46 Gallons Later

Yup, I think we've used about 46 gallons of paint so far to paint ceilings, prime walls, and add a little color to the two apartments. Everything has had at least one coat of paint except the one bedroom wall where we're staging the window and door trim, adhering to the principle of 'gouge now, patch and paint later' rather than the reverse of that.

Apartment 1 has been primed throughout, and has color in the powder room. We've started painting the window frames and sills in both apartments, too.

Apartment 2's walls are nearly all painted with a pale yellow/cream color (only the bedroom and half of a bathroom left to paint) and the WOW walls in the entry are finished.


Pictures? You bet!


While we were slathering paint everywhere, Randy was setting tile in Apartment 1's bathroom (above), the powder room, and the entry.


WOW color blast in the powder room of Apartment 1. This is just the first coat - that's why it looks a bit thin in places.


Apartment 2 viewed from the top of the stairs, looking down the entry hallway. The front door fits into the first opening.



Apartment 2 view looking into the living area. The color of the wall is darker than shown here, but Photoshop insisted that this was the color it wanted. It's difficult to argue with a computer and win.

The kitchen in Apartment 2 has its cabinets, too! An efficient young man named Scott installed them in his 'spare' time.


This shows the row of cabinets in the island - those behind the half wall between the kitchen and the living area. The sink and dishwasher are in this section.


This is the south wall of the kitchen, visible from the living area. The stove fits into the space in the middle, and the refrigerator goes at the far end. The raw wood on the left is the doorway to the pantry.

The door knobs are in place, but the Eastlake bin pulls we found in the building have not been put on the drawers yet.

OK, maybe 'Paradise' wasn't quite the right word to use

Take the Quiz. Choose a more suitable word.

1. How much does a five gallon bucket of paint weigh? ______

2. How many steps are there from street level to the apartments? _____

3. How quickly does a pan of paint disappear when you're
on a scaffold? _____

4. How often do you have to climb down to refill your paint tray? _____

5. How warm does it get at the top of an eleven foot ceiling with no real insulation over your head, the windows covered with plywood and/or plastic, and with a 95º temp outside? _____ (Hint: starts with 'r')

6. How many five gallon buckets of paint are needed to prime
one apartment? _____

Correct the title. Fill in the blank with a different word.

Painter's ______________________________________






How did you do on our quiz?

Answers: 1) A Lot!; 2) A Lot!; 3) Real; 4) Real; 5) Real; 6) Too many!

Painter's Paradise

.


We started working our way through 10 gallons of white paint on Wednesday afternoon, one brush stroke or rollerful at a time. Apartment 1 is approaching 'Done!' although, as of right now, there is still half a ceiling, one closet, and one complete bedroom left to do (Friday lunch time). I'm thinking we'll finish up this weekend.

Did I mention that it's HOT up there? The black tar roof is just above our heads. The windows are all sealed with plastic so the paint remover and rinse water will stay outside. The HVAC isn't quite completed yet. It's hot.

The Crane Returns

She's difficult to spot in this photo, hiding behind the truck like she is. She's probably embarrassed by those huge green blobs she left on the roof today. I know I would be! They are the insulation for the roofing project. Instead of going through all the mess and contortions needed to insulate the ceiling from the inside, this insulation will be installed on top of existing roof, and then covered with a white, light reflecting membrane and sealed against the weather. The insulation value will be equal to at least R-24, with a bit more provided by the existing layers of old roofing. If you're interesting in the details, read this.

The other news, progress on the paint removal, is evident in this photo, too.

Bricks!

This is the result of the last cleaning on May 31. It's a brick building!

The Day of The Crane - Downtown Bird Watching

As bird watchers must, Ryan arrived very early this morning and took up his station on the roof. The weather was thick with moisture, almost foggy, and there were storms forecast for later in the morning. The air was calm, but the watchers were clearly excited.



The crane landed around 7:20, settled herself, and hungrily stretched out her long neck. She quickly grabbed her first victim, a Trane, and brought him down.



When the Trane had been disposed of, she attacked a small flock of condensers, tossing them onto the roof just for fun.



Satisfied that she had conquered everything in sight, she folded in her long legs and departed. It was only 8:45 am.

How I Spent My Vacation

Painting closet doors ~


~ and more closet doors, and salvaged window and door trim

OK, in truth, I painted only some of these doors. Mike painted the others and the trim pieces. But I painted salvaged bedroom, bathroom, and pantry doors at home, too! Three down - one in progress - three to go.

Apartment 2 Panorama View

This patchwork photo of Apartment 2 was taken from the northwest corner. Try to ignore the piles of door and window trim in the middle of the floor and just notice how the light has improved the view. Compare the top photo with the one taken a few days ago, before the plywood was removed.


Gloomy, huh?

So on Wednesday Morning …

… these two guys were already busy when I arrived at the building.



When I went inside, WOW!



It wasn't long before there was light in every room. All the windows were uncovered except three in the front, and they'll appear soon.

Busy Monday

The paint remover is working so much better this spring than it did last fall. The work has barely started, but you can see lots of brick in the area that has been washed.

Disposal of the rinse water requires a little extra care. If you've driven by, you've noticed the orange safety fence. Inside the fence is a big lagoon made from sheet plastic and sand bags. It contains the rinse water until it can be be collected in this huge vacuum tank. The tank is drained into the sanitary sewer so the chemicals can be treated before the water is discharged. If we let it go directly into the storm drain on the corner, the water wouldn't be treated and the chemicals would just flow right through.

Saturday Night 7:00

What a difference a day makes!


~ for reference, this is Apartment 1


Apartment 1 view 1; the entry hall with closet and powder room on the left


Apatrment 1 view 2; the kitchen as seen from the southeast corner


Apartment 1 view 3; the kitchen as seen from the northeast corner


~ and this is Apartment 2


Apartment 2 view 2; looking into the main living area from the entry hall


Apartment 2 view 5; looking toward the entry hall

Friday Afternoon