I got some massive help from three friends of mine from church. I sent out a request for assistance and three of them said 'yes' for the same day and time! This had never happened to me and I wasn't quite sure how to dole out enough tasks for everyone.
I started the morning out by going to Home Depot and Lowe's for supplies and materials. One item were two pieces of 12' base molding. In preparation, I researched methods of transporting long items in small cars and found this blog post on the very subject. It definitely helped me figure out how to get them into my car.
It worked out quite well. The only surprise was my hatchback wanted to close on the baseboard, which left some scuff marks. I pulled over on the way to the condo and wrapped a towel around the baseboards to prevent any further marring.
The guys, Paul M, David K, and Scott K, showed up and got to work. At one point, some of them had already finished their simple tasks and needed some more work. So I let them loose. I had David and Scott start demoing the kitchen and they got all of the wall cabinets down in no time.
I have to admit, I got a little jealous of the kitchen demo because I wanted to take stuff down and I thought seeing how they were mounted to the walls would be helpful for me to know since, I'd be installing new cabinets down the line. (Plus, they were using power tools.)
Paul went to town on the ceiling! Before I knew it, there was dust all over the place and when I looked at the ceiling, it appeared to be as smooth as glass! It looked great!
I, on the other hand, was installing the baseboards in the bathroom, which went pretty well.
I learned about the importance of backer rod, which really does help to fill in gaps where you're going to caulk. Otherwise, you're left filling a really large hole with caulk, which does not work very well. Trust me, that's what I was doing before I used the backer rod in the baseboard installation.
I also got to use a nail gun to secure the baseboard to the wall. I'd never thought I'd actually get the chance to use a nail gun! It was very helpful and sped up the whole process. I think I finished the baseboards in less than an hour.
We got so much done that day! At the end of it, I was nearly in tears, thanking everyone for coming to help me out. I'd never accomplished so much in one day. They made a huge difference. Thanks guys!
I started the morning out by going to Home Depot and Lowe's for supplies and materials. One item were two pieces of 12' base molding. In preparation, I researched methods of transporting long items in small cars and found this blog post on the very subject. It definitely helped me figure out how to get them into my car.
It worked out quite well. The only surprise was my hatchback wanted to close on the baseboard, which left some scuff marks. I pulled over on the way to the condo and wrapped a towel around the baseboards to prevent any further marring.
The guys, Paul M, David K, and Scott K, showed up and got to work. At one point, some of them had already finished their simple tasks and needed some more work. So I let them loose. I had David and Scott start demoing the kitchen and they got all of the wall cabinets down in no time.
I have to admit, I got a little jealous of the kitchen demo because I wanted to take stuff down and I thought seeing how they were mounted to the walls would be helpful for me to know since, I'd be installing new cabinets down the line. (Plus, they were using power tools.)
Paul went to town on the ceiling! Before I knew it, there was dust all over the place and when I looked at the ceiling, it appeared to be as smooth as glass! It looked great!
I, on the other hand, was installing the baseboards in the bathroom, which went pretty well.
I learned about the importance of backer rod, which really does help to fill in gaps where you're going to caulk. Otherwise, you're left filling a really large hole with caulk, which does not work very well. Trust me, that's what I was doing before I used the backer rod in the baseboard installation.
I also got to use a nail gun to secure the baseboard to the wall. I'd never thought I'd actually get the chance to use a nail gun! It was very helpful and sped up the whole process. I think I finished the baseboards in less than an hour.
We got so much done that day! At the end of it, I was nearly in tears, thanking everyone for coming to help me out. I'd never accomplished so much in one day. They made a huge difference. Thanks guys!
Wow, sounds like you're making a lot of progress!!
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