Quarter Round Miters

Last night, we started fitting quarter round pieces to their respective baseboards, accomplishing the necessary cuts. Many of these cuts are miters, because the quarter round looks better when a diagonal cut is made on each end.

Still using a miter saw that I basically stole from Jon, I'm almost halfway through cutting these pieces to size. I intend to finish that this evening.

Also, last night we bough some door casing for the closet interiors, as well as chair rail for our dining area. This weekend, I'll be cutting some wainscoting as well.

With all the painting that must be accomplished, also, it looks to be a busy time.

A Bit of Backstory

After the debacle with the small house I mentioned some time ago, we continued looking in the same area of town. We found a couple of houses, one of which is pictured below:



The two places were actually right next door to each other, so that was convenient. However, one had been in a small fire; the other had a pond in the basement and a hideous stainless steel kitchen. As I recall, neither had central heat and air. And they were both just outside our price range, on the high side. Good location, though, but we couldn't bring ourselves even to put in an offer on either place.

Numbers 10:33 - And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.

Maybe the whole process would have been easier if we had the ark. Anybody know where that thing is?

And the Trim Goes On...

So, we are slowly working our way through the rest of the door trim. Annie will paint what she can during the day, and then I nail it up in the evening. We still have to buy window trim, though.

As winter is coming on, insulation is looming larger in my mind. I guess I should start pricing batts and 0.006" plastic sheeting for the crawlspace. Then it would no longer be a sandy mess. Instead, it'd be like a dark, well-insulated, claustrophobic playroom!

Rooms

Isn't it nice when you have to open a door to see into the next room? As of yesterday evening, all of our rooms are like that! Before, you could just look between the door frame and the jamb. This was particularly troubling for the bathroom.

Here's a shot of me after I just shot a nail into the trim. I think the idea was to get me actually shooting the nail, but I missed my cue.


Peace!

Serenitousness!

Since we started the trim projects up until Saturday afternoon, our house has been a total wreck. Saturday, we installed a great deal of trim (only doors and windows to go!), but we also spent some time on getting the place livable again. All our floors were swept, our detritus put away, and our dining table reclaimed.

I don't have any photos today, but I hope to have some tomorrow.

Of course, the whole experience of a mostly-clean house is greatly enhanced by the fact that there are baseboards on most walls. Its quite serene!

Exodus 36:25 - And for the other side of the tabernacle, [which is] toward the north corner, he made twenty boards.
I suppose we had about twenty baseboards that we installed. Fitting!

Trim Continues

Saturday looks like a big day for door casings! There are about six doors, all needing three pieces of wood each. All the casings are already cut, but they need to be sanded, primed, and painted before they can be permanently attached with pneumatically-propelled rocket nails!

Also, I'll need to cut quarter round.

I'll try to bring pictures!

Exodus 12:7 - And they shall take of the blood, and strike [it] on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

No, they weren't eating blood. It was lamb. We won't be eating either one of those this weekend. And paint is liquid like blood, right? Our paint is called Lemon Edge. Perhaps it is the blood of lemons that is going on our doorposts. Something to think about.

...I hope there isn't a horrible accident that puts any or our blood on the doorposts.

Guest Room All Boarded Up

Last night, before Date Night could commence, a flurry of activity was required to get all of the baseboards in for the guest bedroom. A measurement flub from an earlier stage of production required a splice; a narrow gap in the corner required a chiseled end on one of the spliced pieces; the chiseled piece broke in half; the baseboarding was a success!

You can totally tell where the splice is, but maybe a little sanding and touch-up paint will take care of that.

Probably more baseboards this evening. Gotta go!

Something Got Done

Well, I did drink a lot of water, but it wasn't quite a ton. I felt a little better, so then we installed baseboards in our bedroom. Tonight, perhaps the guest room...?

Crud

What do you call it when you have a headache for two days?

The guys around the office call it dehydration. I'm going to go home and drink a ton of water. In case you are wondering, a ton equates to about 240 gallons.

I didn't do anything yesterday, and probably not much will get done today. Annie, however, keeps going strong! I think that tomorrow will be a backstory post, maybe Thursday, too...

Thanks for reading!

Trim is Totally Getting Painted

Friday, I got off of work early, so I went home to find that Annie and our friend Stephanie were hard at work painting baseboards.




I helped a little. Most of our rosettes are up, too. Maybe we'll get some casing cut, or maybe even some baseboards installed! If we do, I'll try to bring pictures.

Leviticus 14:42 - And they shall take other stones, and put [them] in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.

Painting baseboards is kind of like plastering a house. Sorry, plaistering.

Trim painting

Annie here. Just an FYI-I'll be priming and painting trim today till about 4. You're welcome to drop by if you're in the neighborhood, but it might be a good idea to call first.

Another Confession

Well, I cut all the baseboards yesterday evening, but no quarter round and no casings. Today I might be able to nail up some rosettes and a few baseboards, perhaps I'll get to measure and cut casings. Annie's already begun painting the baseboards, so we might have quite a bit done by Monday. Enjoy a few photographs:

Thursday is for Cutting

Tonight, I intend to saw through every board in the house.

Let me rephrase that.

Tonight, I intend to saw through every piece of trim in the house that is currently uninstalled.

I haven't really scheduled this out. We'll see how far I get.

Luke 14:28 - For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have [sufficient] to finish [it]?

Confession Time

...I only cut one board on Monday. I didn't cut any on Tuesday, and I don't know if I'll cut any tonight. I mean, it's DATE NIGHT. Very important. But if I don't cut any, then Annie won't have anything to paint tomorrow.

Maybe it'll be a late night.

Perhaps I should quote a verse about priorities.

Proverbs 24:27 - Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

I Used a Table Saw Last Night

Last night saw the beginnings of trim-cuttings. I measured the pieces, worked long and hard at finding a way to cut sixteen-foot lengths on a four-foot table saw, and then tried the pieces against our walls.

Not all walls are straight, apparently.

In our case, I doubt that any of our walls are straight.

I have a lot of cutting ahead of me. I'm focusing on baseboards right now, and Annie is painting the plinths and rosettes for the door trim. I feel all handy, now that I know what a plinth is. Once the rosettes are done, we can measure and cut door casing. Maybe then we won't have a huge pile of wood in our living room/kitchen floor.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 - And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
And a phalanx of baseboards is not easily deal-with-able, either.

Cutting Trim

This weekend, almost all of our trim was acquired (the window trim has not been purchased yet). Now that it is in our house, we need to:

1) Measure it.
2) Cut it.
3) Prime it.
4) Paint it.
5) Second Coat it.
6) Nail it.
7) Touch up it.
8) Caulk it.

Tonight, I hope to do a lot of 1 and 2. I'm really excited. Baseboards should cut down on the drafts dramastically.

Weekend of Trim

We will probably be painting trim in preparation for installing it this weekend. I'm off to borrow a saw. Peace!

Buying Trim

We are in the process of purchasing the trim. Annie bought corners today. These will sit in the corners of the room, eliminating the need for ugly DIY miter joints. She also got bullseyes, which will handle the corners of door and window trim. I'm about to go get some door casing, and then we'll go to order our baseboards.

I'm excited about the door casing outing, because of the location: it's an architectural salvage place. They have all kinds of building materials that were either unneeded for or discarded from other construction/remodeling projects. It's like a museum, but the exhibits are for sale at rock-bottom prices!

Leviticus 14:41 - And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place.

Or an architectural salvage company. Come to think of it, the place isn't that clean...

In Which "Impulse Buy" is Loosely Defined

So, Annie and I went around Saturday, as mentioned a couple of days ago. In our quest, we asked many home improvement experts about the best way to install trim. Overwhelmingly, the response indicated that nail guns are indispensable. One fellow recommended a particular model, stating that its price was well within our budget for the trim project.

When we sought this nail gun, however, we found that it had doubled in price from when he had purchased it. We were at Lowe's, asking the gentleman in the tool department, and he directed us to a mobile air compressor that came with a brad nailer. This seemed like a larger investment than we were expecting, but it was less than the other option.

Then the man showed us a similar package, including not one but THREE pneumatic guns, all for one low price. I admit, I got caught up in the excitement. On the one hand, friends have been more than willing to lend us their equipment for free, but on the other hand, here was the ability to own similar equipment. And THREE pneumatic guns.

We then compared at Home Depot, came away disappointed, and went back for the big package deal. I think this was an impulse buy, but I'm still happy with it.

But Justin, you may be thinking, this wasn't an impulse buy. You considered your budget, you left the store, shopped around, and then came back to purchase it. That is like the opposite of an impulse buy.

I see your point. However, when the price tag is higher than ten dollars, I generally take a week to make a decision. This whole story took less than four hours from start to finish. It feels so sudden.

Acts 19:36 - ...ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

Door Trim

Now, I didn't do the best job in the world, but this is a HUGE improvement over the way things have been looking since we moved in. Enjoy!

Shop Around

This weekend, Annie and I went on a mission: find an economical means of acquiring trim for our entire house. As a part of this quest, we opened the yellow pages and made a list of half a dozen or so lumber companies.

We found a lot of interesting places. Because our needs are so specific, few lumber companies and home improvement stores had what we needed, and when they did, it was often expensive. We kept notes on the prices of various vital pieces, and now we know what stores to order from for our particular needs.

Why is it so hard to find what we need? Because we need baseboards that will be at least as tall as the old stuff plus the carpet that used to cover our beautiful hardwood floors. It's hard to find a deal on tall baseboards.

We also put up some door trim; I hope to have some pictures for you tomorrow.

Proverbs 20:14 - "[It is] good for nothing," cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

Bugs!

We sometimes have awesome-looking insectoid life hang out at our house. I've seen many awesome moths, grasshoppers, crickets, ants, wasps, and these:



I see a lot of bugs outside, but these guys get in with startling regularity. Perhaps you are wondering what they are. They are walking sticks, stickbugs, stick insects, whatever you might want to call them. And the smaller one is male, while the larger one is female. Sorry, it's hard to find these bugs singly lately.

Leviticus 11:20 - All fowls that creep, going upon [all] four, [shall be] an abomination unto you.

You can say that again.