Installing Baseboards

I had a dilemma... Do I leave my furniture in the middle of the room or move it all back to reasonable locations? I have baseboards!!! They look great and it's a shame that they are so hidden. Yes, that means I decided to move my furniture back.

I used the long weekend to tackle baseboard installation on the main level of my house and they are all installed! For many, many months they had all been painted, but taking up space in my dining and living room. I installed them in my bedroom earlier in the year and forgot I hadn't blogged about it, so here it goes. My bedroom was a good starter room. The baseboards in my bedroom consisted of one baseboard per wall with inner corner cuts. Four walls. Regular corners (no odd angles). Two doorways. Not too difficult.

Then, there's my downstairs where the living room, dining room, and kitchen all connect without doors, lots of inner and outer corners, and one length of wall that would need 2 pieces of baseboard and 3 pieces of shoe moulding. Let's not forget the flooring transition between the dining room and kitchen because the flooring is not level. This is a picture of the transition (and my cat) and the baseboard with a sketch of the porton that needed to be removed in order for the baseboard to fit around the transition.

 

I don't have a jigsaw so I used a hacksaw, dremel, and my miter saw to make the cut at the bottom of the baseboard so it would fit around the transition. It wasn't perfect, but the imperfect cut would be hidden by the shoe moulding. However, the angles for the shoe moulding were also fairly impossible. My tool that measures the angles doesn't work well with small segments, so I had to recreate the angle with two pieces of paper and then could line up the tool with the paper edges to figure out the angle. For instance, the angle for one transition was around 165 so each piece needed to be at a 82.5 degree angle. I set the miter saw at 7.5 degrees and had to figure out the directions to cut each of those little pieces. Plus, one side needed to have an outer angle cut to fit around the wall (45 degree angle with the moulding positioned a different way). And the other piece needed some sort of angle to fit with the shoe moulding along the dining room floor... but the floor transition doesn't angle all the way to the floor. Of course, there's a slight lip to make it just a little more difficult. 

I didn't stress about it too much though. I did the best I could and used some spackle to make it smooth. I'm pretty pleased with the results. I did fill in the nail holes with spackle, but eventually I'll need to add some caulk and do touch-up paint.

Even though I did my baseboards on my own this weekend. I have to thank Kelli who helped me measure, cut, and install baseboards in my bedroom. She was WAY more helpful than the cat, who was particularly good at photo-bombing. The cat wanted to be in my picture of some of the tools I used for this process. That's a lot of tools. My dining room was the staging room and there were tight quarters, but I made it work.

 

Warning- the air compressor can get really HOT. I accidentally bumped it with my shoulder and have a little burn mark. Otherwise, I was careful with my power tools and was unscathed.(The yardwork I did this morning was another matter, but that's off topic).

This picture should also have included the tissue box that I used to keep the baseboards level with the miter saw while making the cuts. It served dual purposes because the saw dust also made me sneeze some. :)

Don't they look good?

Helping out with home repairs

Two broken fingernails and 3 trips later, I finished installing 3 doorknobs and 2 deadbolts, 2 curtain rods, 1 towel bar, 1 toilet paper holder and fixed 1 other curtain rod at my aunt's house this summer. She needed some help preparing her house to be put on the market and I must say it looks good.

Curtain Rods

The curtain rods were challenging because the windows have steel plates around them and there isn't much space between the drywall and the exterior brick walls for normal drywall anchors. I had to figure out the correct placement of the brackets that would avoid the steel plates and any previously drilled holes. I used my studfinder to figure out where the steel plates were and bought special anchor screws to attach the brackets. These are fantastic:

(please forgive the poor quality iPhone pictures)

Door Knobs

Installing Baldwin Door Knobs was simple! I love the quality and the look of this brand. And you can re-key them yourself so that they all use the same key. No need to have the hardware store do it before you install them! They're pretty spectacular. Not much to note other than I recommend going for the extra expense of nice door knobs. I didn't when I moved into my house and regret it now. Eventually I'll be replacing mine.

Old door knobs

replacement door knobs

Looking good from inside too

interior closer handle

Bathroom hardware

My aunt got updated bathroom hardware that was pretty easy to install. A little measuring, drilling, drywall screws, and installing the towel bar and toilet paper holder were easy.

out with the (g)old... in with the new (chrome-finish)

I recommend the DAP Spackle that goes on pink and dries white.

From brass to satin nickel hardware!

My fabulous friend Kelli has done another guest blog post! She'll also be featured in my next post. Feel free to share congratulations with her for these improvements in the comments.

When I purchased my house almost two years ago, the previous owners had upgraded some great things in the house - I had new stainless steel appliances, shiny and satin nickel light fixtures, and new sink faucets which were a shiny nickel. However, these didn't match the brass hardware on the door knobs, locks (exterior doors), and door hinges. To be honest, it didn't bother me that it was mismatched - as long as it worked, that was all I really cared about. I definitely liked the newer silver stuff and put it in my long term plan to update the hardware.


In September, I was hanging out with a co-worker of mine who was in the process of selling her house (about a mile from mine!) and she showed me how easy it was to update the hardware. She also had brass hardware in her house when she bought it, and she was putting the money in now in the hopes that the house would sell faster. She also put in bamboo floors in the kitchen and living areas and new appliances in the kitchen, which is very similar to what my previous owners had done.
I was really impressed with how easy it looked to update the hardware, and she told me she had spent about $500 for her whole house, which was a little smaller than mine. I figured if she can do it, so can I! I got a coupon in the mail that week for discounts on total purchases at Lowe's (which I can walk to from my house) so I figured I might as well take a crack at changing out the hardware. I thought the door hinges would be hard to do because I would have to take off the door and re hang it, but I didn't! My coworker showed me how to switch out each one, and how to remove the pins when she needed to put a door stop at the top (see picture on right). She was using a battery operated screwdriver to do all the hard work. I only have a corded drill, which is quite a bit heavier than the screwdriver. Unlike my coworker, I opted to get slight fancier handles for the doors in my house (see picture below). I did this for two reasons - one, I wanted to enjoy them and I liked them better, and two, they are more accessible for people who have arthritis or have a hard time gripping a handle. I figured anything I can do to make my home more accessible is a good thing!

This is a bathroom/bedroom handle with lock 

I took about 5 trips to Lowe's over a month to get the interior handles and doors done. I took notes about what I had so far (and did some measuring) and added up how many doors I have! I bought just enough supplies to do a few doors at first to make sure I liked the style and could really do it. I switched out two closet doors on my first floor, and ended up installing one of the handles backwards (I fixed it later once I figured this out!). I also bought all the hinges in bulk because I got a lower price (contractor's price) per unit. What's odd is that Lowe's and Home Depot both sell packs of three door hinges, but it was more expensive than buying the individual hinges without the contractor's price, so be sure to do some price comparisons! I also looked online but found my nearby Lowe's to have a competitive price.

strike plate

The handles didn't come with many instructions so it was a bit of trial and error. It took me until the third door for me to realize that the allen wrench which came with each new knob was for removing the handle and switch it around if needed, since not all door handles face the same direction. The hardest ones were the static handles because I had to re-drill the holes where these handles went into my pantry doors and one bedroom closet. Otherwise, the door handles were very easy once I got the hang of it! Not only did I have to replace 3 hinges on each door and the handle itself, I also had to replace the piece in the door frame (aka strike plate).  I put in three different types of handles - ones for the bedroom/bath which have a lock on them, for the closets which do not have a lock on them, and static ones which do not need to turn. I still haven't replaced the exterior door locks because they are a little pricier and involve having to switch out the key cores or re-coring them - I'm not sure yet! Maybe a future blog post!

Brass exterior door handle and bolt to be replaced

Shower rod, take 2

I wrote too soon. I shouldn't have said that I didn't need to use my power drill. Turns out I did need to put in the drywall anchors in order to give the rod the right support. I had to use the drill to make the previous holes bigger in order to get the anchors to fit. This is more challenging with plaster walls than with drywall. The plaster is 2 inches thick next to my firewall (the wall that separates my 1/2 duplex from the other). There are other challenges on the other wall (the wall shared with my 2nd bedroom). And I think the battery from my hand-me-down power drill barely holds a charge. It's currently getting another power boost and hopefully I'll be able to finish reinstalling the rod later today.

Sigh...it looked so nice. But if it needs more support, I'll give it more support. That way it can look nice for longer! :)
If you're gunna do something, do it right.

Slow remodel of the bathroom... first, new shower rod.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to completely redo the bathroom or just update it with some new tiles, a new sink, and different window. Since I haven't made the big decision about gutting the bathroom or not, I've decided that in the meantime I can at least install some new pieces that will transfer to the updated bathroom. Tonight, I installed a new shower rod. It's one of those stainless steel curved rods that a lot of the hotels have. It helps keep the shower curtain from flying into the shower even if they don't have weighted magnets in them. Those types of rods also provide more space in the shower. I was excited to find it at Marshalls for only $25 (and it included a heavy weight vinyl shower curtain and nice stainless steel rings too). They're upwards of $50 at other stores.

I'm sure you're wondering, "how did installing the new rod go???" Well, luckily the pieces that mount to the wall and actually hold the rod had the same spacing for screws as the one that I removed. Oh and while I'm on the topic of the old rod, here's a glimpse of what was there:

It was a decently strong metal rod, but noticeably tarnished and covered with a plastic that was once painted white, but much of that paint has scraped off to show the original sky blue color. On top of that, the mounts had been painted over yellow when the walls were painted. Not only were the mounts painted, but so where the screws holding them onto the wall. **What were they thinking?**

Back to the installation... I had to chip off the paint in order to get to the screws and to pry off the mount. I ended up peeling off the paint around the mounts and grabbed my bucket of primer and a paint brush so that the wall would have some protection and consistency around the new wall mount. Installing the mounts would have been easier had I ensured that my drill battery were charged, but I just used my biceps instead to put the mounts into the screw holes that were already there. If the holes hadn't been there I would have had to drill holes after making sure I had everything level. I did make it more difficult for myself to put the rod up because I didn't feel like switching the curtain rings on my curtains or trying to pull the current ones over the new rod after it was installed. I ended up putting the curtain on the rod before setting it onto the mounts. The unique piece about installing a curved rod (as opposed to a straight rod) is that there are additional bolts to attach the rod to the mounts so that the curved part is parallel to the floor and arching away from the shower. It took me a while to thread the bolts through, but if you haven't already put the curtain on the rod and are not working with an injured right thumb (which I had recently cut on my mini food processor blade), then lining up the rod with the holes on the mount would not be as difficult. The finished product is NOT silver, white, and blue... it IS a big improvement to a slowly improving bathroom.

New (to me) Tools!

A friend's parent gave me more tools! They're mostly gardening things, but two of the things I'm most excited about are the broadcaster and a container to organize screws/nuts/bolts/nails/etc in!

My yard is mostly crab grass, so hopefully I will be able to pull all of it up this spring and reseed (hence the broadcaster). I also hope to put in a vegetable and herb garden.

The organizer is great b/c it has little drawers to put each type of thing. Who knows when I'll get around to organizing my box of fasteners, but now I have a place to put them.

Also, if you need a saw please let me know. I have 2 bow saws, a small power saw, and 2 crosscut hand saws.

It's M-F-ing Hardware Time

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If it becomes a shirt like this one - -
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- - I think I'll be required to buy one.