The next night, we once again found ourselves in the same Home Depot. We walked around the corner and found the same guy working again! We were now looking for the Original Kilz (oil-based primer) and also some sanding supplies, masks, etc. Of course he laughed at us this time!
So that night, we sanded... which was fun of course. I opted to not sand too long, figuring the paint would "even it out".
A few nights later, I prepped the walls by actually washing them (for real this time, though what's the point now?) and we dusted the room. Luckily the ceiling had escaped the horrible fate that the walls didn't so we didn't have to re-do that part!
I haven't ever painted with oil-based paint before, so I read the directions this time...all of them! A few minutes in, we realized that we needed some serious ventilation, so I opened the window in the room about 6-8 inches and also the bathroom window across the hall about the same, for cross-ventilation. I had taken the door off the hinges so we couldn't just close it to contain the smell! And it DID smell! We got so high that night on paint fumes as we painted away...laughing at EVERYTHING and more! I had paint in my hair in the first five minutes that night (which doesn't wash out like water-based...it took a week!), and I also got it on the carpet, though I don't know how since the whole thing was covered with tarp!
Mary got home about an hour later with her 18-yr old son, Ian, and said the whole house smelled...and she could hear us upstairs laughing our heads off while we painted! We laugh at a lot of things when we are doing these projects around the house anyways, but this night we couldn't stop laughing at the stupidest things!
We finished up and cleaned up our mess, being very conscientious with it...I didn't want paint all over the house after all! I took my gloves off so I could open doors for Heather as she carried our trash. We went straight out to the garbage bin and dumped it. As we headed back in, we found the screen door wouldn't open. I thought it was just Heather being dumb, so I tried it too and sure enough...we were locked out! Again...laughing through the entire experience, we tried to get Mary's attention to come let us in. Heather stood at the door calling "Mary come let us in!" and I rang the bell several times...still laughing. It freaked Mary out as she didn't know we'd gone out there and wasn't sure who was at the back door at that time of night (near midnight)! She just shook her head when she saw it was us...
I should say at this point that she has forbidden me to do any more home-improvement projects after 10 p.m.!
5 comments:
I can't wait to come see your new place! When do you get back from Portland? We have so much to catch up on!
Yes we do have to catch up! I'll be home this month for a few days, the 19th - 22nd. I'll likely be "officially" back at the end of August. I'll probably come back once more in July or Aug cause I have to jump out of an airplane with some friends... Maybe we can catch up one of those times?
You going to be in the area on Friday the 20th?
We're moving in on the 20th! So, that might be a bit crazy! LOL! But maybe when you come to try and kill yourself (i.e. the plane!), we can meet up!
Sounds great! And I'm only trying to feel young...for the record... It's a big year for me you know! ;-)
I've been through this. When I bought my condo (about 10 years ago), it smelled like cigarette, so I bought some primer that was like lacquer and it wouldn't wash off. But it did work, the condo didn't smell anymore. One problem was that as I was picking the paint out of my hair, I found my first gray hairs. It was all downhill from there.
Post a Comment