Main Level Renovation, Summer 2011
I had been putting off painting the main level for some time, mostly because it's a continuous wall for all but the bedroom and bathroom due to the rounded drywall corners (no crisp paint line). Finally this year I decided to just get at it. I started with the livingroom wall near Danielle's painting as it was fairly short and simple. I moved everything out of the way, then taped off the ceiling and tile baseboard, then proceeded to wash the walls with the recommended concentration of TSP, followed by freshwater rinse. Once dry, I painted. I used a 1" brush for the edges followed by a 3" roller, then the main roller for the walls. In short order the wall was done.
BONUS: the new paint (Behr) was billed as "one coat covers, low odor". Boy, were they correct! I am used to 2 and sometimes even three coats of latex to get a good finish. This time, as the first coat dried, it was obvious that one coat was totally sufficient for an excellent finish. Also, there was almost no odor at all. After a few hours, you could not smell paint at all.
Buoyed by this success, I continued to move stuff away from the walls, wash and rinse them, tape the ceiling and baseboard, then paint. Things proceeded very quickly as I moved through the living room, to the dining room, then hallway between bedroom, bathroom and main area, and finally the kitchen. I finished up by painting the stairwell to the basement.
The walls only gave trouble in two spots. Behind the main bookcases there was some bubbling, but I managed to avoid real problems. Then at the top of the stairwell to the lower level, bubbles turned to blisters turned to some paint strips coming off the walls. Having had this problem in the bedroom last year, I was well aware of the danger of messing with the paint too much. I managed to avoid disaster by the bookcase, but on the stairwell it was not possible. I'll have to do some repairs once the paint has cured.
No pictures of the work in progress as it was just so quick. As with the main level (living room, etc), preparation was as simple as washing the walls with TSP and taping off things not to be painted (shower stall, tile, etc.). Again, a single coat of the paint was sufficient to create an awesome room. The painting was a bit longer only because I painted the ceiling as well in this room.
I didn't paint the lower landing at the same time as the main level, to allow the paint in the stairwell time to cure as I had to apply tape to the edge. Also, I consider the lower landing paint to be part of the main level as we purchased the paint colors togther for one effect, and the lower landing is part of the stairwell in the layout of the house.
As with the other painting this year, prep was wall washing and rinsing followed by taping edges. One addtional task was to create an access door for the outside tap shutoff valve, which had been a hole in the wall covered by cardboard. The new door is 3/4" pine recyled from an older laundry shelf and attached with small hinges.
Painting was again quick, and as before one coat covered perfectly.
After allowing the paint to cure for a few days, I reinstalled the various outlet covers, moved the furniture back into place, and did a general cleanup. The rooms all look great!
Main level (living room, dining room, kitchen, hallways & stairwell)
Main bathroom
Lower landing
