Thumb and Hammer Blog

Seven hours without a break, and I only finished the one coat of primer.  I had expected to finish all the priming in one day, but that turned out to be a pipe dream.  ‘Twas a big job to tackle with a brush and roller.  I probably should have looked into spraying, either renting the equipment to do it myself, or hiring a pro.  The whole job could have been knocked out in a couple of hours (instead of a couple of days) and I would be rolling on the top coats tomorrow.  But at least I save some money by doing things the old fashioned way.

First order of business: some minor construction

The high wall and ceiling of the stairway would be impossible to reach without some sort of scaffold.  Lacking a scaffold, but having some 2x4s on hand, I fashioned a platform wide enough to support the ladder sideways on the steps.  It worked out well, except that I needed my wife’s help when I needed to move the ladder.

Platform for the ladder (a poor man

The ladder in the picture is a “Lite” Multi-Ladder, which is similar to the Little Giant system but which I picked up at Canadian Tire, on sale, at about half the price of a Little Giant.  So far, I am very happy with it and it certainly made things a lot easier for me today.

Moving the platform and ladder slowed my progress, and there’s a lot more ladder juggling in my future as I still have another coat of primer, and then two coats of the ceiling colour and two coats of the wall colour.

A pole extension for the roller would help speed up the progress. Unfortunately none of the broom handles I have on hand fit the roller properly and the extra time spent moving the ladder and climbing with roller in hand is probably less than a trip to the nearest store.  I may change my mind about that tomorrow, though.

Looking forward to some colour:
I’m looking forward to seeing the second floor painted in the colours we picked out.  Our daughter helped choose paint for her room:  purple walls with a pink ceiling.  The guest room will be a light greenish sort of grey colour.  The hallway, landing and stairway will be somewhat heritage blue with an off-white ceiling.

Starting to look “finished” already
Even with the spotty coverage of the first coat of primer, it is easy to picture the walls as a solid colour.  Sure beats the bare drywall and mud that we’ve been looking at for the past 9 months.

Another full day of painting ahead
Second coat of primer tomorrow, and, maybe even a coat of paint on some of the ceilings, if I should make good time.  I’m tired just thinking about it!