Surprise! The Joys of Fixing Up an Old House.

I like surprises, particularly when they are happy surprises.
This was not one of those.




Someone at some point did not do the proper prep. All the paint was peeling like a bad sun burn. Which meant ALL the trim in ALL the upstairs rooms needed to be stripped before it could be painted. Not in the PLAN and a major renovation set back.

I am not going to go into the sloppy details. I used Smartstrip and it worked. I guess. But chemical stripping, even the green options, really suck. It took me a few weeks to remove all the paint and clean up the wood work. Then the room became storage for our attic renovation. That took months.




Now, almost a year later, I finally have paint on the trim and walls and I am so looking forward to decorating. I can't wait to check room 2 off my list. At least 10 more to go if you count the bathrooms and the kitchen!

A year ago, an oh crap, now what!


Yesterday, a little joy and sense of accomplishment.


This was definitely a job I would have loved to hire someone else to do. The stripping part a least. Painting is not a just make it work project. Painting is a do it right or you'll be doing it over kind of thing. And if you do something silly like no primer and cheap paint, you'll be making A LOT more work for yourself (or someone else).