Sunday, August 09, 2015

Wet Paint

It's illogical, I know - but since "the flood", I hate being in the basement - even to do laundry. Not that I ever went down there for much else, but now it's just icky. 

Yes, the floor was cleaned (twice) but we haven't quite put everything back. The idea was we would paint the floor before getting things to the way they were - if not better. But then, we realized, it's not worth painting and sealing the floor is we don't do the same to the walls - which should come first. 

So it had to be done, we said. Mind you, I would have liked for someone else to do it, but to maintain my membership in the National Gay Butch Club™ (non-lesbian chapter), the job had to be done by ourselves. Auditing might ensue, so it was off to Homo Depot for waterproof paint. 

I love 710 a lot, but he has a skewed sense of time. If he says he's leaving in 5 minutes, I add 25. So when he says it would take an hour or two to do this job, I doubled. it. I was close. 

We struggled with the job on multiple levels. Waterproof paint is thicker than regular paint. Nothing has probably been done to these walls in 70+ years. The plaster itself changed consistency every few feet - assuming it wasn't already crumbling. 

The bigger struggle was internal to ourselves. We had to throw out most of what we know on how to paint. This isn't taping stuff off, this isn't certain brush strokes. And then you had to let go of perfection versus just cover as best you can. It is a basement - an unfinished one, a rough one. Perfection isn't really obtainable, but it's hard to not try. Then it's just a waste of time and paint. 

So most of the walls are done. 

BEFORE: 

AFTER: 

In the right picture, we have exposed lathe we need to take care of. But the rest of the walls are done. We might end up doing some bead board up something on the lower third, just to make it cleaner. We are not replastering. Or we can just cover it with paint - but we'll see. 

During the painting, I thought I got some in my beard. I asked 710 to check - he went back and forth if I did or not. He finally admitted it was possible, or it could just be the grey in my beard. 

Great!!!  

Still we can do the floor next weekend, if we get it together. I can't find red waterproof paint, so it will be slate or silver. The former will be darker and easier to cover things. But the latter will keep things lighter in a basement. I'm probably going for easier just to get back to some sense of normalcy. 

You'll get pics of the floor - once we get around to it. Because I know you're all dying to know. 



Song by: Forest for the Trees

5 comments:

anne marie in philly said...

National Gay Butch Club™ (non-lesbian chapter) - (snicker)

paint looks nice; it brightened up the basement. I don't go to my basement either, except to do laundry - it makes me claustrophobic.

Kevin said...

I can feel for you on this. We did this to our basement a few years ago. For a couple weeks I swore we had the cleanest basement in the county.

Bob said...

I love to paint, at least the quiet Zen-ess of it, but down in a basement? Yeah, I'd probably just slap it on and call it a day.

Anonymous said...

..yea, you'll be having a complete renovation of a finished basement, bids will be let, contractors hired....you know its true. I give you 4 months.

Fearsome Beard said...

A basement, for me only a memory from my days growing up out east.