The Art of Spackle

See the HUGE gap???

Crown molding gave me a rough couple of days. I looked up one day at my wonky crown molding with gaps galore and thought, "This is going to look so bad." I went home defeated and got on Pinterest. I'm not sure what I looked up exactly, but I found THIS and it has saved my sanity. I've hidden some pretty crazy things with spackle before (giant holes in my garage the day before we closed on our last house!!!) but this is genius. I wish I had taken a picture before I filled it with caulk. But I was desperately trying to figure out what I was going to do with it and all I had was caulk at the time!

I'll back up just a bit... things were going smoothly for me until I hit this long stretch of wall. I thought, "Oh, perfect! I'll hang an eight foot piece and be almost done!" Hung it. Went to hang the corner piece and it didn't fit. Cut a new piece. Didn't fit. I couldn't get the corners to connect. I measured it with my angle finder. 90 degree angle on the nose. Finally, I realized my eight foot piece wasn't sitting correctly on the wall so I took it down. I assumed it was a problem and cut it

There are three joints on that one stretch of wall!

down thinking I'd have more control in smaller pieces. Got to the end—corner piece does not fit. I ripped it all down three times before I decided the integrity of my plywood was in question and not intended to be pulled on repeatedly. On the forth attempt it didn't matter if it didn't fit—it was going to work. Period. I had no choice. So I hung this horrible match and went home. Best I can guess given that my angle is 90 degrees is that my ceiling is not. It happens. I wasted about $25 in crown molding too. It's getting used SOMEWHERE in this house. 

Back to the spackle... My container was a few months old and starting to dry out a little, which turned out to be good so I could roll it up like putty and fill my hole. I then let it dry for a few hours and tried to start sanding it and decided I ought to let it sit overnight. I was actually quite proud when I left after spackling day. 

Day three...Except for the excessive sanding, it wasn't so bad. It finally started to coming together. It doesn't look amazing here, but a little caulk and paint... a lot of caulk and paint... I started to feel less like I had bit off more than I could chew!

Did I mention the caulk? There's a lot.

I find a thick line followed by a wet paper towel seems to be the best application method. Did I mention that the entire house needs to re-caulked basically? It's going to be fun... Buuuutttt... now that it's painted. Look at the amazingness of this corner! It's a tad off, but it's also five feet up in the air.

 

The road to Pinterest fails is paved with good intentions...

Yep... I've disappeared for a while. Not because I'm not constantly working on the house. In all humility, I tell you it's because I've made a HUGE error in judgement that's cost me quite a bit of time and energy.

While I was sanding the stairs, covered in dust, I started thinking about the banister. I'm so over sanding. I'm using a gel stain on the banister, which actually doesn't require sanding. BUT after trying it on the stairs, I decided if I didn't want it quite so dark, I really needed to sand the banister. Or at the very least, I needed to get the polycoat removed. Enter the Pinterest idea. At some point, on some blog, on Pinterest somewhere... I read about someone using a gloss stripper to remove polycoat. And whoever it was raved about it. The catch is, I can't remember what they were using it for, and I have since decided it must have been for a flat surface like a cabinet door. 

So I got this stuff. In my mind, I thought I'd apply this stuff and then wipe it off and voila! I read the directions and it still didn't compute when it said to scrape it off. It didn't occur to me that this gel would dry. Hard. It would dry hard and require me to scrape every inch of banister. It would not wipe off. 

And here I am... three days later (in terms of working on the house at least) still scraping this stuff off the banister. And, you ask, "Did it work?" Kind of. Sort of. But not really. It's hard to tell as I have since taken the sander to it in desperation. 

Y'all. I'm sure this stuff is great for a flat surface. I can even tell you it will remove paint as it's removing paint from my balusters (totally fine--I have to repaint them anyway). But... ugh. Don't use it on your banister. You will be scraping for-EVER. Every nook and cranny. You can kind of see how it's removed some of the polycoat in the the picture. What gets me about this picture is that I'm actually planning on PAINTING this part of the stairs and probably could have just roughed it up really well with the sander and called it a day.

Luckily, I grabbed this little brush when I was in Home Depot last time. I think it was near the metal working tools, but I have no idea what it's really for. What I do know, is that it has saved my sanity today. It's really effective as scraping this stuff out of crevices. 

So, all that to say, I could have been done two days ago if I hadn't started down this rabbit hole. Don't do it. Don't. Just don't. 

 

Sneak Peek

 

On a fun note... our granite got delivered!! This is actually not what I originally had in mind. In fact, it's very much what I didn't want. But when we went to look at our options, all the ones I picked out were quartz or not the greatest grade of granite and therefore not as strong. My husband was pretty set against quartz, and there was no changing his mind.

Since I'm not a granite expert, time is against us, and I didn't have time to research, we went with the one my husband really liked. And honestly, I think it's absolutely gorgeous in my kitchen! It will also hide dirt better than what I would have picked. It's called Snow White. Not what I'd have named it, but no one asked me!

Stairs

Like all projects, our timeline has become "flexible." Our original six week goal has now been given an extra four week grace period. There are multiple factors in this decision:

1. When they ripped up the floor, it was discovered that the front door was rotting at the base and needed to be replaced. But finding the right guy for the job who doesn't want to charge an arm and a leg has been a little difficult.

2. We had leftover wood from our install downstairs and decided (after comparing costs) to install it upstairs instead of returning it (with a restocking fee).

3. Our tile for the shower still hasn't come in. The tile store blamed "the holidays," but the only holiday has been Easter! We're not sure about that one...

4. We decided to get the granite in the kitchen before painting the cabinets just in case we need to adjust the paint color selection. White cabinets. White granite. You see how this could go wrong.

I promise--the color is dead-on in person.

5. Installing the floor upstairs means we really need to refinish our own stairs instead of using the flooring company. We will no longer meet their minimum cost requirements if we don't have them refinish the floor upstairs, and we're not particularly interested in finding another contractor to fit in the mix. After testing six different stains and techniques I've finally found the right combo. But the SANDING!!

I managed to get out of the house sans kids today so I went to Home Depot and got the plywood for the upper cabinets I'm building in the bar area. I also picked up some electrical supplies to add an outlet under the counter. Dave looked at me the other day and said, "How are we going to plug in the wine cooler?" Well, good question! Guess we need to add an outlet! I got the wrong gauge wire... TIP: kitchens all use 20 amp circuits, which use 12 gauge wire--not 14 gauge. So, I'll do that tomorrow! I've got to get the bar area prepped so that it's read for the granite install on Monday!!! Not gonna lie--super excited about granite.

working my way up...

With the minor pause in my outlet install, which I will confess, took approximately five calls to my father, I decided I should tackle the nastiness of sanding the stairs instead. I'm going to hurt tomorrow. A belt sander, orbital sander, and mouse sander all to do the job. I was sooooo close to getting it done. But it just didn't happen before I had to get home to relieve the sitter.  And the poor contractor was trying to work around me while he dragged old flooring past me down the stairs.

Don't do this without a mask like I did. My sinuses are definitely irritated. I DID wear safety glasses though...just couldn't find the mask when I started.

This part RIGHT HERE will be white.

I'm hoping the rest will only take another hour or two and I can start working on the banister. I'm going to try a deglosser first and see if that gets me anywhere because this polycoat stuff is the biggest hurdle. I've decided to save myself some time and paint the landing for the balusters
(the part the balusters go into) white like the trim. We're planning to upgrade the balusters in the future and I feel like the white landing will just look better anyway. 

Sweat equity. 

Remember I'm still not done sanding the cabinet doors either. Ugh.

Valuable Lessons and Home Depot

I've been a little busy doing the same things again and again, and waiting for the contractors to do their part. I thought that might be a little boring to report. But I finally have an update! Before I get to that, I've learned some valuable lessons...

Repeated sanding day after day after day will eventually kill your Fitbit. Dead. 😭 and now I have no clue what time it is. 

DIY renovations will mean going to Home Depot exactly 8,763 times. Even on the days you are not going to Home Depot, you will go to Home Depot. Perhaps out of habit at this point, but you will go! You'll decide one day that plaster seems to fill out wood grain pretty well and end up with more. You'll need more caulk than anticipated (and still need more after that!) You'll accidentally cut the wrong piece of trim and now need another eight feet. But you'll buy sixteen feet, use it all, and still need more! And while you're there, you'll forget the light bulbs and need to go back ONE MORE TIME. 

Or perhaps because you will suddenly realize one day that you've done nothing to customize the lower cabinets and decide on a whim they need end caps. A whim. I'm either getting comfortable with my abilities here, or I'm spending too much time on Pinterest. But eventually you'll do this...

And then, as you're on your knees sanding the last little bit you'll realize the baseboards on the cabinets are not really baseboards at all. They are simply flimsy pieces of laminate that have no real aesthetic value at all and certainly not worth your time painting. So you'll need more trim. 

You'll buy a cabinet to add to the island... yeah, it's a little cheating and I WISH I had ample time to build the add-on myself, but I don't! Anyway... you'll buy a cabinet and then realize you bought one that houses a bathroom sink and has no top drawer. So you'll go back. 

You'll also need a new washer and dryer because you sold the last set since they were perpetually off balance, and quite frankly probably wouldn't have survived a move. And Home Depot will be having a SALE! 

The great part is that Home Depot just happens to be on the 5 mile route from the rental house to the new house. Thank goodness! 

It always amazes me when people offer to help me at Home Depot. It's absolutely NEVER an employee. Always someone who is cautiously offering because it's clear I know what I'm doing, but they're being nice because I have two kids in tow. I appreciate it, thank them, and then decline. I usually don't need help by this point! I could have used them while I was pushing a race car shopping cart and dragging a lumber cart behind me. 

Update!

I finished the crown molding, and I'm ready to paint the cabinet housing (not the doors yet). Worst case scenario at least I can put my dishes in the kitchen! I hope to paint this weekend once the dust settles a little.Once I do that, I'll have a full post on the ups and downs of crown molding.

They've installed enough of the floor (YAY FLOOR!) that I could start working on the island today. I was a bit intimidated by the island, but my plan to use a pre-fab cabinet is actually working really well. I'll take some more pictures and do a full post on the island when I finish assembling! 

The shower in the master bathroom is on it's way as well. The contractors are working on that part—as much as I would have liked to have tackled a shower...

Crown Molding Virgin

Crown Molding... a few things I need to admit before we get started:

1. I thought it was "molding." Guess what? It is! Either "moulding" or "molding" is correct. I've tried to use "moulding" several times because it seems correct in my head, but it's just not working for me. I will stick with "molding" from here on out. 

2. I never realized that crown molding sat at an angle against the wall and ceiling until I started looking at tutorials. Wow. Talk about lack of observation. 

3. It's intimidating, but everyone says, "it's SO EASY!" so I finally decided to tackle it. Verdict is still out. 

How is this not a liability??

If you're a novice DIYer like myself, the crown molding section is a little intimidating. They have this little cart with a measuring tape and a hand saw. A HAND SAW!!! Trim is displayed in 16 foot pieces and sold by the linear foot, and you're supposed to cut your own pieces. Then, they measure it  at the cash register. Well, thank goodness for all that time in my dad's shop as a kid "making things" because I cannot tell you how long it's been since I used a hand saw. But I swear to you, I picked up that saw and Sheryl Crow started singing over the loud speaker..."The first cut is the deepest." 🎶 The first cut was not so bad (although not very deep, Sheryl), and I rocked it pretty quickly. I'm far less intimidated by the trim section now!


I worked on the flat piece of base trim first. Since it was flat, I referenced tutorials for base molding. Not so bad. I've got this awesome Ryobi compound miter saw that makes things a bit easier. I won't go into all the details because I AM NOT qualified to give tutorials on this stuff, but you only need to adjust your bevel angle for these cuts. The bevel adjustment is at the back of the saw. I stumbled across this guy while I was Googling up a ladder (don't do that) How to Install Baseboard Molding. This Eric Rosenfeld guy talks fast, but that's what the pause button is for! I followed his steps, hit rewind, followed, paused.

Scarf Joint

Once I got the hang of things, I made a bit of a cheat for myself. Hey, it worked! I keep telling myself there will be lots of caulk and paint and not to worry too much if it isn't perfect because there is still a layer of crown to go on top of this. But I feel a lot more confident in my ability! I even learned how to make a scarf joint!

On day two, I started working on the second layer of molding. The actual "crown" pieces and not a flat baseboard type. Yeaahhh... a wee bit harder because you're working from angles. I seriously stood up on the ladder and Googled "inside corner crown moulding." Luckily this guy popped up AGAIN How to Install Crown Molding with Eric Rosenfeld. Ahhh, Eric! My old friend! You talk a hair to fast. There I stood, up the ladder--cut one side, mark it, hop down, cut, run up the ladder again, measure, make marks. It wasn't the most time-efficient, but it worked! And what I learned?? My ceiling is crooked. This happens. Sometimes a wall isn't square. Sometimes you ceiling isn't either (see that huge gap at the top?) Caulk. The one word that brings me comfort.

I got slightly smart (maybe) before I installed the top layer of crown and decided we will be putting crown molding around the rest of the kitchen. So, I cut the ends closest to the walls like they're going to join more crown molding. I may even go ahead and install a couple pieces in this process for the sake of ease. Once I got the hang of the "left, right, left, right" it seemed to go a little more smoothly.

More to go! The contractors are still in demo mode, so I'll have to rest on the crown install for a few days. but I'm anxious and excited to get it finished and all the extra trim (corners, across the gap, down the wall). I'm starting to see my vision come to life and that's exciting!

Kitchen — Day 4 Covered in Dust

The contractors were at the house today doing demo work. I laughed when I got a call this morning asking if I was certain I didn't want the desk before they wrecked into it. I think he was making fun of my polite note asking that he save the four cabinet doors—Pinterest tells me those can be upcycled to various somethings. Very farmhouse-chic, I'm sure.

Let's review...There are 31 cabinet doors and drawers of varying sizes. I only brought home (aka the rental) 10 to work on, and I didn't even get through them all! I had this idea that smaller sections would make it feel less overwhelming. I'm not entirely sure that's true anymore. 

I started by cleaning them all with a degreaser. I'm sure there are other options, but TSP was readily mentioned in all the tutorials. And the water was nasty when I was done, so it cleaned something! I'm having a hard time not judging the people who lived here before. You should, on occasion, wipe off your cabinets people!

After they all dried, I started working on the worst door. I thought about replacing this one all together, but before I went to the trouble to find a replacement, I thought I should work on it. It had clearly broken at some point and been put back together with some kind of foam adhesive. Luckily, a little sanding and scraping took it right off. Sanded the entire piece with my little Black and Decker Mouse, a piece of 100 grit sandpaper for the edges, and then finally the big Ryobi belt sander just on the major flat surfaces on the front. The goal is just to get the shiny finish off--not necessarily get down to the wood. 

It occurred to me that I didn't need to try too hard with the drawer backings because they get screwed onto the drawers anyway. I'm filling in the hardware holes because I don't plan to use the existing hardware (although I don't know what I'm using yet!) And I've decided to try to fill in deep wood grain
to make the paint as flat as possible. I tried this on a couple of the doors today. Not sure if this Plastic Wood is the best thing to use. I've seen some liquid options that may be better. But I basically pushed and scraped it into the crevices, and I'll go back and lightly sand it again. Great. More sanding. I'll see if this is the right stuff to use before I tackle the large doors.

Soooo much sanding. I was COVERED in dust. And then I realized I left the shop vac at the new house. Whoops! 

I feel a little bad about painting wood and not refinishing it. I DO have a love for wood. But I'm beginning to realize I'm doing these cabinets a real favor. They've clearly exhausted their ability to look good without paint at this point. 

Kitchen - Day 3

Well, yesterday was a piece of cake compared to today! Things just stopped going well, and I had to readjust. I was possibly more irritated by everything because I have a child who just doesn't sleep. He was in my room at 4:30am asking for a snack, milk, iPad...you name it. I probably should have just gotten up.

But I hurt. My whole body hurts. And I'm not THAT out of shape! I'm just using muscles I don't usually use with such intensity. Also, random things like my left thumb hurts—not sure what that's about. Safety first though! Wearing these glasses all day long...

Before I get to the kitchen, a note about the house... it dawned on me yesterday that the house is missing some light fixtures. As in, three bedrooms, the study, and the formal living room are all without ceiling fixtures. None. Zero. Zilch. This house is twelve years old and (I think) three owners. No one thought these rooms needed light?! I'm sure lamps will suffice but... how strange!

The Kitchen

We started our day picking up more lightbulbs (whatever is in there now shouldn't be called light). I also ventured to the crown molding section. You pick and cut your own. It's a little strange since you're measuring and using a hand saw. I can't recall the last time I used a hand saw. But I picked something out. 

So, as I started today, I quickly realized my pre-cut plywood from Home Depot was the wrong size for most of my areas. Keeping in mind that the cabinets are all hung at slightly different height (ugh!) I thought maybe I had just grabbed the wrong strip. Nope. Either I measured wrong or they cut it wrong but either way... it didn't fit. I attempted to cut a few pieces with the circular saw. I was successful, but it was basically free-handing and it wasn't pretty. I finally gave up and decided I'd go buy another piece of plywood and have it cut smaller to save my sanity. 

I had one section above the refrigerator where I tried to remedy the problem by putting up 2x4s instead and hanging a shorter piece (because it would be covered by crown molding anyway). That failed. Have I introduced you to this little guy? Super tiny—packs a big punch. I've used it a lot. A lot...

After that failure, I tried to use the circular saw to cut down one of the larger pieces. Failure. Again. I'm pretty certain I hate the circular saw. I don't want a table saw because those tend to be the ones that people cut their fingers off with, and I need all my fingers. I'm not sure what a good alternative is at this point. What I do know is that I kick myself every time I use my miter saw as I think back to standing in the store with my dad. He said, "Get the 12 inch sliding saw." And I replied, "I don't think I have enough room." Sigh... now I know all the many things I could be cutting with no problems had I listened to him. Don't get the 10 inch unless you ONLY plan to cut trim. 

Boxes finished!

So this is what I got done today. Also started sanding a bit. 

What I've decided is that trim is my friend. It will offer a lot of forgiveness for my sawing inadequacies. It also occurred to me that I need something that can be nailed into the brace (like the flat piece) but this one will not be big enough with this piece of molding. So I need to either get a larger wall piece or a crown piece that has more angle to it. The small trim I will use where the cabinet meets the plywood and also at the wall...possibly the corners... EVERYWHERE.

Crown molding.

My contractor came by to go over the house because his current job is waiting on materials. He might think I'm nuts because he walked in to my project. He's going to start tearing out the floor tomorrow instead of next week. We also discussed that horrid backsplash in the kitchen. Given how well it's put on, he suggested we just cut off that section of drywall and then fix the drywall. Brilliant. I would have never thought of that. He's also tearing out the desk, which will become kind of a bar/butlers pantry type section. 

And he's going to move the island and make sure it gets flooring under is so I can move it over a few inches to accommodate an overhang and still keep a decent walkway. 

Tomorrow, they'll be demoing at the house so we can't be there. I brought home some cabinet doors to start working on. Clean, sand, fix, fill woodgrain.... it doesn't look like a lot of doors until you take them off!!

5 1/2 weeks is what we have left. And somewhere in there I'll have to do some packing. 😬