Painting Update

Note to those contemplating a power roller: When they say (as part of the cleaning instructions) to purge the system of water after you have backwashed all of the paint out of the pump and hoses, THEY REALLY MEAN IT. Do not be fooled into idly letting the silly thing pump itself "dry" for 2 or 3 minutes. No. Instead, you have to diligently coax every last little bit of water out of the system - you need to set the machine up high, and then - while it pumps at full bore - MAKE the water come through the tubes and exit at the nozzle attachment. If you do not do this, you will discover - as we did this morning - that instead of immediately applying paint when you turn on and prime the pump, you are applying the cup or so of water which remained in the system after you cleaned it last time. And, spread out through the wonders of a power roller, this "cup or so of water" has the coverage of a gallon - it ends up everywhere.

So, you are forwarned - take the "drying out" step very seriously indeed.

Now on to brighter moments. Once we recovered from the debacle of trying to paint our walls with water as it sprayed from the roller, things went well. Even though I used the wrong replacement roller, it looks great. And, with the mondern wonder of a power roller, we were able to finish the entry room, downstairs half of the stairs, and the entire living room today. So, with the exception of the "upstairs" portion of the stairs - which can wait for a LONG time as far as I'm concerned, we are done. Not so bad in two days, especially considering how we had to move everything (including the drapes) out of the rooms we were working on.

Lisa has asked me to confirm that the color she chose ("peanut"?) is great, and it is. If that kind of thing matters to you. Which it does not to me. I thought what we had was just fine. But then that's just me, I suppose.

What's next? Well, as one normally finds at the end of a project like this, this change has initiated the inevitable domino effect, and now we (that is the Royal "we" - Lisa) are hinting, suggesting, and bluntly stating that the drapes no longer look right. Duh. Of course they don't - they were made for the paint we had before, which is why we should have never changed the paint in the first place. Then, when we do the drapes, it will be the fixture, the furniture, and finally the cat and the dog. It is a vicious cycle and that sort of thing drove Lyndon Johnson out of office. It must be stopped and stopped now.

Lisa has also asked me to report that she did the lion's share of the work on this project, and indeed she did particularly if you don't consider the HOURS I spent in the hot sun cleaning the power roller both days while she painted inside in the air conditioning. Notwithstanding any of that, the areas we painted are rife with woodwork, windows, molding, and the stairway, which meant literally hours and hours of cutting in with a paint brush - a task which seems to suit her fine and which I abhor so I did not do. So yes, the overwhelming amount of painting was indeed done by Lisa. OK?

More as matters develop . . .