Yeah, I Know, I Know!

I admit it.  I've been putting off patching my Study ceiling so it can be repainted.

In the first place, it's hot up there these summer days.  Even if I ran the air conditioning in my house-- which I don't-- it wouldn't adequately cool the third floor.  Last month sometime I went at the problem area to some extent with the 5-in-1, but that's where it's remained.

But all right, it's been cooler lately.  But there are so many other, more fun, things to do downstairs.  And sometimes I'm actually working.  For money!  So that doesn't get the ceiling patched.

Last Friday, however, I finished clearing the papers, magazines, files, tchotchkes, and so forth off the horizontal surfaces and stashed them down in the guest bedroom.  And yesterday, armed with the dull-razor-blade scraper, I took the long walk up the two flights and went to work removing anything else that was still loose.

Ha.  I knew it. It never ends.  I thought I was dealing with bubbling in the finish layer of the plaster.  No.  What had bubbled was the paint, all five or six layers of it, in various lovely shades of white and pink and green.  This was good in a way.  Much better than failing plaster.  But if the goal is to remove all the paint that's "loose," the project can go on forever.  There's no end of what that blade can get under.

Finally convinced myself it'd actually be a good thing if the joint compound could seep under the raw edge of the old paint a little.  And headed down the basement for the joint compound.

Ah. There we have it.  Another big reason for my procrastination.  I knew it, I knew it, that big five gallon tub of joint compound was moldy.  OK, so it was two and a half years old.  But the lid was on so tight I could hardly pry it off.  So why should it be moldy?  But it was, I wasn't about to put any of it on my ceiling, so it was off to Lowe's last evening for a less-ambitious quart of vinyl spackle.

Got that on last night.  It never goes on smoothly, no, it does not.  Surprise, finish plastering really is an art and profession. Tonight's task was wet-sanding the first, rough coat, and oh! I do not enjoy that.  Not fun, not fun, not fun.  And since I applied the second coat of spackle this evening, I have to do the sanding thing again tomorrow.

(Grumble-grumble-rumble)

But hey, once that's done, it's time for primer!  And paint!

Once some very heavy pieces of furniture get moved.  And the trim to be repainted gets washed.  And everything gets festooned in drop cloths and painter's tape. 

(Grumble-grumble-rumble)