Saturday, April 26, 2008

Keep on Working: NYC=11 Days.

Today is all about plaster repair so I can paint. My heart's just not in this anymore. Remember back when I was fixing the walls in the dining room? Yeah, those turned out beautifully, but I think that's where the precision is ending. I've essentially conceded to the fact that the person who is going to buy this house is just going to be an investor who is going to rent it out to crack-heads who don't care a thing about it. Basically, I'm slapping the walls together so I can get paint up. I'm still going to be sanding and texturing, but if things end up a little lumpy who cares. At this price point in the market, new paint will be good enough for the house to stand out.

Here's part of what I did today. I patched up the holes in the ceiling of the hallway upstairs and taped along the edges. (sanding, second coat, sanding, texture, paint needed still)

And I'm in the process of patching up those holes on the stairwell wall. I know it looks terrible but I'm essentially skim coating over it. (more mud, sanding, second coat, sanding, texture, paint needed here)
I put the second coat of mud on the cracks in the stairwell, just need to sand, texture, paint those. There is a large crack up too high for me to reach though... we'll see what kind of scaffolding I can create with various pieces of furniture and scrap boards. I might write my next post from the hospital. We'll see.
So, yeah. I'm thinking pretty realistically now. I have a small handful of days left and years worth of projects, so I'm basically slapping a coat of paint over everything so it will look good for the next 6 months or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the house spends the next 15 years as a rental property that falls into greater disrepair, and eventually becomes a parking lot for the hospital around the corner. Can you tell I'm in a bit of a stressed out mood? The optimism is overflowing.

This doesn't help: May is next week, ladies and gentlemen. What's up?
Funny story though; I locked myself out of the house yesterday. I was stranded out on the porch until I had a great idea. That broken window that I haven't gotten around to replacing could be a good access point. The window was locked, but I slit a hole in the tape where there is a hole in the glass big enough for my hand to fit through. I took an old piece of weatherstripping and made it into a loop so I could catch it on the sash lock and open the window. I pulled the lock open, then up went the sash and in I fell onto the couch. I thought it was very 'McGuiver' so I felt pretty smart. At least until I remembered that my absent mindedness got me in that position in the first place!
That would be me re-enacting my break-in job. Smooth, huh?

1 comment:

Sandy said...

Oh Nate, I'm sorry you feel that way; but you're probably right. So sad. Such a lovely house. I'm glad you didn't cut yourself on that glass. Hope you don't have any mishaps with that fancy scaffolding you're talking about.