plaster – Ali Does It Herself

Normally we have a little rack here where we hang the clothes that are not quite dirty enough to wash but worn enough that we can’t justify putting them back in our drawers. One week we got a little lazy and overloaded the rack. And it fell off the wall, taking the screws with it. Leaving these holes.

It’s strange how such a little thing can alter your whole life. Because we don’t have the rack at present, the Pie and I are putting our clothes on the backs of chairs in our room. This means that some of the things we normally keep on the chairs are now in our closet. Which means that our closet is full, so some things that are normally in the closet are on top of Gren’s crate. Which means that things that normally go on top of Gren’s crate end up on the floor. Our room is a certified disaster zone, all because of a stupid $15 clothes rack. It’s utter chaos. CHAOS, I tell you.

Gotta fix it to achieve equilibrium.

Patching small holes in gyp-rock or plaster walls is an easy process.

First, take a box cutter or other sharp knife and cut off the bits of plaster that are sticking out from the wall. Sand the rough edges so everything is flush and level.

Use a filling putty like this Dry-Dex and a flexible putty knife to apply the compound to the holes. Depending on the depth of your hole, you may need to add a little bit of compound at a time and allow it to dry between applications.

I like this stuff because it goes on pink and you know it’s dry when it turns white.

Lightly sand the dried compound, then wipe the dust off with a soft damp cloth.

Prime it and paint it. We always save the dregs of our paint for just such an occasion. You can just put it in a yogurt container and it will stay fresh, though you will probably have to stir it well.

When you are putting up stuff that is going to hold other stuff, it helps if you can get your anchoring screws into a joist. If you use a stud-finder this is an easy task (the last time I put this up we didn’t have a stud-finder). And the bonus of this particular model is that it also tells me when I’m about to drill into a power line, saving me from auto-electrocution. Handy.

And now our life is back to normal. PHEW! Balance restored.

My parents bought the house they live in now about twelve years ago, and the house is about twenty years old now. In fact, it’s the first new construction house my parents have ever owned. So new, in fact, that when we all moved in back in 1997, it wasn’t quite finished yet. Like it didn’t have a back porch. That sort of thing. It also used to be a rooming house, so there were some weird things going on. The room that is my dad’s office was designed to be a laundry room, and when they bought the house it was actually being used as a kitchen. As it was pretty low-priority in the scheme of everything else that goes on in my parents’ busy lives, it remained in more or less its original state.

UNTIL NOW.

This is the before shot, when my dad and I were clearing out all the furniture and stuff.

You can see the artful sponge painting that outlines where the laundry sink used to be. And the place where the faucets come up and out of the wall.

This dryer outlet and vent also needed to go. As did the b-awful linoleum. I hate linoleum.

So out came the mouldings and the overhead lighting.

After checking to make sure the fuse was dead, out came the dryer/stove outlet.

Make sure you check it more than once before you start cutting wires.

This rubbish bin was filled and emptied many times before the job was done.

The vent will get cut flush to the wall and filled with expanding spray insulation.

The faucet pipes were capped and sealed with solder and the plastic frame removed.

We will put a piece of gyp-rock over top and patch that sucker, same with the one on the floor.

Just screw it in place, using shims as a backing, and trim off the excess. Fill the holes with Durabond-90 or other crack filler and you’re good to go.

All the other holes and cracks got filled as well.

There were plenty.

Now for that ugly awful floor. This was my especial project and it took me FOREVER.

Whoever put the lino down GLUED it, which is not something you normally do. And they didn’t just lay down lines or dots of glue. No. It was like they took the can of glue and spilled in on the floor. But not all over the floor. This part came up super easy, so we thought it would be more of the same.

PAH.

I spent about seven hours with a pair of gloves and a putty knife peeling up the rest of it.

And let’s not forget all the glue that stayed on the floor.

Which my dad spent three days scraping off.

It was a sticky business.

Back to the walls. On with the primer. Note you can still see the terrible, terrible sponge painting shining through. Took a couple of coats of paint to get that hidden.

Next the crown mouldings went on and were lined up.

Nailed and glued in place.

You can use wood filler to artistically cover the spots in the corners where it doesn’t quite line up.

And to cover your nail marks as well.

Now for the floor, which we replaced with a nice floating bamboo one with interlocking pieces.

You can see the grooves here.

Make sure to measure out everything ahead of time. It helps to label your pieces and to draw yourself a little map.

You will need to cut pieces to fit the vagaries of your room.

Dad glued down the first section.

Make sure to follow the instructions on your glue. This little grooved applicator enables the glue to spread under pressure.

You want to make sure your pieces are super snug together, so a rubber mallet is very handy.

We noticed that the glued section was making cracking and popping noises, so the next sections were nailed in place as well, with the nails going through those little grooves I just showed you. It cracked the grooves but kept the things on the floor, so there you go.