Home Improvement Progress

The Johnson Sisters and I are working full time on rebuilding the bedroom, and the progress in the last 2 or 3 days is amazing! The ceiling was finished Monday, drywall work was started and finished Tuesday, 2 coats of primer on the ceiling Tuesday, mudding of drywall, finish coat of paint on ceiling, and beadboard staining today. Add to that the ancillary work of window glazing and window trim painting that all got finished, we're pooped! Here are some pics to go with the descriptions.

First up are Maj and Melinda posing proudly in front of their drywall job. Again, they were the power tool wielders, I helped some with measuring and cutting drywall, but the sisters did all the fastening.



With the drywall finished, I got started priming the new beadboard ceiling while Melinda started mudding and taping drywall and Maj moved to window trim painting. Primer work was uneventful and boring, and surprisingly difficult on that second coat when it was tough to see where you were going and where you've been. It continued today with painting. Originally it was supposed to be 2 coats also, but with the great priming job, it looked like a single coat was going to do fine. At least the paint, with it's slightly warmer tone, was easier to keep track of where you were. I was a little sloppy with application - the floor is going to be covered, so a few splatters didn't matter. Maj is definitely in the danger zone in this shot!




After the final ceiling paint today, the girls moved to staining the new beadboard to better match the older aged beadboard. They started with some nasty-looking mystery goop that is actually stain from decades ago that Maj pulls out, diluted down with turpentine, and uses as needed. A little goes a long way - some is brushed or wiped on with a towel, allowed to soak in a little, then wiped down when the desired stain is acquired. They did a really good job matching the original beadboard (from the 30s!), though the odor of turpentine is pretty strong tonight... The stained woodwork gets a coat of polyurethane tomorrow.




Here are a couple images showing the finished ceiling paint job and stain work on the new beadboard. You can compare to the top image to see a view from the same angle before staining. There is still a lot left - windows are glazed, but need cleaning and painting before installation with trim work (storm windows are installed here). We need to find and install a ceiling fan where the center light fixture is located. I mentioned the polyurethane work on the wood, and the drywall gets a coat of "chinese red" after priming. The floor will get covered by luan plywood, at least temporarily, and there is trim work to install around the base and peak of the walls and around the top of the beadboard on the walls. I think that is the plan for the next week, anyway...



And of course, with all the work going on in the bedroom, the rest of the house is like the staging area of an invasion force. A shot of the living room tonight shows window trim with drying paint center, air compressor to the right, tools and compressed air lines to the left. A temporary situation with the questionable damp weather we've been having outside. More work tomorrow!