseboards. Have slight problem with one wall (yes, same on as paint!) since it is curved slightly.
11. Install paneling. Have problems with keeping one wall level. Yes, same one! Discover that almost all of the walls are not square or level. And yet, I managed to put up wallpaper with no problem. Who would have thunk it.
12. Install cap railing. Again, problems with curves in wall.
13. Paint panneling. Took three coats. It was pre-primed, but it just soaked up the paint like it wasn't. Only had a few minor problems to fix/touch up on the blue walls.
14. Paint quarter round to put on ceiling to cover up mistakes up there. Cut quarter round, and install 1st piece. Try to install 2nd piece and cannot figure out why it will not fit. Get really confused since I know the miter cuts were correct. Have meltdown (it was really hot working up near the ceiling). Have Siegfried come home and show me that I had flipped the piece on installation. (Stupid minor dyslexia). Have a slight bubble of paint peel off wall when quarterround is removed for re-installation.
15. Even knowing the curvature, have problems with fitting it to the wall. Small gaps.
16. Decide to paint seiling since the white of the quarter round and the white of the ceiling do not match. Also, it did not cover up one mistake of blue. Took two coats to do the ceiling. But, managed to "fill" gaps from the molding to the ceiling with paint.
17. Cut quarter round to fit for floor. Realize that we only have cherry stain downstairs, but go for it. Stain smallest piece. Take it up and see that it matches OK with floor. Stain rest. Poly-coat it. Begin installing it. Have problems with a few nails not actually hitting the wall (stupid gap of the wall board problem). But finally get it in.
18. Touchup the mistake areas, including blue paint to the bubble area. Technically I still neet to touch up the molding with white paint, but I am letting that dry completely.
Not counting the whole time in step one, I began conceiving this plan in May. Started stripping on June 1st. Laid the last bit of quarter-round on July 4th. All this for a little powder room bathroom. Sheesh. Granted, my time gets broken up because I had to always stop to meet buses, or take to lessons, or do groceries, or make dinners, etc etc etc.
My biggest problem has to due with the paint. Never get the Soft-Gloss finish using the Valspar Kitchen and Bath Enamel from Lowe's. I had no problem with Valspar semi-gloss or satin. That alone cost me over a week of anguish. And it took forever for the paint smell to go away from that paint. By contrast we had no to little paint smell from the "good" finishes. Go figure.