Stair Painting

When we decided to get our wood floors put in we knew we were also upgrading our molding. In order for everything to match I would have to paint the stair risers and runners after the treads were refinished. These ended up taking quite a bit more time than I had initially thought they would.

Starting out.

Had to set a couple of nails.

Prep work makes for a great paint job.

After taping up everything I sanded the risers and runners a bit so the paint would adhere better. I only had to take off a bit of the current finish and smooth any roughness left from the carpet staple removal I did back when we moved in. After wiping everything down with a tack cloth I put on one coat of oil based primer. Next was the paint.

Some paint.

All finished up.

I ended up applying three coats of paint on top of the primer to get full coverage of the original dark wood stain. This took me longer than I expected because there are so many nooks and crannies to get when painting stairs. I also caulked along the runners and walls to fill in a few gaps that were visible, probably from the house settling over the years. They weren't huge but the stairs look much better with them filled. I followed my normal procedure of running a thin bead along the joint and smoothing it over with a damp finger. Any little errors can be cleaned up with mineral spirits.

Bedroom Update

Before moving in to the master bedroom I wanted to update it so we wouldn't have to move out of it again later. This meant updating the trim, doors, paint, and fixtures. I started by painting a corner of the room with some sample colors from Sherwin Williams.

Poised taupe and linen.

With the colors agreed upon I started to remove all of the moulding. This meant pulling the baseboard, shoe moulding, door trim, and window trim. We'll be putting up a new trim that will have a more detailed profile than the simple curved design that was installed. By removing the moulding before painting I won't have to be as precise when I cover the walls since the trim will cover and bad lines around the windows and doors and floor. We will be changing out the ceiling fan as well so I will be painting the ceiling later, too.

Bare window. 

Door trim gone, baseboard is next.

I just started removing moulding in a corner and worked my way around the room, working on the windows as I got to them. The work went quickly but now I'm left with a lot of trim full of nails that is stacked in the basement. I'll address that later since my workshop isn't put together yet and I will have to chop that debris up and bend in all the nails before discarding. I started putting up the trim I built from flat stock I picked up at Lowe's. Some 1x2 and 1x3 lumber is all it took.

Removed moulding.

New moulding style.

The new moulding is a craftsman style and will be painted white when it is all installed. I also caulked any gaps and where the moulding met the wall giving a nice clean finish.

Painted and caulked.

As part of this update I also changed all of the almond colored outlets and switches to white which helps clean up the look of the room and makes it all match. The doors are still the hollow core oak but will be replaced with white three panel doors in the future. Despite the darker accent wall, the overall look is much brighter than it was before we moved in. The refinished floors certain help and are a welcome change from the dark maroon carpets that were there.

A Very Busy Weekend

This weekend was quite busy and allowed me to check several items off of my home repairs TODO list. With the nice weather on Saturday I did some work outside on the garage. The brickmold around the door has been rotted and was falling out over winter. I had initially only wanted to replace the brickmold but ended up replacing the jamb and door stop.

New vinyl.

The new jamb and weatherstop.

Attached with finish nails.

All of the old material removed.

I also managed to complete a few smaller projects indoors. Since painting the main bathroom I noticed the grout and caulk needed attention. I used a grout cleaner and a scrub brush to whiten up the grout lines in the shower surround. I also took a razor scraper to the caulking around the tub and did my best to replace it with a new bead. It was a bit messy but I'm glad mineral spirits cleans it up well enough!

Cleaning the old caulking out.

Cleaning all of the mold out.

Scraping it all is hard work.

And messy.

This was under the window and caused leaking into the wall and basement. I have plans for this later.

New caulking.

Sealed up for now. Tiles later.

The main bath is nearly complete but I still have one project left for it. Since the thinset behind the wall tiles where it meets the sill is cracked and probably causing water damage I want to put some new tile to seal it properly. I found a matching bullnose tile and will have to find a few days for installation as the adhesive and grout will need that much time to set before coming into contact with water on a daily basis.

I next tackled a small job in the kitchen. Since installing the cabinets some time ago there's been a small gap around where it meets the uneven plaster of the old walls. In order to cover this I picked up some quarter round moulding a while back from HOBO. I installed this around the cabinets with a few finish nails.

A small gap around the cabinets.

Nicely finished.

Also in the kitchen there was a broken up seam in the vinyl floor and several other seams with accumulated dirt on the glue surrounding floor. The dirty glue was easily cleaned up with mineral spirits but I had to be careful not to use too much so as to avoid ruining the glue holding the floor down. The broken seam was simply covered with a flat surface transition strip.

It matches the transition strips on the stairs.

Lastly, we painted the upstairs bathroom an interested hue of pink that Siri had chosen. It took a few coats since it is such a light color and was covering the darker tan that was all over. I also had to patch a few holes and place new anchors for the fixtures since most of the existing ones had been pulled loose by the previous residents.

Quaint peche, an interesting color.

With some more fair weather in forecast I plan to do a bit more work outside. I have the front stairs to repair and some painting to do on the hand rails. A couple of the window sills outside also need a bit of repair as the stone had broken up and is very weathered.

The Aftershock

Of course, after the Big One there will be small shocks afterward. The shock I encountered was when I double checked everything after priming to find the flex duct had a large hole in the back of it that ran up behind the drywall. This must have occurred as I was moving it to attach the adapter to the hood vent. This set my schedule back a bit from when I thought we would get the kitchen back in working order but I did correct it as I didn't want the warm, moist air from the hood vent producing mold in the cavity above the alcove. But this was after I had gotten the sanding and priming done.

Taped off for primer.

First coat on.

Sanded and 2nd coat applied.

I also took the time to move the outlet for the electric range connection. Though we have a gas unit, I wanted to have this moved so that it wouldn't interfere with putting the fridge against the back wall. It was easy enough as it is fed from a junction box in the basement directly in the center of the alcove. I disconnected the outlet (after making sure the breaker was turned off) and just pulled the armored cable down to the basement. I drilled a new hole, fed the cable up, and simply re-attached the outlet on the right side of the alcove.

Moved the electric range outlet.

Fridge put in place.

It was about this time that I did my double checking of all the new construction and setup. I found the hole in the flex ducting. I called it a night and planned my work for the next day. I replaced the offending section of the flex duct with a rigid duct. In order to do this I had to remove the microwave, cabinet, and cut the ceiling drywall for access.

Replaced flex with rigid.

Replaced the cabinet after duct work.

Microwave attached and connected to new ductwork.

After testing the new duct work for leaks, I cleaned up and reattached the cabinet doors. I put the range in place and tested the gas connection. I then unboxed the final cabinet: a 12" base cabinet. We still haven't picked out the counter top material for this cabinet but it is between granite to match the existing top on the opposite side of the kitchen or a butcher block style of hardwood. For now, we are going to use a cutting board for a top and be careful not to make too much of a mess as we cook.

Everything installed.

We still have to paint the kitchen when we decide on colors, but the primer will keep the drywall sealed until that time. I have some toekick left from the pantry cabinet project that I still need to attach to the new base cabinet but I will do that later. All in all the remodel turned out nicely and I'm quite pleased with the results.