I hate hiring contractors. Ok, wait. I don’t hate hiring contractors. I hate hiring contractors for jobs that I could do myself. That I definitely hate. But, there is one thing that I hate more than that: heights. I hate heights. Not. a. fan. I’m not so terrified that I can’t go up elevators or anything crazy. After all, I did manage to build our shed myself and that required me to get onto the roof on multiple occasions. But, I did nearly have a heart attack on the Space Needle in Seattle a few years ago and left Lisa alone up top to eat her lunch alone while I “recuperated” on the ground floor.
Now, there’s no space needle in our home. But there is a two story vestibule.
So what? Well, it wouldn’t be an issue except for the fact that we’re installing trim below our crown molding and we have a ton of painting planned. So, yesterday, I brought in my extension ladder out to attempt to scale the wall and start adding the trim.
After extending the ladder up the wall and coloring it with the ladder’s black plastic feet, I climbed up. No go. There is no way I’m going to be able to install a piece of molding, let alone paint it. Not happening. It’s too difficult with a ladder. Now, I could do this with a scaffold system, but that’s overkill. Alas, we’re just going to hire someone. At least it will be someone else up that ladder.
We’ve also decided to scrap the molding in the vestibule and just leave it in the dining room and the living room. After all, these two rooms are the most formal rooms in the house, and the molding adds some elegance there that we don’t need in the entry anyway.
So, the rest of the day we puttied and caulked the trim we had already installed.
Here’s how I prepped the trim for painting:
1. I went around all the trim and looked for all the nails that hadn’t been sunk below the surface of the wood and used a setter and knocked them down.
2. Then I used some white wood filler and filled all the nail holes. I just apply it with my fingers and rub the putty until it’s basically flush down with the wood. A deep hole may require two treatments because as the putty dries it contracts. Oh, and use the white putty if you have white trim. The wood colored stuff needs more coats of paint to hide.
3. Once all the holes are puttied, I apply the painter’s caulk. Now, the best interior caulk contains both latex and silicone. By best, I mean least likely to split or crack. You don’t want to have to do this again. I just cut the tip to a small size and spread it out with my finger.
4. When it’s all done. It will just need a little bit of light sanding before you paint it. I’ll be painting these trim pieces this week.
So, I know I’m not the only one that’s had a major phobia keep them from getting some home improvement projects done. So spill the beans. What have you skipped or handed off to a contractor?! Inquiring minds want to know!
