100th post

Just realized I hit 100 posts!
 
It has been 4 years in my beautiful brick home...
 
I posted for the first time on July 8, 2009.
 

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A busy day!

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As you know, I got my keys at lunch time. I ran over to the house real quick and found that the smoke alarms had not been installed. According to my inspector, the seller has to install smoke alarms in each room before closing. The seller had agreed to install them. Now they are saying that it's not required by law if the house was built before 1992. So, my realtor is going to call the fire department tomorrow and ask. On my paperwork for the request for repairs, the seller had agreed to get it up to code; so I really hope they follow through on this. There is one smoke alarm in a house that is 2050 square feet. My daughter and I spent the last 3 hours cleaning windows, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, etc. There are about 6 windows that are painted shut, so I'll try and tackle those tomorrow. Also, I want to get the windows spray washed from the outside. I am tired, but very very happy that this day finally came. I hope my dad knows how grateful I am. If it weren't for him...
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LD Weekend ~ part 3

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Using the heat gun lasted approximately 30 minutes. I honestly do not know why it is so hard to use the heat gun on the beams. The paint just does not want to budge. I have to hold the heat gun in one place about 30 seconds and then can only scrape about 1/2 inch at a time.... I risk burning the wood this way, so resorted to Citri-Strip. I love this stuff for walls, furniture, etc, but not so much in high places.  It took about 3 hours to get this much done: Using a liquid stripper is a nasty job and the clean-up takes way longer. Old varnish is gooey and gross and drips down onto everything.  With a heat gun, all you need is a broom and dust pan when it comes to cleaning up.  With liquid stripper, you have to scrape, wipe, lather on more stripper, scrape, wipe, clean with a gazillion rags, wipe down with afterwash.  Even though the clean up is more time consuming, the wood is much prettier afterwards. And the citrusy smell is so pleasing to the nostrils compared to ...
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Dining room update...

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When I first started this adventure, I had grand visions of stripping all of the wood.  After many Sundays spent stripping the wainscoting, plate rails and window frames... that gradually changed. It has taken me years to get to where I am.  So, I changed plans...  and decided not to strip the box beam ceiling.  The main reason is that I would like to have a functioning dining room this year.  Everything is piled in the center of the room.  Table, chairs, hutch, china cabinet, etc.  It will be nice to actually eat at the dining room table. What the dining room looked like during my walk-through.  All the walls, windows, wainscoting and plate rails  are now stripped of paint.  The plan is to sand all the wood down,  and use an oil to bring it back to life.  I would love to shellac it,  but that would probably cost a fortune.  After I paint, it is going to look similar to this.  I am going to distress the beams, so...
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