What Doesn't Kilz Me Makes me....................

Three of the great, unsolved mysteries of my life is where all of the Socks, single engine airplanes in the Bermuda Triangle, and paint on fresh drywall end up when they vanish.  It would not be the first time that I failed to get a gallon of paint to cover the square footage the manufacturer claims it should.  In my desperate attempt to fully seal fresh drywall I gave Kilz, original, oil based, poison strength formula a try.

I started priming the walls around 3:00 pm, the earliest opportunity I had.  My hopes were to prime the ceiling, then the walls and finally, have time to paint the ceiling.  As you will see pictured, I opened both the bathroom window and the adjacent kitchen window.  I utilized fans as well.  At the time I felt confident in my ventilation.  As I worked, I noticed time began to slip.  Before I knew it it was almost 5:00.  The ceiling and walls seemed to absorb the primer like a sponge.

As I primed the ceiling and then the walls, I became determined to finish what I had started before Mary got home from work.  I was consumed, in fact, or so I thought.  Working to reach 10 ft ceilings, I depended on my trusty roller extension.  I'm tall enough and have a decent reach, so short of a few bits of paint in my hair, I managed to knock out the ceiling with little difficult despite how quickly time seemed to be moving.  However, it eventually occurred to me that I was becoming more and more dependent on the roller as a means of staying on my feet.  The roller, was heavier the further along I got and to be honest, so did my face.  What I was consumed by was more and more obviously not determination.

Mary arrived home from work late, which gave me the extra time needed.  I was finished, I was triumphant, however, I was incapable of putting together a sentence.  My face was heavy, my arms a bit tingly.  I was covered with primer and my head was buzzing.  I was stoned from all the Kilz.  At Mary's urging I sat on the porch with the dog and took in as much fresh air as possible.  It wasn't until close to 7:00 and after a shower that I started to regain my grasp on reality.  The ceiling paint would have to wait, yet another casualty of an unpleasant experience with oil based Kilz.

Scotland Road

"If it's not Scottish it's Crap!"

     Or at least, that's what Mike Myers would have had you believe back in this days on SNL.  A dangerous quote on St Patrick's day I guess, but it has it's purpose.  After sorting through a half dozen or so paint sample with 4 shades each, Mary and I came to the conclusion that we were going to go with Scotland Road.

     Our selection was based on a number of parameters.  In a small house, the conventional wisdom suggests color, texture, etc are related, if not consistent.  Mary wanted something a little different from the dining room.  Plus, it needed to make sense, as did every other choice, with a green glass soap pumps that I randomly became obsessed with.  Oddly enough we received two soap pumps for wedding presents.


     And that is how we came to, on St Patrick's Day, select Scotland Road for the walls of our nearly renovated bathroom.



     Plus, the bathroom is now bigger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside and I think Doctor Who would appreciate that.

Motivators

The single greatest motivator in this renovation was to finally shower in the bathroom after spending five years using a makeshift shower in the middle of the basement laundry room.  Pictured is where The Old Cow (a 4 ft claw foot tub) once sat along side a commode, below a partial flight of attic stairs.  Our second greatest motivator was to increase the layout and square footage of our bathroom to include everything above.  The new room is approximately 9x6 ft with an additional 2x4 ft entry.

In an effort to save usable space we included in this project a slight entry way.  Presently this entrance is covered by a canvas tarp.  To the right of this doorway is an opening to our future linen closet.  Once accessible from another room of the house, this closet once served as a center for sorting and storing recyclable materials.  The future home of our recycling bins for paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, etc. is still a great mystery.

Looking forward to what next week brings, I've included an image of some of the lighting that will be included in the room.  Hanging from the 10 ft ceiling, we wanted lighting that would provide ample light in a practical way.  Although this pendant light take 2 light bulbs with a max of 60 watts each, we were advised that compact fluorescent bulbs put out substantially less heat.  With this in mind, we have the option to increase wattage if extra light is needed while saving on our electric bill.  We will be making up for our recent contribution to the local land fills for years to come.  I will be sure to recycle the cardboard box this light came in.

Dip Function

An exciting feature of this project is the inclusion of a pocket door.  Due to space limitations and the layout of the house, we opted for a combination of an on suite bath, with accessibility from another door leading to the kitchen.  The pocket door replaces an older door which featured an odd assortment of angles.  Again, I am having a difficult time locating an example of the before.  Soon to come, I hope.

Contributing greatly to the once awkward door is the unlevel floor.  Much of the delay in starting this project was caused by debates about how to best compensate for the noticeable "dip" in the floor.  The final solution includes a self leveling compound to be applied in the coming week.  Pictured, you may notice the dip in the floor especially where the cold air return is concerned.  Both the return and the vent in this photo are to be relocated to the walls.

The Old Cow

The renovation of our bathroom started Monday morning with a day of demolition. I purchased the home in 2005 and have lived there with my wife since November of 2007. Recently we began a renovation of our only bathroom. Pictured is the bathroom minus the 4 ft claw foot tub (the old cow), and the old vanity. Remaining is the lavatory and pretty pink linoleum tiles. I failed to take before pictures Monday morning, but I'm in search of a CD that contains a couple of images. The bathroom was approximately 4 ft x 6 ft with a ceiling height of 7 ft.

Included in our plans is an additional 32 square ft, a new 5 ft tub, tile, windows, the removal of a partial flight of stairs, a linen closet, and the ceiling height raised to 10 ft (matching the rest of the house.) Pictured is the old window. The image is shot from beyond what was once a built in medicine cabinet and vanity. You'll also notice that the ceiling height has been raised.

Above the bathroom is a spooky old attic room. Signs of a fire from the 1930's can be seen beyond wilted old wallpaper. We found an army footlocker up there, but sadly it was not filled with cash. The room was filled with potential, however. A project to follow perhaps. After all, we removed the old stairs leading to the attic.

Walls Fall

Built in 1891,  our cozy little house on Wyoming Street has been brimming with possibilities for years.  The previous owner probably hoped that there was a possibility that some rube would come along and buy it.  During my first week living there I was quickly presented with the possibility that without 100 plus years of wallpaper hold it up, the plaster could start falling off.  Among these possibilities my wife and I discovered a few potentially positive possibilities.

One of those potentials was curb appeal.  Surrounded by a high wall of hard to manage hedges, the home looked like a tiny boxer, mitt covered fists poised, up in front as if to protect its face.  A daunting task, I spent a few years asking everyone I knew what the best plan off attack might be.  It wasn't until Mary signed up for a class to learn how to cast fine metals that I got up the reckless nerve to do something about it.

My first thought was to cut part of it down with hedge clippers.  I thought it might be easier if I could concentrate on the roots alone.  Once a sheared the most out-of-the way plant, I discovered that with a mighty bit of digging and heaving and hoeing, I could actually dig the ball from the ground.  That evening, Mary walked up the front sidewalk and into the front door.  It was dark & she missed the whole pile.

Over the course of the next two days I worked in the sun and rain until the wall of hedges was in a massive pile between our house and the neighbor's house, a space approximately 2ft wide known around  our neighborhood as a gangway.  We worked all that Saturday bagging up the debris and hauling it off to the yard refuse bins provided by the city placed in the alley behind the house.  While pulling the hedges from the ground, Mary & I discovered 100 or more bricks, some partially unearthed, others buried below the roots, evidence of some early landscaping.  Later in the year we lined the edge of the sidewalk with our found bricks making for an inviting path to the house.

A year later, the grass had almost completely recovered.  In place of the wall of hedges, we planted a Redbud tree to accompany the Bradford pear the city had planted the year before.