First off… GOOD NEWS! Sarah, my webmaster, is back from Kenya, and said she could fix the comments problem within the next day or two… so hang on…we’re almost back to normal! Yay!
My hubby and I spent the whole day in the bedroom… Let me rephrase that… we spent the whole day in the bedroom WORKING! We started at 8:15 this morning and I finished washing out my paint brush at 9:15! It was a long day but we made progress… although it doesn’t look like it when you see what we got done… trust me…old houses don’t make it easy for home renovations!
I’ll just tell you what happened today…
I think I last left you with the new insulation showing and my hubby had run new wires and added new electrical boxes to the wall. He always wanted to rewire those 2 outlets but he certainly didn’t want to rip off the paneling just for that. So we waited, but then all the rain we had seemed to make the few wrinkles in the paneling that we did have, get worse.
So what we decided to do was buy 3 new sheets of paneling from Lowes. But they only carry the thin 1/8″ paneling. The rose colored panels we took down were 1/4″ and were actually quite substantial. So, instead of putting this flimsy new paneling up just nailed to the studs, we decided to put the old rose colored panels back in place where they were, over the new insulation.
Yes, it was THAT bad…
When we got the rose colored back on the walls, I told my hubby, “oh let’s just paint this, it will be fine!” You should have seen the looks I got! :o{
So after putting them all back up it looked like it did from the start…well… almost..
I did a panoramic shot below… so you could see the whole wall. It makes the picture appear a little curved. Our walls might be off, but they aren’t THAT crooked ;o)
The paneling we bought at Lowe’s was only chosen because it had the grooves in it like the rest of our room…(actually because the price was $19 a sheet) and it is going to be painted so the color or the print didn’t matter… I think this was called Summer Oak…and it was pretty, but not as pretty as it’s going to be when I paint it Agreeable Gray! :o) It did have slightly wider grooves than our old paneling, but beggars can’t be choosey! :o)
Trying to measure things that are a bit crooked to start with, makes you measure about 3 times and then you second guess yourself and measure one more time… just so we could get the outlet boxes cut out in the exact spot they needed to be. We certainly didn’t want to have to go buy another piece of paneling because we “missed it by THAT much!” (Don Adams on Get Smart, if you were wondering!)
We used Liquid Nails to hold it on the wall while my hubby nailed it at the edges and along the top and bottom. A few nails were put in the grooves in the middle.
Yay! First piece up!
Over the window…
…and finally the other side…
It was very slick paneling, so it needed to be primed before it’s painted…
…and finally all done!
The hardest part was matching up the side seams at the top and bottom window sections… the grooves had to match up without having a crack between the pieces, but it was a little more than tricky when your walls aren’t straight. However, we got it to all work out and Caulk King did his thing… but he’s still got LOTS more cracks to fill…
Now you look at that and tell me WHY ON EARTH did it take so long… I can tell you why, because this house is OLD and needs help. We are helping it out with some tender loving care… and it’s going to be beautiful… you just wait…because I can already see it!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, that room is coming along nicely!! So glad the “big” part of the job (paneling off/on) is done now.
I took pictures of my RRFF (specifically Maya and her new dress) today, and will try to get them to you tomorrow sometime. For now, I need to get to bed as it’s late, and I didn’t sleep well last night. See you then!
HI Charlotte,
Yes, now that the BIG work on the wall is done, there are a million other LITTLE jobs to do…but bit by bit, it seems to get done…
Oh, good, something about dolls from you!
Blessings, Jeanne
Yes I can see it already too, Jeanne! The room looks bigger and brighter just from that one wall getting done! What an amazing transformation will take place when you get all FOUR walls done! Is your bedspread going to “go” with the new wall color? Of course, with it being gray, most anything will go with it! And curtains, well, I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here, but everything looks so new and tell George he is doing a wonderful job!
I’m happy to hear that the blog is going to get back to “normal” soon! Did Sarah say what caused all this trouble?
HI Linda,
The room DOES look brighter… even at night with that one wall painted white… I can’t imagine how bright it’s going to be when all 4 walls are lighter! Plus I think that ceiling being painted white instead of all those little brown speckles on it, helps too!
My bedspread was a down comforter, and it was white, but I might change it to something… I want to change out my dust ruffle and my pillow shams because I made them to go with the color of the walls. I’m trying to think ahead of what it’s going to look like too and keeping my eye out for something I might like…
Yes, I have to give LOTS and LOTS of credit to my hubby. I don’t know how he does what he does… but somehow he can do whatever needs to be done… sometimes he pays for it with aches and pains but he still gets up the next day and does what needs to be done.
He pretty much amazes me every single day with how he manages things.
Sarah didn’t tell me what was wrong, she just said it could be fixed…
Blessings, Jeanne
How hardworking you are. There is no end to renovations. What then the joy and satisfaction. It looks pretty.
HI Alina,
How true it is that the renovations have NO end… BUT what we are doing now should hold us for quite some time… I would like to paint the sitting room… in the future sometime. It’s an antique green but since the rest of my house is more neutral, it is really different than the rest… but that’s another project and I’ll have to wait on it.. .
I’m glad you think it looks pretty so far… I hope it gets done in about a week… we are just going to get the bedroom done for now and then take a short break before we move onto the sitting room and computer area and my hubby’s office…
Thanks Alina,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m kind of surprised that you were able to save the old paneling. Normally, during the removal, it would have been split into a gazillion pieces. The last batch we removed at the laws house was so glued on that we had to use a chisel to get off the remains. Good job on that! At least you didn’t find any mummified rats in the wall like we did. 🙁 And sandwiching the two panel pieces together will certainly make for a much sturdier wall. It will probably add to the insulation factor as well. Do the electrical outlets have to be adjusted to fit the width? I was wondering how you would get paint to stick to that paneling. I thought it would have to be sanded, but looks like a coat of primer does the trick. A great preview of new paint to come as the room already looks so much brighter. Hope your back is holding up with the sewing room/bedroom. I’ll bet you can’t wait to have the whole room done and back together. But, then there is the floor too. Can’t wait to see that. Love your home renovation. 🙂
HI Joy,
The paneling wasn’t glued on… just tacked in a few places…it was pretty soft to the touch if you leaned against it. and that part at the bottom was so brittle it was like paper… but the back was more of a hardboard so that’s what held the panel together. The back of the paneling looked almost new… so the water or moisture somehow got between the front section and the back board.
We both decided at the same time to use the boards to insulate it and also make the new paneling more sturdy.
Priming it worked well… it stuck and didn’t need to be sanded… (Believe me, I asked Cindy about that before I did it… )
It’s not my back, but my wrist on my right hand and my neck from looking up painting that ceiling… that was the problem… it’s not too bad today…
I can’t wait till it’s finished either…
Thanks for enjoying the reno posts… It really wasn’t planned like this, but it is what it is…
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, Joy, you sound like a regular DIYer up above. Sure sounds like you know what you’re talking about. I have done a fair amount in my life, but these days we prefer to hire someone rather than risk falling. And then there’s always doing absolutely nothing about the potential project. Alina is right about the satisfaction factor of DIY.
Jeanne, as Joy said, how terrific it was that you could still use the old panels again against the insulation to give the new panels greater durability. Certainly reduces the chance of an inadvertent hole in the wall, and as everyone says, gives another layer from the elements/temps. Our house is a little younger than yours. There are always “surprises” and the obvious things like little bows in the walls. Certainly appears that your triple measurements paid off. This is going to be a really dramatic change. Good luck today, and hats off to Sara, too. A toast to all you clever sofa sisters!
Charlotte, hope you got some sleep. We look forward to seeing your Maya strut the runway.
Linda, I would love to hear from you.
Have a good day, everyone.
Sally
HI Sally,
I think Joy certainly has done her fair share of home improvement projects too… She had her parents house and I think her in-laws house that they redid…
We thought about that thin paneling from Lowe’s and decided almost at the same time, it would be much nicer to have a little bit more substantial wall there behind the bed in case a corner post somehow got too close and got shoved into the wall.
I can’t even imagine how much different it’s going to look when it’s done… I still can hardly believe it’s happening… I had almost given up hope that it would ever be done…
Thanks Sally,
I probably won’t have to let everyone know when the comments are back to normal… you’ll just all know!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a difference even the paneling makes. I foresee a lovely room when all is done. It’s good that Sara said she could fix your blog problem. I know this has been driving you to distraction. I’ve tried to keep my comments to others to a minimum or include them all in one comment but I often forgot and caused you more work. Thankfully there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
HI Barbara,
I’m beginning the see the start of a lovely room too and it’s spurring me on to get it all finished.
The comments thing HAS been driving me crazy… it’s just that I know nothing about that side of my blog… I can write and add pictures and do a few things, but the technical side of it is way over my head…
It was fine to leave more than one comment… in fact, I have to applaud all of you for carrying on the way you have been. I am so blessed by my readers!
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne