priming, mudding, and home-made scaffolding

So this past week, we did a lot of little odds and ends stuff. We tried our third method of getting the drywall off and the wallpaper in the second room was on there even better.

That little spot took me over an hour. My dad made the executive decision that we weren't taking the wallpaper off. And at that point, I really had to agree with him. It's not ideal, but we were going to end up replacing all of the drywall with the damage we were doing to it.

He sent me to Benjamin Moore and I bought Insl-x Odorless Primer/Sealer that seals surfaces. We spent the larger part of Saturday/Sunday figuring this out and priming the walls.

This is a view of the corner. You can see the original wallpaper (that has been painted black) and then the primer we applied. We took turns trimming and then rolling it on. We painted a layer of that, and my dad is currently taping and mudding, and mudding and taping, every single seam of wallpaper. Then he is going back over it with a skim coat of drywall mud. Hopefully it will be sealed tight after that. We can just pray.

I want to help tape and mud, but I have been assigned to the closets, where there are a few small holes. Sigh. I guess you have to start somewhere. And to be honest, I probably don't want my limited experience with drywall mud showcased on the walls!

They took a break and while I trimmed, my dad and Leo covered up the hole from the whole-house fan with drywall.

And once again, he will have to tape and mud those seams! 

Then he started on the plaster. This is were it gets interesting, let me tell you. Most of the walls upstairs are new drywall. Except for right by the stairs. That is the area where moisture got in from one of the holes in the roof, so it is peeling on the wall and ceiling. He pulled the top layer off and guess what comes next? Even more taping and mudding. But wait, how does one reach the ceiling and wall over the stairs? Where it is 17 feet tall? Well, that's where the "home-made scaffolding" in the title comes in.

So I walk in after school on Monday and this is what I see rigged up on my staircase. 

It's a good thing this isn't a business, because I'm pretty sure that would not be OSHA approved :) But I must say creative, and it was actually quite sturdy. Much better than anything I would have come up with, that's for sure. Here are the walls, after preliminary taping and mudding.

That is about it for now. They did completely finish the roof and gutters late this afternoon. I will have to take pictures of the final result tomorrow! Now, if this weather would just stabilize, we could start on the outside and do some landscaping and cleaning! I feel kind of useless on the taping and mudding front.

Well, tomorrow is FRIDAY! Which not only means it's the weekend, but that the UK vs UofL game is on!! It is going to be intense, and I can't wait to watch it with my family! 

I hope you all have a great Friday!

-Katie