Popcorn Ceilings and Door Mishaps

So where did we leave off? Ahhh yes. The Great Popcorn Ceiling Adventure. We started moving late Saturday, August 23, 2008. We were supposed to close escrow on Friday, August 22, 2008, but when we met with our realtor to do the final walk through, this is what we found...


The bank had decided to the the termite tenting the day before we were to close escrow. Per the termite company, the tent would not come off until Friday morning and we would not be allowed in until Saturday. This put a wrench in our first do-it-yourself project (DIY).

The first DIY project? Get rid of the popcorn ceilings in the Great Room, Master Suite, and Master Bedroom Hallway. Why only these places were popcorned, we'll never know.


So hubby and his buddy Peffernin decide that they are going to remove this wonderful popcorn off the ceilings. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, it's the textured ceilings that are supposed to "enhance" acoustic sounds. We're not sure if they do, but they sure are horrible looking (we're sorry if you have them and you like them, but each his own, right?).

We only had a limited time as hubby could not take time off work since he had just started his new job, so being one day behind, we were already stressed.

We've learned a big lesson in any DIY project. Prep time will take you three times as long as you think it will and actually do the project will take twice as long. The prepping for the scrapping was not done until late Saturday night so scrapping could not begin until Sunday.

So I went out and bought my boys respirators and full body coveralls. What I failed to realize is that was that the suits were not breathable and it was 80 degrees plus outside. The poor boys fried and sweated their way through the removal.

The ceilings came off very quickly and very easily. There was HUGE mess that needed to be cleaned up. Thankfully nothing had been moved in as of yet.

The following week, I took the week off of work and rolled up my sleeves and set to work on painting the Great Room thinking, "I can paint this whole house in a week, no problem!" No one had ever told us that painting was such hard work and took so much time. On HGTV it's done in a matter of hours!

Hubby spent that Monday after work cleaning up the mess and then Wednesday sanded the ceilings. What the amateurs didn't realize (and how stupid are we?) was that when you sanded the ceiling, the sanding dust went EVERYWHERE! There went all that hardwork of cleaning that Great Room. The sand got on the walls, windows, shelves, EVERYWHERE!

I had been painting the Master Suite and when I saw this huge mess in a room that both hubby and I had worked so hard on painting and cleaning up after the scraping, I had a mental breakdown. I told hubby , "Call Kevin (our realtor) and tell him we don't want the house. I can't do this, it's too much, it will never be clean and done!" and how I cried. I had spent the last 3 days getting up no later than 7 AM and working until no earlier than 12:30 AM (as late as 2:30 AM).

Hubby calmed me down, I took a breath, and got to work cleaning again. The next day, I started painting the ceilings. I completed half of the Great Room which still needed a second coat. This took me one full day. Once hubby got home from work that day, I demanded hubby finish the ceilings because I just couldn't take all the painting. The Master Suite wasn't done, the trim in the Great Room wasn't done, and my office still wasn't painted (nevermind the hallways, bathrooms, sunken room, and other bedrooms). My hands hurt like hell and the thought of painting one more ceiling killed me.

The rest of the week, hubby painted ceilings and I painted walls and trim. All went well. At the end of the week, all furniture was moved in. Everything except for the office furniture was put into the Sunken Room until the tile could be chipped up and the bamboo floors layed in the Great Room and hallways.

Little Mookie was also introduced into his new home. After some mild apprehension, he is running around like he owns this place too. As you can see, Little Mookie did not do much unpacking, but found some good places to nap...so happy we could oblige him!

All went well for a few weeks. Hubby started chipping away at the tiles and I finished the trim in the Great Room. Some new things were purchased including ceiling fans and many, many, many trips were made to Home Depot.

Then hubby went away to Baltimore, MD for our friend, Tom's Bachelor Party. While hubby was off having fun, I decided to paint the hallway that led to the other bedrooms, finish the trim in the Master Suite, and paint all the interior doors and jambs.

This brings up to the Great Door Mishap. So, thinking logically, "It's such a pain to try to paint these doors on the hinges and not get it on the carpet. These hinges are ugly and coated with paint anyway. I'll just take the doors off the hinges, buy new hinges, paint them and the jambs, and then re-hang the doors."

Totally logical, right? WRONG! I spent Friday night after hubby was dropped at the airport pulling all the doors off the hinges. These doors were HEAVY! They are probably the original doors and are solid wood! At least I was smart and ensured all the doors ended up with stickies noting which jamb they belonged to.

The big problem was that a lot of the screws securing the hinges to the jamb and door had been painted over so many times, the screw head was too covered in paint or they were painted firmly to the door. So what did I do? Why pried them off using the screwdriver as a lever of course. I just thought, "I'll buy longer screws to secure these back in place."

I then went to good 'ole Home Depot and purchased all new hinges, longer screws, and door stops for all the doors. Saturday was spent painting all the doors and hallway. On Sunday, I finished up some trim and second coated the hallway and then set to work rehanging the doors.

"How surprised hubby is going to be when I pick him up!"

After hanging the third door (ever try hanging a door by yourself? I don't suggest it), I gave up since none of the doors were closing. I consulted the Home Depot book and noted that the screws should not be spinning in place as the screws now were doing despite the longer screws. Since it was 8:30 PM and hubby was to be picked up in a couple of hours, all I could do was clean up the mess and try to think of a way to explain to hubby how I had just created more work for them.

After picking hubby up from the airport and explaining the good news that the hallway had been painted, but the bad news of the doors not closing when they are re-hung, I was told that hanging doors is hard and very precise. I said, "I think I've learned that now."

Hubby went to Home Depot, bought even longer screws and after I stripped even more screws, he explained using a power drill to tighten these screws was not a good idea. Screw them most of the way in, then do it by hand with a screwdriver.

That would have been helpful information BEFORE I had tightened three more screws and stripped them. Off to Home Depot they went to buy even longer screws...hopefully these work. The alternative is to fill the holes with epoxy, wait for it to dry and then screw new holes. Time consuming and a lot of effort.

What did I learn? Never do anything to the house without researching it first.

What did hubby learn? Never leave me alone in the house when a lot of work needs to be done.