I’ve come to the top of week three of engaged on my walk-in closet and laundry room mixture. And whereas progress appear to have slowed fairly a bit this week, that’s solely as a result of I hit the a part of the method that takes the longest. However these tedious steps are additionally crucial for getting a beautiful ultimate end result. I spent all day yesterday sanding, and sanding, and sanding some extra. And I’m so glad that by the top of the day, I had all the cupboards sanded, all the mud vacuumed up, and now I’m prepared for priming and caulking.
I had already finished a ton of wooden filling, utilizing wooden filler to fill each single nail gap, screw gap, and joint. I went by means of one entire massive tub of wooden filler (that is the one I take advantage of – affiliate hyperlink) simply on that a part of the challenge alone. That’s along with the 2 full giant tubs of wooden filler that I had used simply prepping the person items of plywood since I made a decision to make use of a lesser grade of plywood in an effort to economize.
And since it slows me down significantly once I hook my little 5-inch orbital sander to my shopvac, I made a decision to forgo the shopvac and simply let the mud fly in order that I might get it finished quicker. Happily, the temperature outdoors was fairly good, so I used to be capable of shut off the HVAC, open the home windows, and shut the doorways to the main bedroom suite to maintain the mud contained in that space of the home. There are few issues that I hate greater than having to work with gloves and/or a masks on however not masking up wasn’t even an choice yesterday.
After sanding all day and prepping the cupboards for primer and caulk, that is the mess I used to be left with on the finish of the day…
It was fairly a job to get all of that mud cleaned up, however cleansing up the mud was nonetheless far simpler than attempting to sand all the pieces with my sander hooked up to a shopvac all day.
Earlier than I stop for the day, I had most of it cleaned up. I’ll nonetheless want to present all the cupboards and cabinets a fast wipe down earlier than I can prime them, however that shouldn’t take lengthy in any respect.
I’m nonetheless not completed with the tedious prep work. Every thing nonetheless must be caulked, and that can most likely be an all-day job, or a minimum of a most-of-the-day job. It’s additionally my absolute least favourite a part of any challenge, nevertheless it’s such an vital step to get that good (or as near good as attainable) end that I try for.
As you may see, I didn’t get the beautiful molding hooked up but. So in the present day, my aim is to get the remainder of the ground sanded across the cupboards to take away the present end after which get all the fairly molding (baseboards and crown molding) put in.
As soon as the nail holes within the fairly molding are all crammed and sanded, I’m going to go forward and prime all the cupboards.
After the cupboards are primed and dry, then I’ll give the cupboards a fast sanding by hand utilizing 220-grit sandpaper after which caulk all the pieces.
The rationale that I’ll prime all the pieces earlier than I caulk is as a result of utilizing caulk on primed wooden and wiping off the surplus caulk is an entire lot simpler than utilizing caulk on naked wooden. Whenever you use caulk on naked wooden, it tends to soak into the naked wooden extra and seize on, which makes it a bit more durable to get these good, clear caulk traces.
So the primer creates a barrier between the caulk and the naked wooden, conserving it from soaking into the wooden an excessive amount of, and making it a lot simpler to get these fairly, clear caulk traces.
I additionally discover that it’s a lot simpler to see the areas that should be caulked after the cupboards are primed. When I attempt to caulk naked wooden, particularly on such an enormous challenge as this one, it’s straightforward to miss areas, after which these missed areas are fairly obviously apparent after the primer goes on. So once I caulk naked wooden, after which prime the challenge, I all the time discover myself having to return and caulk areas that I missed. I’ve simply come to appreciate, after years of expertise, that it’s a lot simpler to prime all the pieces first after which caulk.
However all the main sanding is finished, and I’m so glad to have that massive step checked off in order that I can transfer on. I actually am hoping that by the top of the weekend, I can a minimum of have all the pieces primed. That’s the aim. I’d love to truly get paint on these cupboards this weekend, however I believe that may be too lofty of a aim. Perhaps, on the very least, I can get some paint samples on the cupboards and make my ultimate shade choice.
However let’s revisit the flooring. Yesterday, throughout one among my breaks from all the sanding, I discovered a Visualizer Instrument on the Bona web site that permits you to add a photograph and see what every sealer shade will appear to be in your room. Sadly, it received’t help you select the particular species of wooden that you’ve, however a minimum of it can provide a common thought of what every sealer would possibly appear to be. So listed here are the photographs that it generated.
First up, that is the Bona NordicSeal, which is the lightest, brightest shade.
I actually suppose that that is too mild and shiny for our home. I get pleasure from seeing it in different properties, and I believe it’s actually lovely. However for our home, I favor a contact of heat to the wooden.
The following one is Bona NaturalSeal. I believe this nonetheless provides a contact of white whereas additionally permitting the pure wooden shade to return by means of.
I discovered a whole lot of real-world examples of this on purple oak yesterday, and it’s very fairly on purple oak, but in addition very mild.
The following one is Bona ClearSeal. This one is only a easy clear sealer that preserves the pure shade of the wooden.
I additionally discovered many real-world examples of this one on purple oak. It’s very fairly as effectively.
Subsequent is Bona ClassicSeal. This one could be very standard and works very effectively with purple oak.
I actually love the look of this, however there’s no assure that it might look precisely like this on my purple oak flooring.
And at last, this one is Bona IntenseSeal, which provides a little bit of a hotter tone to the wooden.
On the ground visualizer, that is my favourite. However I’m having bother discovering real-world examples of this one on purple oak flooring.
Simply going off of the images from the Flooring Visualizer, my favorites are the ClassicSeal and the IntenseSeal.
Based mostly on the generated pictures, both a type of would loosen up the ground significantly from what I presently have, whereas additionally nonetheless giving me the heat that I really like.
Right here’s my present flooring in comparison with the ClassicSeal…
And right here’s my present flooring in comparison with the IntenseSeal…
So I’m nonetheless taking a look at choices and looking for extra real-world photos of those merchandise used particularly on purple oak. Simply this morning, I discovered this instance of the ClassicSeal used on purple oak, and it appears to be like actually fairly. Nevertheless it additionally appears to be like completely different in each room they present relying on the lighting within the room, so it’s actually onerous to inform what the precise shade is.
If I have been simply going by these generated pictures, I’d most likely select the IntenseSeal. However that identify alone scares me a bit. 😀 It sounds a bit overbearing. I don’t need to undergo all the bother to redo these flooring solely to wind up with them too darkish once more. I got here throughout this video yesterday, and he’s utilizing IntenseSeal, however he doesn’t specify which species of wooden he’s working with. It appears to be like like purple oak to my untrained eye, and it additionally appears to be like darker than what the Flooring Visualizer reveals. I don’t need my flooring that darkish.
Despite the fact that my favourite with the Flooring Visualizer is the IntenseSeal, I’ve a sense that the ClassicSeal would be the one I’ll find yourself going with. It’ll give me that heat that I need with out making the flooring too darkish. However I’m going to present myself a pair extra days to make my ultimate choice. I actually need to get my initiatives ordered ASAP, although, as a result of I can’t transfer my washer and dryer into the closet till the flooring are redone.
UPDATE: I wished so as to add the pattern of the paint shade that I’m planning to make use of together with the flooring shade. Right here’s the Valspar Matt on Monday paint shade with the Bona ClassicSeal flooring sealer. I believe that is attractive!!! Oh my goodness, simply seeing these collectively makes me so excited!
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and adorn the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You possibly can study extra about me right here.
