Electricity and procrastination

We had our electrician come and fix our lines... the outside lines ...and change us from fuses to breakers.

He also added an outlet in the kitchen and fixed our chain lights downstairs (Malakai figured out that, even though he can't reach the chain (to the florescent lights) from his bed, if he climbed onto his mom's bed and jumped OUT and towards HIS bed, he could grab the string/chain.  This is the old chain he took out....

No matter that the string couldn't hold him. Hence, needing to have the electrician take apart the fixture and install a new chain). This time, I have the strings hitched up higher (I hope high enough).  We'll see...

The only problem was that due to the weather, he didn't hang around long enough (the electrician) to label ALL the breakers, but I said we would do it. Why do I do that???? Say that I'll get it finshed? I KNOW I won't. It'll drag on so long that when the building inspector comes to inspect, it won't have gotten done. Of course, he was nice and said he could either 'fail us' and we'd have to have the electrician come back to do that, or he'd 'pass us' and we'd have to promise to do it and call him to let him know that it's been done. I siad we'd do it. (Do I even have to tell you...? No, I haven't done it and it's a week later). TODAY, Lee and I WILL get it done. I hate electricity. Why did I agree to do it myself?  Besides, it's Mother's day. I invited my mom over for spaghetti and a movie ("It's Complicated"- given to me by Julie for mom's day). It was a fun day, but we have lots to do before we leave for vacation next Sat.

You wanna see the awful electrical lines on the outside of our house??? Here are some of them.

Pretty bad, huh? I wondered whether the meter hanging was a mistake or not. He said the inspector would okay the job then notify the electric company to reset it. Ok! 

Bathroom renovations- Painting DONE!

Since I didn't have to work Friday, I bit the bullet to finish the painting. The oil-based paint (Kilz odorless- and it WAS odorless) went on very nicely. I'm not a taper, because I've taped a room and then found the paint to 'sneak' under the tape, so I go REALLY careful and I also use a tiny paintbrush to fill in the edges around the trim. AND I had to hold UP myglasses doing near the ceiling, because I have bi-focals and it's a b---- to try and focus ABOVE the bi-focal, so I was holding the glasses up high! You'll see when you get to the final color photos.

Here is the first coat of primer... I had them tint the paint to a softer color of what I thought was my final color (or close to it-didn't have the paint swatch with me). I actually like the color, but it won't go with my towels. Actually, looking at this photo makes me think of a robot for some reason. Picasso-style. LOL

It seems to really cover really nicely too. Thanks Home Depot...

Okay, ready for this??....here is the real color going over the primer. Not so sure I like it. (It's intention was for the living room, but I'm not so sure I want ALL the walls to be this dark. We'll see when I go to paint it during layoff (in March)

Okay, it's not too bad. just bright/dark. Much darker/brighter than I've ever done before.

See how picky I get? check out the size of my paintbrush...

But it's done and I now like it, even though if you put the lights on in there at night, the room 'glows'....

Bathroom renovations-pre paint

I thought it would be quick to do the bathroom painting in a little cape cod style house, but I was wrong! What I thought could get done by noon on a Friday, turned into a weekend project. (and as of this writing, I'm not finished.)

Here are some pre-shots of the room... Now you must realize this was wallpapered before, so that got stripped off, wallboard (looks like cement board) was repaired and I washed as much of the adhesive off as I could. Ceiling was also repaired and ready for paint (by the contractor).

This shot is a little yellowed...

I applied a enamel based primer before the rose paint... doing the ceiling wasn't too bad and I know with the smoke stains from the previous owner, it may have to have two coats. Not a problem.

This came out okay!

However, when I did the brush strokes around the trim and then went to do the roller work, the paint that had started to dry also started to peel UP! INTO CLUMPS!!

Well, that lead to a call to Home Depot, where I 'boldly' exclaimed my dismay at the quality of the Behr primer. After calming me down, he offered to send someone (supervisor) over to see the wall and what was the primer doing to itself! (Eyebrows raised...hmm!)

When the man saw what was going on and realized I had a cement wallboard, he recommended having me use (at THEIR COST), an oil-based primer, then use my usual paint. He even tried to paint a second coat which is what you see here. I ended up sanding down a 'glump' of paint that rolled up and looked like glue when it dried! As much as I didn't want the mess of oil-based, I took him up on it. (I'm using tray liners and I'm throwing away the liner and the roller when done, so I don't have to have the cleaning mess in the middle of winter (less ventilation, too although I'll run the fan and have the door open). When I got the primer this time, the man in the paint area suggested I get the primer tinted towards my red, and it would be easier to cover. Okay with me! It' nice to see Home Depot is concerned about customer satisfaction. I'm sure in the economy, it's smarter to keep the customers you have.