by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)
This is the 8th part of my series on renovating my mother’s rent home in Joshua. The previous renters really tore the place up and it is up to me to get it ready again. Most renters have to sign a contact but the people who lived there were friends of my late step dad and never did. He did a lot of modification to the house but he never finished ANY of it. It has been about four months now and I have been going down there for a couple of hours each Saturday to work on the place.
This installment covers two visits I have made since the last post. When I arrived I saw that the work had already begun to haul off the trash pile and old metal shed that were in the driveway. My neighbor’s nephews agreed to do it. I went to work inside while I waited for them to haul it off.
I painted living room with some matched paint I got and it looks great. There is a spot under one of the front windows that that was all rotted out because the renter’s A/C unit was in that window and not draining properly. I painted around all that. The paint I got was a fairly expensive Valspar brand but it coats really well so I made quick work of it.
After some pain-in-the-ass ceiling painting in the little bedroom I have come to the conclusion that I WILL need to use the paint sprayer or loose my mind. This means getting it unclogged since my last (and first) use of it. I decided to just wait on painting anything else until then. I also cleaned the floors after pulling all the old carpet padding staples.
The guys came back and finished up the trash and hauled it all off. It looks so different without all the junk (or shed). I packed it in for the day on that Saturday.
During the intervening week I got to work trying to unclog the paint sprayer. I got the pieces cleaned off fairly well that were apart of the base (hopper) and the gun but it appeared that the clog was in the line. I wasn’t having any luck pushing it out with pressure so I got a wire and started running it through. I hit the jack pot and soon old white paint came puring out. I got both ends opened up and sprayed water through until I was clear. I then used it to paint the underside of my front porch (the last of the big painting areas for my house).
The next Saturday I arrived and planned to do the spray painting in the bedrooms with the white paint. I got the hopper and line but totally forgot the gun part! Sheesh. I then decided I would cut up some plywood and put it in the living room to level out there floor. Well I forgot my tape measure too! I decided to do some measuring the old fashioned way and used a board and got my measurement that way. I cut a piece and got it into place. Only problem… it’s too thick. I am going to have to get a thinner piece of plywood. I then used drywall mud to fix the rotted area under the living room window and I also textured the bathroom ceiling (to basically hide the issues there).
I also started cutting up some existing galvanized roofing stuff for skirting. About 50% of the skirting is gone and what is there is that metal roofing stuff. I looks OK, kind of rustic, country looking. I did that for a while, used a tube of caulking in various places then headed out.
I have made a punch list of items that need to be bought and done and I feel I am starting to close in on the light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to keep at it. I will be missing this coming weekend because of the comic convention in town.