There is no better feeling in the world than crawling out of debt in order to be able to go back into debt. The next big expense is going to be the hot water heating system upgrade which we simply cannot afford right now. The advantage of waiting until we are on firmer financial footing is that it buys me some time (no pun intended) to finish the prep work. Painting the second floor is part of that process.
The joy of painting
There is nothing like the instant gratification of painting. As the paint is rolled onto the wall, the result is immediate as opposed to, for example, electrical where all the connections have to be made before the circuit can be switched on. By the end of this week, I should be have most of the painting upstairs finished. But first, a little clean up I have spent the last couple of days ripping up the plywood underlay that was nailed on top of the 3/4 inch tongue and groove subfloor. Because I will be installing hardwood flooring, removing the underlay reduces the likelihood of wood-on-wood squeaking. The removal process has been made more difficult by framing that has been installed over the underlay. I have been using an utility knife to score the sheets at the wall, much to the detriment of my knuckles. Once all the sheets are up, the second floor will be thoroughly vacuumed. I expect to be putting on the first coat of primer on Tuesday.
Vapor Barrier Primer
As I pointed out in an earlier post, I will be using Benjamin Moore’s Moorcraft Vapor Barrier Primer. A five gallon pail came to roughly CDN $150 with the exchange rate.
So long to the in-laws
Mom and Dad-in-law have decided to leave at the end of this week, about a week earlier than they originally planned. No doubt that the recent cold spell played a role in prompting this decision. I really hope that by the time they come to visit us again, we will have done enough renovating that they will have a suitable space available to them.
