2. My friend Chrissy is a plumbing mastermind as well, but also a wallpaper removal and painting goddess.
3. Electric teapots are God's gift to wallpaper removal.
4. While patching plaster is seemingly fun, it is inherently evil.
5. Whoever invented paper mache is my new hero.
6. "Venetian Plaster" is another term for "really expensive, color tinted patching plaster."
7. I am pregnant.
Further explanation on the thoughts above:
My Husband = Plumbing Mastermind: See the picture. As you can see, Adam used his thinking skills to take a number of "plumbing parts" and connect all of the pieces together under the sink. That probably doesn't mean you want him plumbing your house, though, because "plumbing parts" included a cut off measuring spoon. However, he did quite the amazing job and removed an old and installed a new sink (along with garbage disposal) in under four hours. Quite. Amazing. And, it DOES NOT leak. And it DOES works. And I love it!
Adam showing off his plumbing prowess.
No fooling... a cut off measuring spoon!
Can you see where the measuring spoon ended up...?
(Funny side note: Adam always talks about how he doesn't enjoy plumbing and yada yada, and then we realized / joked today that he actually does quite a bit of plumbing, but out in the "brew house" and never in our "real house".)
My Friend Chrissy = Mastermind Plumber and Wallpaper Remover and Painting Goddess Extraordinaire: Suffice it to say, we would not have had remotely close to the correct plumbing parts that I was supposed to pick up at Menards this week without Dear Friend Chrissy. She sure knows a lot! (At least, quite a bit more than me!) Also, she was a saint and worked hard at removing the Snitty Wallpaper off the wall today and then went on to paint and paint and paint! She was awesome! She even invented the Paintbrush On a Stick in order to NOT have to use the ladder to paint today. You are a rockstar, C! Were it not for the eight hours she gave me today, I would be crying, wailing, and threatening to jump off the roof to avoid finishing the hallway project, and instead, I am simply dreading tomorrow. ;) (THANK YOU, dear friend!!!)
Chrissy and her Paintbrush on a Stick and Adam watching us work after the sink is in.
Electric teapots = God's Gift To Wallpaper Removal: Oh, yes, oh, yes. We own an electric teapot, thanks to Adam's need for one on his canoe project. After another friend of mine mentioned this weekend that steam works GREAT at removing wallpaper that DOES NOT WANT TO COME OFF (i.e., Snitty Wallpaper), Chrissy and I gave it a go. Oooh, wonderfulness. It worked great!!! And in case you are wondering, no, the teapot has never been used for it's actual application: a teapot.
The Teapot of Wonderfulness
Chrissy using the teapot
Patching Plaster = Fun or Evil?: Okay, I really actually DID enjoy patching up a number of places (and I mean, A LARGE QUANTITY) on the walls requiring plaster... as our walls are mostly plaster (or wallboard that was not taped or mudded). It was quite enjoyable. And, it only has a 90 minute set up time! WOW! Yah! Great, eh? So after 90 minutes, you can put on a second coat! How cool is that! BUT, I really SHOULD read the box closer next time. While it "sets up" and you can "apply a second coat of plaster" after 90 minutes, THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN PAINT IT AFTER 90 MINUTES. Doh. You actually have to wait... OVERNIGHT. ARGH. Good thing that there wasn't much plastering to be had on the Really Big Wall that Chrissy primed for me today. As for me, my evening plans were thwarted by this Drying of Plaster Nonsense, so now I am here blogging instead. Patching Plaster? Inherently Evil.
Paper Mache Inventor = My New Hero: I cannot explain much here, becaue I must protect the innocent (mainly, myself). However, I will say this, "Chrissy, my paper mache idea WORKED!"
Paper Mache, at its finest (Nope, I refuse to show the before or during pictures...)
Venetian Plaster = Really Expensive, Color Tinted Patching Plaster: This should have been a big "Duh" and "Doh" for me, but well... yah. Today after spending a few hours of patching plaster, I turned and said to Chrissy, "you know, I would have gotten the same results I am trying to get with all of the textured paint stuff I bought if I would have just did this (referring to my plastering) to all of the walls and then painted it." She said, "I know." Yah. So, I spent a small fortune on "Old World Plaster" (Dutch Boy's "Venetian Plaster") and base coat to basically get the same results that about $40 in patching plaster and two gallons of paint would have gotten me. I don't have much more to say about it. And no, I am not returning the "Old World Plaster". I can't. It's tinted.
Erin = Pregnant: My pregnancy (or rather, my "pregnant brain") resulted in a number of scares, realizations, and even a few errors today. See the Patching Plaster and Venetian Plaster. However, nothing can account for the scare that I gave Adam and Chrissy today when I decided that I had left my Most Important Bag of Tools at Menards AFTER I HAD PAID FOR IT. I search the basement, the living room, the dining room, the paint supply area, the truck, and the garage, and IT WAS NOT THERE. I do recall Adam asking me at one point if it was UPSTAIRS, but no, silly, we are WORKING UP THERE, WHY OH, WHY would I actually take my supplies up there? After a few frantic phone calls and a decision that we would go to Altoona (about 35 minutes away) for lunch so we could go to Menards and spend MORE money on things I had ALREADY BOUGHT, I decided I would go lay down floor covering. I walked into the bathroom UPSTAIRS, and wouldn't you know, my Most Important Bag of Tools was IN THE BATHROOM. Yah. I'm good with it.
More to come in the following days... I hope you've enjoyed following the saga thus far...!
erin
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