Summer Disasters

beep

Well, I finally almost finished fixing my kitchen disaster. Started with pulling off the wallpaper. Bad thing to do, as the backing wouldn't come off. I steamed it, tried chemicals, everything to no avail. Then I started mudding over it, and that brought clumps of the paper backing off; so I re-mudded where the backing fell off.

Then found Venetian Plaster at Lowes. BIG MISTAKE. Actually, had I known to prime the mud, it probably would have worked but I got one wall half done when the mud underneath the Venetian Plaster started coming off with all the new plaster on top!

So, my hubby and I mudded over that mistake, let it dry and then painted it with Brushed Suede from Lowes. THAT WORKED. And it looks great! Now, I just have to get motivated to finish the little bits that are left.

beep

Well, I finally almost finished fixing my kitchen disaster. Started with pulling off the wallpaper. Bad thing to do, as the backing wouldn't come off. I steamed it, tried chemicals, everything to no avail. Then I started mudding over it, and that brought clumps of the paper backing off; so I re-mudded where the backing fell off.

Then found Venetian Plaster at Lowes. BIG MISTAKE. Actually, had I known to prime the mud, it probably would have worked but I got one wall half done when the mud underneath the Venetian Plaster started coming off with all the new plaster on top!

So, my hubby and I mudded over that mistake, let it dry and then painted it with Brushed Suede from Lowes. THAT WORKED. And it looks great! Now, I just have to get motivated to finish the little bits that are left.

ali106

WOW! that's quite a adventure you guys went on!!! home improvements...fun aren't they :noway: :noway: :noway: HUGS~!

My hub is a general contractor and a master carpenter by trade....he can do it all, electric, plumbing, remodeling..etc....IF you ever saw our two back room additions you'd die....there is an old saying....a mechanic doesn't work on his own car....well I TOTALLY GET IT! lol....I usually end up doing the rest of his many projects LOL....so I feel your pain...but hey its great experience right?! now you know.....:ohwell: ....why doesn't that make it all better???:huh:

hugs and missed you to pieces pretty lady!!!!
Ali :flowerforyou:

TamTastic

Hey!!! Glad you made it out of home renovations safely!!! hehehe. My hubby (with NO experience) just re-tiled and painted our bathroom and put in a new pedestal sink and toilet. We have a few things to buy for it (new lighting and mirror and some accessories) and he has to touch up a couple things..but it looks good!!

Let's just hope I don't fall through the floor into the neighbors condo below!! :laugh: :laugh: (I keep envisioning that movie The Money Pit!!)

Good to see you! I was wondering where you were!

:flowerforyou:
-Tam

PrincessLaundry

Bless you ladies who haven't strangled family in your home improvement adventures! LOL My husband happens to be a "cut twice then mesure once, go to Lowe's buy another board," type of guy. :laugh: HOORAY to you girlie!

I usually have to drink soup for days because my mouth is so sore from biting my tongue so much during *project* time.

beep

Bless you ladies who haven't strangled family in your home improvement adventures! LOL My husband happens to be a "cut twice then mesure once, go to Lowe's buy another board," type of guy. :laugh: HOORAY to you girlie!

I usually have to drink soup for days because my mouth is so sore from biting my tongue so much during *project* time.

You're way better than I am. I have no sore tongue (if you know what I mean.) But I have to admit, his tongue is a tad sore..... after all, I'm the one who ripped off the wall paper because I was sick of it :laugh: :laugh:

beep

WOW! that's quite a adventure you guys went on!!! home improvements...fun aren't they :noway: :noway: :noway: HUGS~!

My hub is a general contractor and a master carpenter by trade....he can do it all, electric, plumbing, remodeling..etc....IF you ever saw our two back room additions you'd die....there is an old saying....a mechanic doesn't work on his own car....well I TOTALLY GET IT! lol....I usually end up doing the rest of his many projects LOL....so I feel your pain...but hey its great experience right?! now you know.....:ohwell: ....why doesn't that make it all better???:huh:

hugs and missed you to pieces pretty lady!!!!
Ali :flowerforyou:

Thanks, Ali, Tami.... I've been so busy, but the pounds are not leaving, so you will be seeing me more often on here trying to get the inspiration from you guys to keep going. You guys are great! You too, Princess!

jlwhelan1

Well the finished project sounds terrific. I'm sure you'll enjoy your kitchen for a long time.

We spontaneously decided to add an aviary this summer... We saw an ad in Craigslist for a bunch of budgies for an inexpensive price, and we already had two budgies. I mean, how hard can it be to build an aviary?

It probably wouldn't have been too bad except we did it without plans. I mean, I'm starting my third year in grad school and am very hands on in fixing equipment, and DH has done many projects. This should be a piece of cake. (right???)

To keep it simple we made it 4 foot by 8 foot. (So if you just cut an 8 foot board in half that is four feet) Then we can slope the roof just a little to keep rain off. And we can put pavers down for the flooring, with hardcloth under the pavers so snakes, mice, rats, lizards, etc. can't join the budgies in their awesome new home. Oh, look, the aviary footprint is bigger than the pavers. Oh, look we didn't account for the slope of the roof...etc. We had five!!! trips to the home improvement store.

It cost twice as much and took five times as long as we thought. Plus it was soo hot all those evenings and the two weekends (40+ hours total). But it is STURDY. It can easily be turned into a potting shed, storage, or greenhouse. It looks terrific and we have happy birds and happy children who were surprised when they got home from grandparents ranch. But. plans would have been a great help.

sophialittle

they say that if a marriage can survive wallpapering, it can survive anything!:laugh:

beep

Well the finished project sounds terrific. I'm sure you'll enjoy your kitchen for a long time.

We spontaneously decided to add an aviary this summer... We saw an ad in Craigslist for a bunch of budgies for an inexpensive price, and we already had two budgies. I mean, how hard can it be to build an aviary?

It probably wouldn't have been too bad except we did it without plans. I mean, I'm starting my third year in grad school and am very hands on in fixing equipment, and DH has done many projects. This should be a piece of cake. (right???)

To keep it simple we made it 4 foot by 8 foot. (So if you just cut an 8 foot board in half that is four feet) Then we can slope the roof just a little to keep rain off. And we can put pavers down for the flooring, with hardcloth under the pavers so snakes, mice, rats, lizards, etc. can't join the budgies in their awesome new home. Oh, look, the aviary footprint is bigger than the pavers. Oh, look we didn't account for the slope of the roof...etc. We had five!!! trips to the home improvement store.

It cost twice as much and took five times as long as we thought. Plus it was soo hot all those evenings and the two weekends (40+ hours total). But it is STURDY. It can easily be turned into a potting shed, storage, or greenhouse. It looks terrific and we have happy birds and happy children who were surprised when they got home from grandparents ranch. But. plans would have been a great help.

Oh my :laugh: :laugh: I was thinking of doing the same thing for some quail. I want a couple of chickens but our homeowners association wouldn't go for it.... I was thinking of attaching small-holed chicken wire to the eaves of our garage and securing it to the ground with all the large cobbles there....

jlwhelan1

Oh my :laugh: :laugh: I was thinking of doing the same thing for some quail. I want a couple of chickens but our homeowners association wouldn't go for it.... I was thinking of attaching small-holed chicken wire to the eaves of our garage and securing it to the ground with all the large cobbles there....

What kind of quail? When we find some we will probably add some button quail to our aviary. Silly HOA. We don't have an HOA (neighborhood predates that idea) but DH wouldn't go for chickens.

Good luck with your project.

lyla29

WOW! that's quite a adventure you guys went on!!! home improvements...fun aren't they :noway: :noway: :noway: HUGS~!

My hub is a general contractor and a master carpenter by trade....he can do it all, electric, plumbing, remodeling..etc....IF you ever saw our two back room additions you'd die....there is an old saying....a mechanic doesn't work on his own car....well I TOTALLY GET IT! lol....I usually end up doing the rest of his many projects LOL....so I feel your pain...but hey its great experience right?! now you know.....:ohwell: ....why doesn't that make it all better???:huh:


That sounds a lot like our house. My husband learned how to basically do everything from his dad, so it's nice that we don't have to pay to have someone else do the work, but the problem is finding the time to actually finish the job. We had to remodel our kitchen 4 years ago, and most of it's finished, mainly just the finishing touches. Now we're putting new hardwood floors in, so we have most of the rooms done, but there is still carpet in the dining room, and cement in the front entryway and hallway. It's always an adventure though! :ohwell:

dothompson

Well, I finally almost finished fixing my kitchen disaster. Started with pulling off the wallpaper. Bad thing to do, as the backing wouldn't come off. I steamed it, tried chemicals, everything to no avail. Then I started mudding over it, and that brought clumps of the paper backing off; so I re-mudded where the backing fell off.

Then found Venetian Plaster at Lowes. BIG MISTAKE. Actually, had I known to prime the mud, it probably would have worked but I got one wall half done when the mud underneath the Venetian Plaster started coming off with all the new plaster on top!

So, my hubby and I mudded over that mistake, let it dry and then painted it with Brushed Suede from Lowes. THAT WORKED. And it looks great! Now, I just have to get motivated to finish the little bits that are left.

Wow, it sounds as if it would have been easier to take it back to studs and put up new drywall. I'm glad it turned out nice.

banks1850

It's things like this that make me glad my bro is a carpenter. I fix his computer, he comes over and tells me how to install granite countertops. Voila, the perfect symmetry!:laugh: