If you own a second home, especially one that's in another town or another state, you've probably discovered how hard it can be to get maintenance done, You have to get in your car and drive over just to tighten a loose doorknob... and a big job like interior painting is even more involved. Case in point: One of my clients recently inherited a home that was in good structural shape, but needed a complete interior repaint as well as a few other minor repairs. The home is here in Asheville, but she lives in Texas, which is quite a drive for a paint job! Luckily a neighbor referred her to me, and I was able to help her with the project. I'm halfway through the interior painting, and the patched and repainted walls have already made a huge difference in the look and feel of the home. Take a look at these before-and-after pictures which I recently emailed to her. Now that the new paint is on, you can pay more attention to the fine old woodwork in the home. The fresh paint really brightens the space up and makes it look clean and move-in ready. I still have lots to do on this job, but I already have the satisfaction of seeing an "old" house become a "new" home. More importantly, I get to help someone tackle a long-distance project which otherwise might seem impossible, and I can send pictures and status updates so the homeowner knows everything is being done right.
If you need maintenance or updates on your second home, please let me know and I'll be glad to help. I'll keep you in the loop and make sure everything is done to your satisfaction. Give me a call... I love this stuff! Last week I worked on a concrete floor that was having a few minor paint adhesion problems. Just kidding about the "minor" part... most of the paint on the floor was peeling off in big sheets. It seems that there was a moisture problem in the room which has since cleared up. No one reported any flooding, and the water was already gone when I did my weekly inspection. I don't know the source of the moisture, but I suspect it came in under the entrance door as a result of drainage problems caused by the construction going on next door. After scraping up all the loose paint, I primed the surface with "Peel Bond". I mentioned this stuff in a previous post about fixing a peeling concrete ceiling. It's made for problem areas where paint won't adhere. This foyer gets some foot traffic, so this should be an excellent test of Peel Bond's durability. After letting the Peel Bond dry over night, I came back and top coated the floor the next morning. Cutting in and rolling out really takes the least amount of time. Most of the work was in the prep. I'll be interested to see how the Peel Bond holds up to foot traffic. It's held up so far on the ceilings I used it on, so I'm very optimistic about it. Related Reading
This is one of those posts with a satisfying "1-2-3" demonstration. One of my clients had an electrician replace a recessed "can" light in her ceiling with an outlet box for a track light fixture. Unfortunately the can light left a big hole in her ceiling, so she had me come over and patch it. You can see the steps pretty clearly. First I cut a wooden piece to support the area, which will give that part of the ceiling more stability. Next I added a small patch of Sheetrock, then covered it with a wider patch of reinforced mesh with metal screen. These are ready made patches with a sticky back. According to the manufacturer they don't actually need the wooden support, but I went ahead and added it anyway for extra durability. Last but not least, I added two coats of quick-dry sheet rock mud, lightly sanded, primed and then repainted the ceiling. I could have painted just the area around the hole, but we didn't have the matching paint. Without matching paint , the patch would have been visible. This looks like a quick job, but in reality it took most of a day because of the ceiling repaint. Here's a peek behind the scenes... as you can see, I try to be meticulous about putting drop cloths on everything. Spending a little extra effort here prevents a lot of headaches down the road! If you need minor wall or ceiling repair on your Asheville or Weaverville home, please get in touch. I'll be glad to help. Keep Reading
I like to joke that the only thing worse than hanging wallpaper is removing it. Even if you manage to peel most of it away, there are usually spots where the paper just won't let go and you have to patch over the frayed edges. Fortunately, it's possible to paint over your wallpaper without removing it... as long as you do it right. In this example, my clients Mike and Anne had some stains in their wallpaper as the result of a roof leak. The water dripped down from a light fixture in the ceiling and onto the blue panels below the chair rail. They wanted the blue area painted over in the same color. Step One: Check for any loose paper and re-glue it. Step Two: Caulk all the edges to further glue and seal it in place. Step Three: Prime the wall paper with oil-based primer. This keeps the water-based latex paint from softening the wallpaper glue. It's very important, so don't skip this step! Step Four: Top coat with the color of your choice. Painting over old wallpaper is possible if you're careful and follow all of the right steps. On the other hand, if you live in the Asheville or Weaverville area and you'd rather let a pro do it for you, please get in touch. I'll be glad to help. Keep Reading
Ah, Spring! First the flowers begin to bloom... then the birds begin to sing... then the mosquitoes begin to bite. That's right, it's time to get the screened-in porch out of storage. If your porch needs a little TLC, you might get inspiration from a project I recently finished on an historic Asheville home. The Puppy Porch Peril One of my clients owns a lovely home in the Montford neighborhood. It's 75 years old, and although it's in great shape, it needed a little help here and there.
Her first concern was the aging porch. It has screens going all the way down to the floor. Her cats had already clawed a few holes in the mesh, and she was about to adopt a puppy, so more damage was on the way unless we could find a solution. |
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