http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/ Coupons, coupon forum, printable grocery coupons, grocery store coupon matchups, printable coupons, coupon trading, coupon database, coupon trading, deals en Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:29:59 GMT vBulletin 720 http://static.hotcouponworld.com/forums/images_hcw/misc/rss.jpg http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/ http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/539-painting-my-step-step-instructions.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:23:00 GMT I've worked in the apartment industry for years and have used lots of professional painters and while they are far quicker, most people can do a better job on their own, it just takes longer.

We have painted our entire house and I have to say, prep work (which most pros don't do at all) is IMO, the most important step!

Here's what we do:

Step one is to clean, clean, clean. I wash all the walls very carefully. I also wash the baseboards even if they are not being painted. Make sure the ceiling is clean (I generally vacuum it with a brush attachment, I only wash it if it is getting painted). Remove all vents and outlet overs and make sure the areas around them are clean as well. For vents I also vacuum into them a little. Lastly I vacuum or mop the floor. There is nothing worse then dust or cobwebs in the room adshering to the paint while it is wet, so thats why the whole room (not just the part getting painted) gets cleaned.

Step two is repairs. Fill all nail holes, use spackle for small dents, holes, nail pops, and blemishes or a quick drying mud for larger holes and blemishes (this would need to be smoothed and sanded, which would add a step though, so stick with spackle where possible). Also, its easy to miss things when you look, especially if they are not or eye level, so while washing the walls, you may want to make mental notes (or if there are a lot, start a written list) of all things to be fixed.

Step three is priming. This is completely optional but if the wall has never been painted, if you are doing a massive color change, or if there were a lot of areas that needed mud, you probably will want to prime. You can buy a dedicated primer (like Kilz or Kilz 2 or the equivalent of another brand) or if you are only priming for a color change, sometimes some $5 oops paint of a similar color is all you need. For example, we painted our white bedroom red, so I got a $5 gallon of oops paint of a different red that I used to prime with.

Step four is taping. How much you do depends on how good you are with cutting in (which is using a brush to go around all the edges. Personally I tape the ceiling line and anywhere that 2 different colors of walls meet but do not tape the baseboards and door trim. You can also practice your cutting in by doing the tops of your door trim (since it isn't visible to anyone under 7 ft tall standing in the room unless the door is visible from upstairs or something). If you are satisfied that the tops of your door trim looks nice and even, you don't need to tape the trim and baseboards, but if you aren't so sure, tape them. Be sure to use blue painters tape, not masking tape or some other tape.

Step 5 is cutting in. Do all edges, all corners, around the ceiling, around all doors, windows, trime, moulding, etc. Also do any spaces that are too small or narrow to easily roll, such as the area above a window if it is near the ceiling.

Step 6 is rolling. Pretty easy. Also, look closely ar the rollers before you buy. The thicker the knap, the more textured the wall will look, but the more paint it will use as well. I like my walls a bit texture-y rather than 100% smooth and flat looking, I think it looks better.

Here are a few hints that I find make the job easier. Buy good quality paint and good quality brushes. Good paint is less gloppy, goes on smooth, holds its texture, and covers properly. I like Behr Premium Plus the best. Also, stir it well right before painting. Good brushes make the cutting in so much easier. Keep a wet rag handy, then if you accidentally get paint on the ceiling or baseboards or whatever, you can wipe it right off. Cover the floor and any furniture you have in the room. Wherever possible, I don't use those extender things on the paint roller, I use a ladder and paint at and around eye level to do a better job. I also sit on the floor to paint down low. Immediately after painting while paint is wet, rip off the tape. If you let the paint dry the tape will be painted on. I cut in and take off the tape even before rolling. Wash your brushes, rollers, etc. immediately after using them so they are clean and in good shape if you need to touch anything up. I also roll as much as possible, even over and into the cut in areas because the roller gives a nicer, even texture than you get with the brush.

There you go. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. If it is a new house and is empty, if you got straight to it, you could probably do it all in 3-4 days (unless there is a lot of big holes/blemishes that need mudding and sanding, that part is time consuming). For example, I did my kitchen by myself and it only took about 7 hours start to finish, and I was stopping to fix lunch for my kid and stuff. The key in doing multiple areas is time management. Wash down the kitchen and while it dries, wash the next room, then come back and get started. DH and I did our dining room, family room, hall, living room, and stairway with vaulted ceilings in one weekend. ]]> berlinsmommy http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/539-painting-my-step-step-instructions.html http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/480-garage-my-most-recent-home-improvement-project.html Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:33:45 GMT Well, it started in October. While cruising the clearance aisle at Home Depot, I found 2 boxes of garage floor paint/epoxy. You know, that stuff... Well, it started in October. While cruising the clearance aisle at Home Depot, I found 2 boxes of garage floor paint/epoxy. You know, that stuff that makes the garage floor look finished? Well, we have a 2 car garage and each box only does a one car garage. They were normally around $65 but were half off because they were missing the cool little paint flecks that you sprinkle on top. For some stupid reason, I remembered that you can buy the flecks separately at Lowe's in a little shaker for only about $8. So, DH and I decided to finish the garage floor.

We both had off Columbus Day (October 8) but DD had school, which was good, she would be out of our hair. So we took EVERYTHING out of the garage. We had to put the spare fridge on the back patio and the lawn mower under the stairs in back. A few things went in the basement, but since we are currently in the process of finishing the basement (you will see multiple blogs on that in the future) we couldn't put too much down there. Most of the contents of the garage went into our living room. Yes, you read that right. You walk in the front door and there is DD's bike and Barbie Jeep, multiple paint cans, the Shop Vac, the workbench, tools, grass seed, fertilizer, etc.

So, we took to cleaning the garage floor, which is the first step. At first look, as garage floors go, ours was pretty clean. No oil spills, no random car droppings, etc. Then the scrubbing began and we had no idea! From when the house was new, roughly 9 yrs ago, and they painted the garage there was overspray everywhere. It was pretty faint so you couldn't tell until we started scrubbing and the concrete started appearing darker as the paint got scrubbed off. We ended up spending the entire day, roughly 10 hours, just cleaning the garage floor. Then it had to dry. Thoroughly.

So, we let it sit for 2 days to make sure it was really, truly, completely dry. Then we started painting and sprinkling the paint chips on top. This part actually wasn't too hard. We did it in two nights because you cannot mix the two cans of stuff and it has to set up for like 30 minutes before you use it. I cut in, then DH rolled, then I sprinkled the chips on.

Well, then you cannot put anything on it for 48 hours and cannot park cars on it for 7 days. It really bothered me that I had a fridge on the patio. DH was worried someone would steal stuff out of it. I was more worried that someone who knows us might see it. I can just here the comments now. "Just take an old sofa out there with it and you have a redneck living room." Sigh.

Okay, so now the floor is done, I have the brilliant idea that while all the stuff is out of the garage, instead of moving everything twice, we should go ahead and paint the garage. Little did I know.

Well, a few years ago (2002, to be exact) we got a new roof on the house. Sortly after, we discovered water in the garage. we ripped out part of the garage ceiling to pinpoint the exact loaction of the leak and got the roof company to come repair the roof. We left that part (roughly a 4ft square) of the garage ceiling off to make sure everything dried out properly. I'm hoping that five years was long enough.

No biggie, we'll just take a piece of sheetrock from the basement, cut it to the right size, put it up there, mud a little, and paint. Well, we got up the sheetrock and DH doesn't think it looks right. But, because he is Indecisive Man we will leave it and try to mud and tape it. And sand it. And mud it agian. And sand it again. And complain about how it is the wrong size of sheetrock each time he muds and sands. So, after a few rounds of mudding and sanding, he decides to rip it out and buy a thicker piece of sheetrock and restart the process.

Then he decides that the rest of the garage should be properly mudded and sanded and all dents, dings, nail holes, and blemishes in the walls and ceiling should be mudded and sanded. Do you know how many dings are in the garage of a 9 yr old house? We had a 5 gallon bucket of mud and had to buy more. Seriously.

So, finally, last weekend, one month after we started this fiasco, I say I've had enough of the garage in the living room, the fridge on the patio, and my brand new car not being in the garage. DH gets mad and says he can't get the mud to look perfect and we should hire someone to redo it all.

IT'S A FREAKIN' GARAGE!!!!

Nope, we are going to paint. I'm putting my foot down. I want it done. Before there is a foot of snow on my car and we are forced to get the snowblower out of the living room to clear it.

Fortunately, I had already purchased the paint long ago. Its oops paint from Home Depot. I got 3 gallons of off white Ralph Lauren Satin paint for the garage. Yep, I'm probably the only one in the neighborhood with a garage painted in Ralph Lauren Paint, huh? But, for $5/gallon, Ralph Lauren it is.

So we painted. It went well. As I'm painting, I ponder. Who's idea was it that garages should be painted white? How stupid is that? But had we painted it sage green or chili pepper red or some other cool color it would look wierd, right? So, its white. Very white. It reminds me of when I was a kid and everyone's living rooms were white. It's that color.

But, its done. Completely. And it looks good. We moved everything back in. No more fridge on the patio. No more snowblower in the living room. Yeah, over a month later, but its done. Whew!!! ]]> berlinsmommy http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/480-garage-my-most-recent-home-improvement-project.html http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/479-blogging-my-home-improvement-projects.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:56:25 GMT Okay, I'll admit it. Part of the reason I haven't been so good about the grocery coupon thing is that DH and I have gotten wrapped up in a lot of home improvement projects. We've done a lot and we have much more to do, so while I was painting the garage and having bored, random thoughts, it came to me that I should start blogging my home improvement projects.

I am the mod of the Hot Home Sweet Home Forum here at HCW, and this is what is going on in my life, so why not blog about it?

I'm going to start with the most current project, but we've done so many recently, as I have time I'm going to go back and blog about them while they are fresh in my mind.

I promise nothing. Some may be instructional and helpful, while other blogs may just be my random thoughts while I do these projects. I just hope that if nothing else, it is fun. ]]> berlinsmommy http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/blogs/berlinsmommy/479-blogging-my-home-improvement-projects.html