Cob Jockey

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday house post - partially because, no shame here, it's been a while since I worked on the house!

But I'm getting back in the groove again.  Last time I made a house post, I had just uncovered five transom windows that had been covered since the 1950s.


Since that post, I've caulked the three that don't open anymore and primed them. 

Last weekend I set out to put a first coat of door and trim paint on them when I realized the doors below the transoms were only primed.  So a four hour project turned into a 7 hour project as I painted five transoms, five doors, and 8 sets of door trim, because if you have the paint out and you're in the vicinity...why not?

You can see the difference it makes between the two legs that I've painted and the rest of the door, which is still just primed here.  Also yes, someone at some point painted over all the hinges and hardware on most of the upstairs doors.  Rectifying that is on my list, but in the meantime, it means I don't care if I get paint on them myself (although I try not to).

To those of you wondering why I don't take the doors outside and spray them - we have 12 doors upstairs and we've sprayed 5 of them, but I don't think I'd do it again.  These aren't your normal modern lightweight hollow core doors, they're solid wood and ridiculously heavy.  Even as fit as we are, we can barely get them up and down the stairs, let alone get them re-hung without sacrificing our marriage to the home improvement gods.

Before!  Whew.  Sometimes I forget how bad it was.

Plus, I'm pretty zen about painting.  Put a podcast or Red Zone or a baseball game on and turn me loose.  No tape, it's all freehand cutting in over here.  And I have a system down that doesn't leave brush marks behind.

These painting pants have seen some sh*t

Everything I did last weekend needs a second coat of paint before it'll be done.  It feels good to get a little bit closer to being done with door and trim paint upstairs - I've done so much over the years and there's still a lot left to go, but I'm at least more than halfway done at this point.