TGIF?

In general, I look forward to weekends, but this is what most weekends are like around here these days:

What am I doing?  Much as I'd like to be able to tell you that I am prepping this space for a fireman's pole that leads from the guest room to the living room, I'm not.

I am WASHING the ceiling.  Yes, you heard that right.  Washing it.  With hot water, vinegar, Windex, whatever it takes.  One section at a time. Because even Kilz can't make the decades of ick go away. Thankfully, it's only been ELEVENTY-MILLION DEGREES here over the last couple of weekends, so being up on a ladder in a room without air conditioning has only been something like...I don't know.....the fourth ring of HELL?   

I have learned so many things in the last two years of working on this house.  So many things that I thought I maight make a very brief list of the most current stuff:

1. 'Done' with a room apparently never actually means 'finished working on that damned room' when it comes to renovating.  I know, I know - I always thought the meaning of that word was pretty effing clear too, but I was wrong.
2. I also used to think painting was a pain in the ass.  Again, wrong. Painting is a.walk.in.the.park compared to other things one does when renovating.
3. Electrical work...now THAT'S a pain in the ass. Grade-A, first class PIA.  Go hug your electrician today.  Then maybe knit them something nice.  They deserve it.
4. Ladders can be dangerous when placed on deep-pile rugs.  Don't say I never warned you.
5. People who smoke in their homes should be REQUIRED to remove the sooty-sticky filth that it leaves behind before they sell it.  REQUIRED. Lead paint?  Who cares?  Asbestos? Pshaw! This leftover smokers' grime?  Killing.Me.  Not to be preachy, because I will not ever even BEGIN to say anything at all to anyone about smoking - not my place, it's your body, your choice, don't care (really, I don't, bully on ya), but - and I can't stress this enough - take it outside.  Never make anyone clean this crap up after you're gone.  It's inhumane.  And did I mention disgusting? 
6. It's a sad but true fact, and contrary to some of my deepest held beliefs, that Windex and hot water do NOT clean everything.

Thankfully, the heat has broken, so wish me well on the rest of the ceiling.  I want, with all of my wool-hoarding soul, to be finished with this project by the end of the weekend.

Comments

[Kathy]

Compared to Ms. ODJ, Bob Villa is a babe in the woods! :-)

[mamacate]

I feel your pain. I have lived your pain. I probably shouldn't say anything about how forget rooms never being done, renos are never done. In fact, you get to this pyschological point where you save everything up, because you know that the windows need replacing and the shades are broken too and there's no screen door and the bugs get in during the summer but you're going to knock that whole wall down sometime soon, so why do all that work. I don't think we know how to live in a place that's *finished* anymore.

About the smokers, yeah. Amazing shit, huh? You are using the TSP right? Because I know all about the algae in the ponds and everything, but I figure the solution is to not put phosphates in my everyday laundry detergent, but to use them when they're needed. And dude, a few decades of Old Guy Smoking in your dining room? That's when the TSP is just the ticket.

[Laurie]

Don't get me started about smoking.

Don't you just HATE it when they name something right, and it hurts? "Sweat equity". I'm feeling for you on the temperature thing too. Yeck.

[caro]

I'm with ya sister. And if you find any painted-over-wallpapered-over-tile, you know who to ask for advice.

[Chris]

I hope you have a cool and productive weekend! I can relate - I spent part of last weekend working in a metal shed (hereafter known as "Dante's Shed"). Ugh!

20+ years ago I lived for a few months in a trailer in Orlando. This trailer had beige panelling. Or so I thought. Until I started washing it. It was white underneath the nicotine goo..... Eww!

[Carole]

Home renovations are never done. By the time you get to the last room the first one you did needs to be updated. Sigh.
Good luck with the ceiling washing.

[Bookish Wendy]

Nice Ass. At least you've got that goin' for ya!

;)

[maryse]

haha i'm so glad that wendy and i are on the same page...i was going to comment on your killer gams.

[Juno]

When my pop died I got a cleaning service in to wash the walls of the house - they had some magic freaking non-toxic biodegradable shit that made the nicotine stains RUN down the walls.

But to this day - as I discovered when the recent biblical rains made my roof leak into the walls - they still streak nicotine yellow when they are damp. Five years later. Washed. Painted.

Dow bathroom cleaner will work, but it will take 50 IQ points with it, so.....

I've heard ammonia and water - but dude, don't breathe that shit. Someone suggested Oxy Clean, which I think is worth a shot. Once the roof is fixed I'm going to use that on the damaged area.

[elisa]

Nice gams, lady.

[kelly]

What? Really? Windex doesn't clean everything? I'm shocked. My husband says he is going to buy stock in the company... I should keep them in business for a long, long time. But you've found something that cannot be cleaned with Windex? I'm so disappointed.

[Beth S.]

You're going to have the best house ever when it's done. Just keep reminding yourself of that, if necessary.

[Stephanie]

I forgot about renovating. I don't mind having to write a book now.

[colleen]

I'm sure that you have a good reason for this, but why aren't you just replacing the tiles, or removing them from that support frame, cleaning them on a table and replacing them when finished?

[tesalc]

The woman who used to live in my apartment was a smoker and being as my apartment is in the attic with no ventilation the ceilings and walls were disgusting. It wasn't until my fiance moved and repainted that we got rid of the nasty stickiness.

The helpful folks at Benjamin Moore suggested we try Krud Kutter.

http://krudkutter.com/originalkk.html

You spray it on, and the ick just runs down the wall. (I have photos if you really want to see the nastiness.) Then you wipe it off with a rag or towel and let it dry then paint.

No need to rinse or wash.

[JessaLu]

ohGod I can't imagine the ick you're dealing with. icky. poo.

[Kristen]

oh. my. (I do agree that you have a very nice ass but the shoes? really?)

I grew up admist constant renovations (my parents seemed to deal with all of their marital problems by peeling wallpaper and rewallpapering, then, after all of the rooms had been taken care of, they started the cycle again with de-wallpapering, priming, base-coating, then painting, redoing trim, and then hanging pictures up again; my mom did the celings one summer "because it needed to be done" and now they've moved onto replacing flooring.) It just wasn't summer without some sort of dust/sweat/cleaner/primer concontion. (we kids were never allowed to join in, much to our chargrin, but I've had the "right" way to do a job drilled into my head and can't imagine ever doing it any other way.)

I dream of buying an old farmhouse on a lake and redoing things over time - it seems to be in my blood.

(I have something to put in the mail to you; it's late getting out but should arrive sooner rather than later....)