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We've been closing up holes and prepping the walls for paint and finishing throughout the house. This is the corner of the living room. Remember what it used to look like?
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Another detail shot of the ceiling and wall in the living room. You can still see some texture in the joint compound where we need to smooth things out.
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In the kitchen, we finally removed the cabinet I'd been swearing we were keeping. Above the cabinet ran an old exhaust pipe for the coal oven. The area was filled with coaldust, soot, mouse droppings, and the skeleton of a long-dead rodent. I'm quite pleased with our decision to remove it. We will fill this area with new glass-front cabinets.
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In the bathroom, we've prepped and primed the walls a lovely clean white.
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A view towards the back of the bathroom. We used Kilz oil primer on the walls in here to get a good stain-blocking seal. The only downside is you NEED to wear a good quality breathing mask or you'll get quite high from the fumes.
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After primer comes paint. This is the final color of the bathroom walls.
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We will be painting the ceiling an offwhite rather than its current harsh whiteness. We're starting on the walls before the ceiling for one simple reason: We need to get a coat or two on the walls before we install things like the tub and sinks. Then we'll do the ceiling, then a finishing coat on all exposed surfaces.
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We've been working on the upstairs hallway in small steps as we get breaks from other rooms. Here you can see the walls have been scraped clean and patched...
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...then primed with some excess paint from the bathroom. We will likely finish the second floor hallway and closet when we take on the master bedroom.
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At the top of the attic stairs. The old closet was removed, allowing clear access to the electric panel and the railing.
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The attic feels a bit more spacious without that old classy closet. Here is what it looked like before.
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We've been making our way around the house, working on fixing the windows. If you notice the details, you can see plenty of scraped wood, and in the center of the picture, some new rope for the windows.
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With the wallpaper scraping nearly 100% completed, I figured it was appropriate to display Michelle's favorite scraper. It's a 1-1/2" wide stiff scraper. It flexes slightly when used, and it has a nice sharp blade to get behind the paper. It comes with square corners from the factory. You can see how the corners are rounded now from use.
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Don't underestimate the power of a nail gun when putting a house together. Just make sure the nail gun is big enough to do the job. This one is limited to 1" finishing nails - just shy of the 1-1/2" required to tack the old mouldings to the walls.
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I mentioned respiratory protection. Invest in a good mask. The surgical style masks are crap unless you're doing a simple, relatively dust-free job. A good mask should filter dust, odor, and fumes. Without it, you'll lose plenty of brain cells to the power of the oil primer and be haunted with black boogers for days.
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The back porch has been removed. The door was placed over the kitchen window to protect it while the roof was brought down.
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This summer we will be rebuilding the back porch, this time, without the rotting tool-shed addition. All the neighbors are quite pleased to see the outside of the house improving.
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Down the side of the house, you can see fresh dirt where once there were weeds. (poison ivy, even). The rear corner of the house also looks a lot cleaner with that rotting porch removed.
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Coming soon! New exterior paint. We're going with an yellowish color for the house. You won't miss it.
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