Doug helped me do some of the taping but I did nearly all of the mudding in this room so that he could do other more lucrative things. I hate this particular activity because it is so incredibly messy, but I enjoy the results when I do a good job, and I have to say that this room ended up looking better, from a drywall finishing standpoint than any other room in the entire house, including the rooms upstairs done by the so-called professionals back in January of last year. I tried to keep it as neat as possible so there was very little sanding to be done after all the coats were on and it had dried.
The real reward came after I primed everything and painted the ceiling. The ceiling/wall intersections were so clean and clear of globs of drywall that it was easy to paint a really clean straight line between the wall and the ceiling. No blue tape was needed. It felt so great to be able to make something look good so easily.
This is really lame, but I chose that yellow because we had some left over, and because it's a nice cheery color that will hopefully put Doug in a productive mood and because it matches the electrical wires. It's also a good background color for his machines. It's called "Surfboard Yellow."
We debated over whether to have the room start out looking as nice as possible or whether to just say it's a work area that will look like crap pretty soon anyway. I always think people do better work in a more pleasant and professional looking environment so we decided to go ahead and get a cushioned floor instead of bare cement and he also installed baseboards. It looks great. Maybe he'll be less messy to keep it looking nice longer. This is the only room in the house that is completely finished. I'm glad we at least have one room that is completely finished!
By the end of the month Doug had gotten all of the big pieces of equipment moved, but nothing else. He's currently doing a major overall on his main machine which hopefully won't take too much longer.
3 comments:
I like the "Surfboard Yellow." The cushioned floor should make a big difference. The cement can take a toll.
I have yet to do mud work with new drywall. It has always involved repairs and patches for me. I also hate painting the corners. It never comes our right, so I cheat a little and apply the tape so that my ceiling color comes down a tiny bit on the wall so I can have a nice line.
When I first started, and didn't trust myself, I taped. But even with that I've still gone back with a half inch artist's brush in nearly every room to make it look better.
At first I thought it would be best to go not quite all the way up but then you end up with a super bright white edge at the top of the wall where the white ceiling reflects down.
I've found it actually looks better to err on the side of bringing the wall color up ever so slightly above the wall/ceiling intersection. The ceiling helps keep my hand steady for free hand painting without tape, and the inevitable lack of perfection is much more subtle, especially in the corners. I wish I'd known that I was going to prefer that look when I started!
I'll have to try that corner technique next time. Fortunately or unfortunately I am working on a bathroom remodel project that will give me just the opportunity.
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