O RLY?!

Its been a while since an update, so here is what we’ve been working on.

I attempted some plaster repair over the past few weeks, and here are the results.

Here are few before pictures from the stairwell where I did the repairs. One picture is from before we purchased the house, the second is after I broke away a lot of the loose plaster.

On a side note, I had no idea what I was getting into. I read a lot of books and numerous internet websites on this topic. Most of what I read suggested chipping away any plaster that was detached from the lathe. Well after I got started, I got the feeling I was gonna end up tearing down the whole wall, so I just tore down the worst areas and decided to use paper tape to fix the other areas. A lot of what I was fixing was left from stuff the previous owners had hung on the walls, or damage from us moving large items upstairs. Since I already made an enormous mess, I decided to tape anything that remotely looked like a crack. Needless to say, my drywall compound skills got progressively better throughout this whole project.

I used pieces of drywall to patch the big holes and then taped around the edges. After numerous sanding sessions, it was smooth enough to paint. Due to the natural waviness of plaster walls, it was extremely difficult to level out the final layer of compound without covering and smoothing the whole wall. I finally found a decent compromise and matched the original plaster as best I could.

We decided to paint the stairwell wall a different color as an accent wall and then painted the crown molding an antique white color.

I cut the lawn today for the first time in 9 years. Not quite as exciting as I thought it was going to be, but rewarding nonetheless.

I finally managed to track down a used lawn mower after several failed attempts (wow they go fast in the spring). I picked up a cheap ‘yard machines’ for $50. While I’m out mowing today, the neighbor comes over and tells me he fixes broken lawn mowers and then sells them for a hobby. Knowing full well I would regret asking, I inquired how much he sold them for….”25 bucks,” he says. Come to find out he had three in his garage right now waiting to be sold. Bummer.