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One yucky job complete
Scrubbing the bathroom walls and ceiling in order to prep for paint is not fun. Especially that last corner over the toilet. My step stool couldn't get me close enough to reach comfortably, so I had to reach UNCOMFORTABLY.
The other thing is... trying to figure out the best cleaner to use. Third time really was the charm. Good old vinegar and water solution. I'm not fond of the smell of vinegar for cleaning, but it certainly could be worse.
I also had to scrape flaky paint off. Add to that... a giant 'scar', from when we had a plumber fix the fixtures of the other bathroom. He put some drywall in the hole, then tried to fill the gaps without tape, using some goop that isn't supposed to be used for that.
Just more stuff for me to have to fix. I'm not thrilled to have to do it, but I am glad that I at least know how... and that I'm finally getting to it.
That bathroom has not been painted in all the years Hubby's dad owned it. Nor was it painted by us when we lived here. Being that the house was built before lead paint laws, I suspect that that's what they used.
It sure is acting like lead paint in the way it's cracking and curling up in places. I have to give it credit, though. It's lasted a LONG TIME! Same with the trim in the rest of the house, which isn't cracking or curling, but still looks new.
When I painted other rooms I did my best to leave it alone. In case you've never tried painting over lead enamel, it requires extra care. Even then... it doesn't always adhere.
You can't sand it. That's a BIG NO-NO. You don't want to inhale the dust. The chips are dangerous too if you eat them. That's why they outlawed it. Little children were putting it in their mouths and apparently suffering some sort of brain damage. But of course I'm sure you all remember that.
Anyway, whenever you buy a house built before that law (70s-ish), you have to acknowledge that it may have lead based paint.
Anyway... I told you all that so I could tell you this. As long as your lead based paint isn't falling, flaking, or airborne, it's perfectly fine. Best to scrape the flakes off. Fill it. Prime it. Then paint over it all.
And that's what I intend to do, except that I think I will prime it first, then fill, then prime again. The reason I decided to do it that way is because I noticed that previous patches didn't seem to hold. I want my patching to adhere, and never have to do this again!
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Oh, very interesting. The house I live in in Oregon had lots of layers of chippy paint inside and out. It's a 100 year old house, and I'm guessing every generation left its dings... and just slapped on another layer. The front exterior was especially curled. That's where I'm getting my assumptions from. |
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You tired me out just reading all that you are doing. |
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Lol. |
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I'm guessing the paint they used was also oil-based and these latex paints they have nowadays won't stick to it, not even if you use a primer that claims it will if you use that primer first. So good luck with all of that. |
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That's the experience I've had before. It's very frustrating. |
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Seems like a lot of work Maggie. I am not sure why you still have a house when you live way up the coast here? If it was mine, I would sell. Right now the prices are high for houses. I see mine once in a while and since Jan it has gone up 7,000 dollars that what it was in Jan. Take care. Have fun. Bro. Doc |
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Appreciation is one reason to hang on to property, even if you don't live in it. |
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That is true, but someone needs to live in it, or else you will get wquatters or it damaged. Bro. Doc |
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Not always. |
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Also Bro Doc, one must consider all aspects of this equation. The house has been in the family for 50 years. We don't take it lightly that other members of the family have attachments to it. If sold now, we'd have to take a low offer due to things that are wrong, but that we have the ability to fix. Our neighbors who may be thinking of selling would not appreciate a 'low comp', potentially making it harder for them to get their price. And don't assume that we have no intention of renting it out. We just have to fix it first, which is what we are doing. First things first! |
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My house is 64 yrs old built in 1958. IF I was to sell it and something needed to be fixed, it would be sold as is. The neighbor that moved in across the street 6 months ago had a fixer upper closer to down town and she still got 325,000 for a 4 bed older home built in the early 40's. For me Maggie, I would not own a home to rent and live so far from it. My reasons is, if it needs to be fixed who will fix it? How will you collect on the rent if they do not pay? Will you have a rental company do that? What happens if they do something illegal in the home, you could lose it. These are my reasons for no owing a home probably a couple of thousand miles away. Like I told you once before my friend up state after renting the house out, and when they moved out there was 10,000 dollars of damages. So he sold it after doing the repairs. Not saying this is going to happen too you Maggie, but he was 375 miles from the home, and that is why it got damaged. Hope you get nice people, and maybe a family member would rent it. Hope everything works out well for you and your husband with it. Bro. Doc |
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We've had our share a bad renters. I think a lot depends on the market, and if you have the ability to be choosy. I wasn't choosy enough before, and I have paid dearly for it. In my defense, it wasn't exactly a high demand market at that time. I have since learned a few things, and the demand is way up, enabling us to be more discerning. I am not worried. Our neighborhood here is squeaky clean, and very much sought after by hardworking honest people. At the moment my only worry is getting the house up to the standard of the kind of tenant I hope to rent to. It takes time. And patience. Clearly it wouldn't be how YOU would handle it, and that's ok for YOU. However, this is OUR house, and if we want to leave it empty, fix it slowly, choose not to rent or sell it... that is OUR prerogative. |
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While this is true Maggie, there are somethings you can deny a person to rent a place. I am sure you know what they are. And sometimes when you get a reference from someone saying the people will be good renters it is doctored. I know, that I would be in trouble if I had a rental because of whom I would allow to rent and whom I would not. I think Maggie, being a landlord is a daily learning experience as they seem to keep changing the rules. Have a great day. Bro. Doc |
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Sounds like a lot of hard work. Bet your glad thats over and done with. |
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That part, anyway. So much more to do. 😶 |
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You're smart to be treating unknown paint as if it's lead based. You might remember, when I bought this little house, I used the first time homebuyer's program to take advantage of that $10,000 grant. One of the things we had to deal with (and this is from the USDA) was, any paint, inside or out, house or outbuilding, had to be intact. Fortunately, all the exteriors were either aluminum or vinyl so no paint issues there, and no one had painted the block foundation so nothing there, either. BUT, there were a couple places inside - a couple places on the living room wall, door frames, and such, where the paint was either flaking off or had been rubbed thin; we had to get special permission from the absentee owner to allow me to go in and correct all that. Here, at least, unless the house was built after lead based paint was no longer commonly available, the presumption is the paint contains lead, and they operate accordingly. |
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Thank you for clarifying that... as that jives with the understanding I had from previous home transactions. |
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Thanks for the reminders... |
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You're welcome! |
I don't think lead paint is known for peeling up and cracking. And lead paint was more needed in exterior uses.
There was an old (Dutch Boy?) advert about lead paint touting its advantages on the exterior of your house. One of the features was that it just chalks away, doesn't peal and curl. There was white lead and red lead paint, and I remember red lead paint was popular for boatbuilding to prevent rot.
When they dealt with lead paint on This Old House, it was mostly on trim in the interiors, because that is where the children would gnaw off pounds of the stuff.