The Lead Paint Issue
Instead of trying to remove the majority of the paint, we have chosen to go the encapsulation route, meaning, we will paint everything. Twice if necessary. After much research, we feel this is the best route for us to take from a budget and safety perspective.
Family Room
All of the wallpaper is down and the cracks have been patched. The old cement is off the chimney and we've picked the floor paint. Next project: sand the walls, paint walls and trim. Install wood beam the width of the room as we've discovered when someone walks upstairs, the ceiling bows and bounces. (yes, yikes!) This is true for the living room as well. The beams will be laminated veneer so they are exactly straight and flat, and constructed based on the exact dimensions of the rooms within the house in order to account for the load-bearing walls. And they are surprisingly affordable compared to solid wood, not only hard to get a hold of these days, more expensive and has a tendency to warp over time -- which is our problem in the first place. We will box them in and paint them to match the trim. I'm excited about installing these beams for the support and stability it will give the house overall. Maybe something funny to get excited about but here in tornado country, it's a pretty attractive project!
Here is the color scheme for the family room and living room:
And here is the family room chimney before and after...
Before:
After:
I'm looking forward to getting the floor painted as the gray looks really great with the yellow walls and white trim! The paint is impressively sturdy -- it is industrial floor paint and will clean really well, but also shows a bit of character of the original floors.
Living Room
All of the wallpaper is steamed off the walls and ceiling.
Before:
Before
After
After
The plaster patching and painting will happen after the new beams go in.
Kitchen
Most of the subfloor is in. The plumbing is in. The electrical will go in soon. We have a new window!!!
It's the one in the middle. :-)
Downstairs Bathroom
The plumbing is done, the subfloor is in, and we are in the process of refinishing the outside of our 1925 clawfoot tub. We will have a professional company come in to reglaze/refinish the inside but they don't do the outside. We have some special plans for the paint, but I don't want to share that just yet. I think the final "After" will be striking (IMHO) so I want to save that for effect.
As soon as the tub is finished, we will:
-- drywall and drop the ceiling about one foot,
-- put up the new wall with door (of course),
-- install the walnut hardwood flooring & poly it,
-- work on that hole where a window used to be (this room used to be an outside porch),
-- flip the electrical box around to the opposite side of the wall it is currently on,
-- paint, install new toilet, basin taps and medicine cabinet, towel bars, etc.
In order to move in, we need a kitchen of some sort and a full, working bathroom so that is our game plan right now.
Stay tuned! There will be a lot of activity in the next few months!
-- Ann
