Last steps

I got the second (and final) coat of paint on the walls today.  While I was running around the room on a ladder cutting-in again, I had an epiphany, and realized why painters use thinner:  It would have been so much easier to have some paint with a thinner consistency for doing the cut-in.  It was really not a lot of fun painting less than four inches at a time around all of the stuff in the room.  Somewhat thinner paint would have had a better flow characteristic, which probably would have let me cover a longer stretch.  Oh well.  It is done, and I happen to think that it looks awesome.  There are a few touch-up spots that I need to hit probably tomorrow.  There are a few spots where a roller nicked the ceiling, and a few spots around the big window where the paint didn’t bond well to the new plaster (I should have removed the tape that I put up for the plaster and re-taped, which probably would have avoided some of this problem).  Those places will be easy to touch-up tomorrow. 

The last few things that need to happen after touch-up are to cut up and remove the carpet, and cut up and remove the padding.  Then there are a few pieces of tack strip that I couldn’t get to easily that need to be removed.  After that, I can install the chandelier, replace the crappy wall switch, and put on new cover plates for the one wall outlet and the switch.  Then the floor can get a quick mop, maybe a coat of wax, and then the plastic can come down.  Then that’s it–we’re done!  We’re so close…. 

jonathan