Paint job
After deciding I had no choice but to paint the whole bathroom, I spent yesterday evening preparing areas previously overlooked, dismantling removable fixtures and making a start on the paintwork.
By the time I called it quits for the day, I'd done one coat in the dodgy corner, along above the window and bathroom cabinet, and the wall alongside the bath. It wasn't particularly tidy; I hadn't thinned the paint properly and it was difficult to work with. Also, I couldn't seem to keep a neat edge and kept getting paint in places it shouldn't be. Cleaning up smears and dribbles with an old cloth soon meant I was wiping more paint on than off. Fed up, I packed up for the night.
It took me a while to get started this morning. I knew there was a fair amount of work to be done, and I wasn't all that eager to start it. I'd spent half the morning reading a book before I hauled myself off the couch and set to work.
With yesterday's splatter struggles in mind, I'd decided it would be best to spend a little while with drop sheet and masking tape before I began. It's not that the floor is particularly beautiful as it is - a brownish tile with red grouting (no, I don't know why) - but it was unlikely to be improved by random creamy dribbles.
I grabbed a sheet of plastic from the cupboard in the garage, and set about laying it out to cover the bathroom floor. I'd been at this for a while when I discovered something alarming. Some old spraypaint (relic of a previous project) that was adhering to the plastic sheet had started to crack and crumble as I straightened out the rumpled plastic.
Suddenly there were little flecks of bright blue paint everywhere. I mean everywhere. All over the floor, up the walls, on my clothes and shoes, getting caught in the masking tape, everywhere. It had even spread out into the hallway, and I'm still finding it all over the house, though I bundled up the plastic sheet immediately and vacuumed up every bit of blue I could find.
Blue flecks exorcised to the best of my ability, I selected a cleaner drop sheet, arranged it on the floor, mucked about a bit with the masking tape, and was finally ready to paint.
Remembering yesterday's difficulties, I took care to loosen up the paint sufficiently this time. I needn't have bothered adding extra water, because as it turned out, the roller had that side of things covered.
When I finished last night, I rinsed off the roller and brushes, and didn't give it another thought. I didn't notice that the roller I picked up this morning was still in possession of a large volume of water. I innocently rolled it in the paint and thence onto the wall, at which point I realised my error.
Instead of neatly applying an even coating of paint, the roller merely spouted bubbles and a torrent of thin watery paint which sloshed down the wall and into the bath. Cursing my stupidity, I wiped up the milky dribbles with a towel, took the roller outside to relieve it of its fluid retention, and came back in to try again.
After these early setbacks, the painting went reasonably smoothly. I now have at least one coat on all the walls, but the finish is a bit patchy as yet. But that's all I'm doing for today; I'll assess which areas need further attention tomorrow.
By the time I called it quits for the day, I'd done one coat in the dodgy corner, along above the window and bathroom cabinet, and the wall alongside the bath. It wasn't particularly tidy; I hadn't thinned the paint properly and it was difficult to work with. Also, I couldn't seem to keep a neat edge and kept getting paint in places it shouldn't be. Cleaning up smears and dribbles with an old cloth soon meant I was wiping more paint on than off. Fed up, I packed up for the night.
It took me a while to get started this morning. I knew there was a fair amount of work to be done, and I wasn't all that eager to start it. I'd spent half the morning reading a book before I hauled myself off the couch and set to work.
With yesterday's splatter struggles in mind, I'd decided it would be best to spend a little while with drop sheet and masking tape before I began. It's not that the floor is particularly beautiful as it is - a brownish tile with red grouting (no, I don't know why) - but it was unlikely to be improved by random creamy dribbles.
I grabbed a sheet of plastic from the cupboard in the garage, and set about laying it out to cover the bathroom floor. I'd been at this for a while when I discovered something alarming. Some old spraypaint (relic of a previous project) that was adhering to the plastic sheet had started to crack and crumble as I straightened out the rumpled plastic.
Suddenly there were little flecks of bright blue paint everywhere. I mean everywhere. All over the floor, up the walls, on my clothes and shoes, getting caught in the masking tape, everywhere. It had even spread out into the hallway, and I'm still finding it all over the house, though I bundled up the plastic sheet immediately and vacuumed up every bit of blue I could find.
Blue flecks exorcised to the best of my ability, I selected a cleaner drop sheet, arranged it on the floor, mucked about a bit with the masking tape, and was finally ready to paint.
Remembering yesterday's difficulties, I took care to loosen up the paint sufficiently this time. I needn't have bothered adding extra water, because as it turned out, the roller had that side of things covered.
When I finished last night, I rinsed off the roller and brushes, and didn't give it another thought. I didn't notice that the roller I picked up this morning was still in possession of a large volume of water. I innocently rolled it in the paint and thence onto the wall, at which point I realised my error.
Instead of neatly applying an even coating of paint, the roller merely spouted bubbles and a torrent of thin watery paint which sloshed down the wall and into the bath. Cursing my stupidity, I wiped up the milky dribbles with a towel, took the roller outside to relieve it of its fluid retention, and came back in to try again.
After these early setbacks, the painting went reasonably smoothly. I now have at least one coat on all the walls, but the finish is a bit patchy as yet. But that's all I'm doing for today; I'll assess which areas need further attention tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment