Home projects for winter

I don't know, Seq, it's supposed to be nice and sunny tomorrow and I'm sure there's something you could do outside....maybe you need a break. Tell Darcy it was my idea!

Haha! Everything is covered with snow, not sure what I'd be able to do anyway. We are having church at our house tomorrow morning so that will keep the work to just the afternoon.

Seq, I hate drywall sanding. It gives me the heebie jeebies like fingernails on a chalkboard. HAHA on the pigpen analogy. Pretty cool that you have church at your house. I never heard of that, but then again all of my church exposure has been to very traditional Catholicism so I'm definitely out of touch with other practices.

Sally and Muddy, thanks for the compliments on the house :) Mike and I built it - general contracting out some things and doing a lot of it ourselves. There ARE a lot of trim/finish type things still undone - minor stuff in every room. Holly and I have talked about it because she has some of the same. We really laugh because no one ever seems to notice it. I guess it is only an eyesore when you live with it and KNOW that it is there LOL. What? No ogee moulding on top of the baseboard in several places throughout the house? No paint, not even primer, on that small piece of drywall under the landing in the foyer? No grout around the accent tile squares in a section of that basement floor? No trim around the top of the columns in the library? No stain on the closet doors in the guest bedroom? HA HA HA HA and the list goes on......

Seq, there is an attachment for a shop vac that takes most of the dust out of drywall sanding. Hose and holder for drywall sanding screen. Collects about 95% of the dust. $20 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hyde-Dust-Free-Drywall-Hand-Sander-Kit-with-6-foot-Hose-09165/100659771 Works great.

Terri, I remember your finished basement from the first swap we had at your home. It is just beautiful. With your touch I know the stairwell will be just as beautiful.
My parents house has an interesting stair banister, there is a regular banister and then a few inches below it there is a small round banister just the right size and height for children's hands. The people that lived in the house before my parents had a pack of little children.

Holly, that is the first I ever heard of a children's bannister. What a great idea for homes with small children. I absolutely love decorating ideas and never get tired of looking for them.

IKEA has that kind of banisters.

A nice alternative if you do not want to touch the regular banister
that hundreds of people slide their hands on. Flu season--you know....

I have seen a few metal banisters with one included like Gita said. But not many of them and never one like my parents in a home.

Since its cold, keep your gloves on.
I read this interesting thing once- that the brass door handles that used to be used everywhere, (think classic old hotel or bank buildings) have antimicrobial properties.

Terri if I had to cut wainscoting for a stairwell...oh my, I think I'd have to make a paper template for each piece! Are you using the 7 inch wide section or the 4 foot panels?

Jeff, using a damp sponge to do some of the finish work can help. I also have a vacuum sanding head like David showed you. They work great with a shop vac, just be sure you buy the bags for drywall. Gypsum dust is very abrasive and you can wear out a motor on you vac very quickly if you don't use the proper bag.

The only shop vac we have is an ash vac for our pellet stove. I already don't like all the crap it's had to vac up. I don't want to ruin it because it was super expensive but does a good job with our stove. That's a pretty sweet attachment though. I initially got an orbital sander with a vac attachment but that didn't work for the drywall dust at all. After a couple minutes it set off the smoke alarm Lol.

Terri we belong to a small house church that usually meets Wednesdays across the street at our neighbor's house. They wanted to switch it up though and have it one Sunday at our house. It's a good church for my wife and I.

Sally, the wainscot is thin and only 4" wide. Pretty fast and easy to cut and glue up when they are all the same height and straight cuts, but it is a different story on the angle going up the stairs. Once you get the first piece started, it isn't that bad though. Also have a little margin of error because there is an ogee moulding to hide where it hits the baseboard on the bottom end and a chairrail with a small quarter round moulding to hide it on the top end.

Next time you host a get together I am going to take a look at that wainscot and really check it out good. LOL
I have finished the taping part of the stairwell. Slow going but getting done.

What a trooper, she's finished the ceiling corner taping, and is ready to start the textured surfacing. I'll have to jump in here to see which style I used. I'm pretty sure I used a roller to put the mud on the wall and used an 8" knife or trowel to strike it off, to look like stucco.
We seem to have developed this disease, called creeping finish it. The downstairs is pretty much done and it is creeping up the stairs. Of course the one bedroom has been done twice, the other was half done, and the bath done and now basically gutted.
I still have a bit of baseboard to do in the living room, and all the molding in the mud/stove room. Since I want to make natural oak molding in the mud room this may take awhile. I get a whole lot of satisfaction as well as save buckets of money making my own moldings.

I'll be checking it, too, aspen! Hehehe. I love your house.

Jeff enjoys making his own molding also. Kitchen island is FINISHED!! Last thing on the List made years ago is the extension to the gas line to put the washer and dryer in the closet in the kitchen. Bring them up from the basement. When we moved in they were in that closet, so there is water and drainage and an outlet for them.

It took me a solid 2 1/2 hours to sand down all the drywall. What a thankless job! Pig Pen would have been jealous of me this afternoon. At least I was able to just put a little more spackle on a couple spots and the bulk of the sanding is behind me now.

Seq, that must have been a huge job, good for you tackling it!

Boy, sounds like we'll all be glad for good weather and excuses to be done with all this inside work for a while!

Yeah really. Darcy rewarded me with take-out dinner last night, it was nice :)

I really can't wait to just start painting. I've been working hard at it and it doesn't look like I've even done anything. Once I start painting it will actually look like I'm doing work..Lol

I felt the same way about the taping, seemed to take so much time and didn't make much of an impact. Glad to be moving on to the ceiling and walls, that should go pretty quickly.

This message was edited Jan 26, 2015 7:44 PM

My project was small by comparison with all of yours, but I noticed that putting painter's tape on the top and bottom of the bottom molding took longer than it did to paint it.

Yeah I get to look forward to taping too. With all the sanding of spackle, we're probably going to have to wash the walls so the tape even sticks.

New thread, going to:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1385484/