the huntrods zone - personal

Bedroom Renovation, Spring 2010

 
Day One - June 12, 2010

Carpet Removal and Painting

While Linda was visiting Lorna and Sarah, I took the opportunity to start the bedroom reno. It was supposed to be just paint and flooring, but it quickly became apparent that the closet was a disaster that needed to be addressed as well.

Day one had me starting with the closet. I was just going to clean it up and paint it white, but the shelves were all wonky - uneven gaps between the closet rod and the shelves plus non-level shelves. In the end, it was just easier to tear it all out. At the same time I took out the carpet in the clostet and started patching the closet walls where the shelves had damaged them.

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Day Two - June 12, 2010

Yesterday's work found me with a very stuffy nose from all the dust and carpet "stuff". As a result, today I decided to remove the rest of the carpet and underlay so that the remainder of the work would be allergen-free.

With dusk mask and gloves, I started taking up the carpet and underlay. Due to the weight of the bed, it was easier to remove the carpet in strips. By noon the carpet and underlay was gone, the edge tack strips removed and the underlay staples pulled. I finshed by vacuuming the room.

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June 13-15, 2010

Continued in the closet - sanding the seams and then re-spackling them as needed. Purchased another tub of spackle as well as some fibreglas seam tape to fix a larger area where a shelf had broken the gyproc.

The fibreglas patch worked out perfectly - the repair is very strong. I think one more sanding and a cleaning and it will be ready for paint.

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June 16, 2010

After a final sanding last night, today I vacuumed the walls and floor, then used a towel and a micro-fibre cloth to clean the walls in preparation for painting.

Checking through the various cans of white paint in the basement, I found only one that was not either all used up or just too old. It was a full can, but thoroughly separated. As I knew it would be a long mixing process, I placed the can on my drillpress with the stirrer installed and just left it for an hour. Worked perfectly.

After lunch I started painting, and quickly completed the first coat. It looked like crap (but first coats often do).

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After supper I applied a second coat, which looked much, much better. Tomorrow I have work to do, so Friday (June 18) I'll do a third coat in the morning, then move all the furnature that fits into the closet for the main bedroom preparation and painting, which should take place next week.

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Of course, the activity completely interested the cats. Tara paid close attention to the painting process!

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June 17, 2010

Today I applied the second coat of paint to the closet, and it looked much better. However, I still was not thrilled with the joints, especially at the ceiling, so after lunch I applied another coat by brush to just the joints. Later in the afternoon I decided to apply the third coat for the whole closet (including joints again). Later in the evening the closet looks very good. Tomorrow I will move the furnature into the closet so I can begin preparing the main bedroom for it's paint.

 
June 18, 2010

Today I cleaned the furniture and moved everything except the bed and end table into the closet. After cleaning up the rest of the bedroom, it is ready for prep work. Before I start sanding and doing spot repairs, I will tape plastic over the closet openings to protect the furnature.

June 19, 2010

Today was wall prep day. First I filled any holes, then removed light and plug plates. Next I sanded all the walls, then cleaned off all marks (including crayon) with simple green spray and a damp rag. After the walls were totally dry, I sanded them again, followed by a final rinse with clean warm water. After that, I applied green tape to the ceiling, windows and door trim.

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June 20, 2010 (Father's Day)

Today I started by stirring the paint on my drillpress as with the closet paint. The wall paint (light yellow) was purchased last December, so was quite well stirred already when I opened it, but I stirred it again to be sure. I started by brush painting the corners, baseboards, the join with the ceiling, the windows and the heat register. I followed this with the roller, painting all the walls. Even after one coat the room looks absolutely terriffic!

I did encounter one significant setback. Near one window, the paint "just would not stick" in one place. I tried re-applying paint, but the "no-stick" spot just moved. Finally I tried touching the spot, and to my horror the paint and some "wall guck" came off. I tried a quick repair with my small putty knife, but it only made things worse. Paint was peeling off in great strips. By the time I was done, an area about 2ft by 9in was bare to some sort of plaster. I let it dry, then applied spackle compound to the area in hopes of covering whatever was shedding paint and providing a smooth paint-holding surface. It took some doing, as even the spackle would not stick evenly in places. However, in the end I was able to cover the entire area and create a smooth surface for painting. I am going to let this area dry completey and then use a brush to prime it tomorrow. If that sticks, I'll let it dry then brush more paint before gently using the roller to blend it.

Due to the setback, I did not complete two coats of paint as I had hoped today. I did paint the ceiling join and baseboards with a second coat, but will do the wall second coat tomorrow.

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June 21, 2010

Right after waking up, I grabbed the sanding block and a light and sanded down the area by the window. Then I wiped down the wall with a clean rag and vacuumed up the dust. I opened the can of paint, grabbed my brush and gave everything on the wall a light coat of paint to seal the patch. While that was drying, I painted the corners, windows and baseboards again. I also opened the second can of paint and set it stirring on the drillpress.

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After the first coat had time to dry, I painted the ceiling, corners, windows and baseboards with a prep coat, then opened the second can of paint, loaded the tray, took the roller and painted a second coat on the patch. Then starting in a nearby corner, I painted all the walls with their second coat using the roller. When I came back to the beginning (the patch), it was dry enough for another coat.

Later in the day I carefully removed the green tape on the door frame, the window frames and around the ceiling. In spite of using my large putty knife to help release the tape, a few spots 'tore' - ceiling corners and a couple of spots on the window frame. Using a small artist brush, I did some touch-up on those areas.

The bedroom painting is complete! I removed the protective plastic and replace some furniture. Next step is the flooring!

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Of course, Tara and Emma wanted to get in on the action today!

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June 28, 2010

Flooring

Time to start on the floor. Today I went to a couple of building centers trying to find sanding sealer (no joy) and then shellac (no joy one place, joy another). We also purchased a Rubbermaid closet system kit (4-8 ft) plus a pants rack attachment and a tie/belt attachment. Looks pretty good. The closet is 11.5 ft long, so we have some options when it comes to installing and extending the kit. I also built a cardboard template for the floor board where it meets the door trim on both sides of the door.

Of course, Emma & Tara were very curious about the whole process, and had to watch from a close vantage point!

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June 29, 2010

Started this morning by disassembling the bed and moving the matress and box spring to the living room (so we can sleep) and the other bed parts to wherever they fit in the house. We had to move the clothes rack to the upstairs to make room, and generally spent the morning moving and cleaning. By lunch I had the bedroom empty and vacuumed, and had moved all the bundles of flooring from the lower level to the bedroom.

After lunch I began by stirring the can of shellac, and treating the ends and side of the first row of boards where they go under the baseboard. I had to sand the edges so they would fit, but eventually the first row was down. Once down, I attached the baseboard heater to the wall with long screws on the studs, making it secure. Using a bandsaw and chisel I notched the last board on the first row to fit around the door moulding. It fit perfectly.

After the first row was air-nailed down, the work began to pick up. I sanded and pre-fit four rows of flooring, then shellaced the ends. Once dry I installed the first four rows. When possible, I selected boards that fit the room as there is a great variety of lengths in the supplied floorboards. If not possible, I select the closest size to minimize waste in the cuts. Any cuts were made using my newish sliding compound mitre saw. It works perfectly!

After the first four rows were down, work proceeded rapidly. By supper time I was 2/3 done the main floor. By 9 pm the main floor was done. I still have to trim the last thin row and fit it around the closet opening, but I expect to have the floor done and shellaced by tomorrow afternoon (both coats of shellac).

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June 30, 2010

Today I began by marking the remaining boards in the main part of the bedroom for trimming and fitting. The edge of the room required boards just over 3 inches, and I placed them such that the closet boards would fit nicely. After cutting and trimming using both table saw and mitre saw, the fit was great and the boards nailed into place.

After a quick cleanup and vacuum, I coated the floor with it's first coat of shellac. I tried a large brush, but in the end a low-knap roller proved to be the best (and quickest) coverage. The first coat was complete just after lunchtime. I let the first coat set for several hours, then laid down a second coat as per the can instructions. Allowing 4 hours drying time for the second coat, the room was complete by early evening. The floor looks amazing!

I'm going to allow 24 hours curing before reassembling the bed and moving furniture from the closet back into the room. After that, it's time to finish the closet

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July 1, 2010

Woke up this morning to find cat barf on the new floor. The small puddle left a mark on the newly shellaced floor, so I decided another coat of shellac would be good. As I was planning to go diving today, I jave the cleaned-up barf spot a quick coat of shellac before leaving, then headed to Tyee for a nice dive.

On the way home from the dive I picked up another can of shellac plus some brass wall plates and a wooden peg hanger. Once home and the dive gear rinsed and put away, I gave the floor a third coat of shellac. I also assembled the wooden peg hanger and gave it a first coat of shellac. I'll give it a second coat when I do the bedroom closet.

The third coat done, I cleaned up my brushes and rollers. While I was doing this, Emma managed to walk on the newly shellaced floor and got shellac on all her paws. Fortunately it's not harmful, but was a bit messy. We cleaned her paws as best we could, but she was licking them well into the evening.

However, the bedroom main floor is now done. I will leave it for a full 24 hours and be moving the furniture back into the room on Saturday morning (July 3) so that I can complete the closet floor.

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July 2, 2010

After allowing the floor to cure for 24 hours, I started replacing the blinds and lamps and hang some pictures on the wall.

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After that, I moved the furniture out from the closet and back into the bedroom.

The main part of the bedroom is done!

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July 3, 2010

After a nice night's sleep in our bedroom, I started work on the closet. The job was pretty easy, as only three rows of flooring were needed. I did need to rip one board up into 1.5 inch widths to finish off the back wall, and also needed a 1/2 inch 'sliver' to fill the gap between openings, but everything went down very smoothly.

After completing the floor, I gave it three coats of shellac with 2 hours drying time in between coats. By evening, the closet floor was done.

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July 4, 2010

Today I started by mounting the horizontal closet rails from the Rubbermaid closet kit. I still need to purchase one more 4 foot section before I can go much further - and it's almost impossible to find the "bits and pieces" for this closet system anywhere. Over the past few days we've tried five different stores - some have one bit but not others, some only the accessories. Grrrr!

Before lunch we bought some 2.5 inch square baseboard as it was cheaper than buying 1x6 boards, ripping and painting them myself. After lunch I cut and installed the baseboard. Love the new sliding compound mitre saw! Also very much love the new compressor and the two nail guns. The finish nailer installed all the flooring, and the brad nailer installed the baseboard. Very nice tools!

Just waiting to purchase the horizontal closet rail plus some expansion parts in order to finish the closet and wrap up this reno!

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July 5, 2010

Started the day with a trip to the building store, and started costing out the price of 'bits' vs. the cost of a second full closet kit. The parts came to $129 and a kit was $209, but given the extra parts in the kit we elected to buy the second kit instead of parts.

Once home I installed the third hang rail, and then proceeded to install and anchor the vertical bars. From there it was short work to install brackets, shelves and rods to complete the closet system. Of course, once clothes were added we had to make several adjustments to acheive the final satisfactory arrangement of shelves and rods.

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Then it was time to bring all the clothes back from storage and place them onto the new closet system. As usual we had lots of help.

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As it turned out, there were so many rods and shelves in the two kits that we did not require the pants hanger or wire basket we had purchased for the closet system. We returned those two pricey items ($70 and $40) and so ended up with an overall savings by purchasing two kits instead of one kit plus parts plus the two accessories. Sweet!

FINALLY - after many days and much work, the bedroom is complete, including a wonderful closet storage system.

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July 6, 2010

As a side benefit, there were almost enough parts remaining from the two closet kits to enable me to add a 4 foot closet system to the dive room - just perfect for drysuits, underwear and other dive gear! A quick final trip to the building supply store for a 4 foot shelf and another hang rail, plus a short bit of work and it was complete!

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August 22, 2010

We bought the bedroom door on July 16, but it remained in the packing until today. The door is solid pine with six glass panes - similar to the existing bathroom door. Using the old door as a guide, I marked the location of the hinges and the doorknob cutouts. Using a hinge template purchased today together with my router, I cut out the hinge locations. Then, using a 2in hole saw and a 3/4in spade bit, I cut out the doorknob cutouts. I had to finish the doorknob plate area with a hammer and chisel. Test fitting all components proved the work to be very good.

After test fitting the door, it was apparent the door needed trimming on the bottom (3/8in) and minor adjusting on the top (frame not square). After these adjustments the door fit perfectly.

On the weekend I stained the door with two coats of water-based "Vermont Cedar" stain. Test samples using similar pine wood indicated a very close match with the bathroom door. After the stain had set, I

 
August 23, 2010

Today I stained the door with two coats of water-based "Vermont Cedar" stain. Test samples using similar pine wood indicated a very close match with the bathroom door.

 
August 24, 2010

Today I covered the stained door with two coats of shellac to protect it. Once the shellac is cured, I will buff the door with wax, which will really bring up the shine.

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August 25, 2010

The finished bedroom door has had time for the shellac to set, so today I installed it in the bedroom. I had to change the striker plate so the door would latch, but the replacement is nice brass instead of painted metal, which Linda prefers. I also did a small bit of touch-up on the shellac where the door rested on a towell last night between coats, then removed the proctective film off the glass panes with an x-acto knife.

The door is done and looks great! Once the shellac has had a few days to cure, I'll wax and polish the door for a final glossy protective finish. Unfortunately, the nice bathroom wood door now looks decidedly shabby next to the new bedroom door, so next job will be to refinish it. The work never ends!

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