I learned quickly that our house was going to need a lot more than a fresh coat of paint. In fact, it was going to need 2 thick coats of Killz primer before that paint even went on!
Here was our list of things to do before we moved in:
- Scrape off the popcorn ceilings (they were heavily smoke damaged)
- Remove and trash all doors and trim (also heavily smoke damaged)
- Clean every surface
- Prime every surface
- Paint
- Install new flooring
- Refinish kitchen cabinets (and get new hardware)
- Replace all electrical outlets and light switches
- Do as much as possible to the bathroom (luckily we got a new toilet right away)
If I remember correctly (forgive me, 2010 was a very long year) the first project we took on was scraping the ceilings off and getting rid of the carpet. I read on the internet that if you sprayed popcorn ceilings with water then you could scrape them right off! We went out and bought a paltry weed sprayer, and that didn't saturate nearly enough so we ended up bringing in the garden hose through the window. Here are some memorable pictures of that dirty, STINKY process.
To clean up all the ceiling scrapings N took all the carpet out at the same time. And oh. my. god. I have never smelled such a heinous collection of smells in one heap before. It was AWFUL.
And we had a very fun surprise waiting for us underneath the carpet!
The carpet pad had straight up disintegrated! I'm guessing there was also 30 years of floor dirt mixed, and good gracious that was a sight I was not expecting to see!
But the house looked happier sans ceiling, trim, and carpet. It smelled a lot better too.
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