Natural stone pathway

A natural stone pathway using flagstones and blackstar filler. Special thanks to our friends at Prescape Houston for this beautiful low maintenance pathway.

Cracking paint.

Pealing paint on your windows? Catch it now before your wood begins to rot. 

1.) scrape off lose paint.

2.) sand smooth the areas you scraped.

3.) Prime the exposed wood.

4.) repaint the area.

Drywall Repair Tutorial

The water damage shown in this photo was caused by a leaky roof. After completing repairs to the roof, I was able to begin repairs to the interior.

In this instance there are three elements to restore.
a.) the tape that joins the seam between sheets of drywall.
b.) the joint compound, aka: mud, that creates a level surface.
And...
c.) the texture, in this case a medium orange peel.

Step 1.

Remove any obstacles to your work. IE: outlet covers, switch plates and in this case vent covers. Basically, anything that might get in the way of the smooth surface you will be trying to create.

The Damage.

As you can see in this photo, the water caused the paint to peel and the paper tape that was sealing the joints in the drywall to separate and begin to fall away.

Step 2.

Using a utility knife or other sharp edged tool, cut away any peeling material as well as any that is separated but not yet peeling. Anything separated will tend to peel once you apply the joint compound.

Step 3.

Using a putty knife,(here, showing a 4 inch medium stiffnes puddy knife) scrape away any loose debris, high edges, and anything else that doesn't belong.

Step 4. 

Using a self adhesive mesh tape cover the exposed seam between the sheets of drywall. I got this mesh tape at Home Depot, but it is available in most home improvement stores.

In some cases the adhesive backing, that the mesh tape is sold with, doesn't do the job and you have peeling tape like the picture to the right.

Although you don't have to solve this and can use your layer of joint compound to essentially glue the mesh tape to the drywall, I have another solution that has several benefits.

Step 5.

In the case of your tape not sticking to the chaulky surface of the drywall, you may need to help things out a bit. I recommend using a spray adhesive to keep the tape in place.

One of the main benefits of this method is that you don't have the tape folding and shifting as you apply the joint compound.

Step 6.

Using the putty knife again, smooth out any wrinkles in the tape before it adheres to strongly to the spray adhesive. 

Step 7.

Apply a thin coat of joint compound to the area, let it dry then apply a second coat as smoothly as you can. When the second coat dries sand off any ridges or bumps with a medium grit sanding block. 

Step 8.

Here I used a spray can of orange peel texture. Testing the size and pattern of the spray on a piece of cardboard, adjust the knob on the can till the spray matches the walls you are repairing. Then, using circular motions, spray the patched area until coated evenly.

Step 9.

Once the texture is dry you are ready for paint. I got a paint match by bringing a sample of the peeling paint into Sherwin Williams.  For an area this small you can use either a brush or roller to apply the paint. 

There you have it, my first home improvement Tutorial. I hope you found this informative. If you have any home improvement questions you can contact me here. 

Happy home improving!

Bathroom Wainscoting.

In this bathroom, the walls had been treated with a reed wall paper, then hand painted with vines and flowers. This beautiful look was then ruined in several places by a tenants cat. This leaves the options of either replacing the wallpaper and trying to recreate the hand painted effect or covering the damaged areas in a decorative way.

The owner opted for option two and we suggested wainscoting, since none of the damage is above 35 inches from the floor. So we paneled the lower walls in a 1/4 inch beaded plywood, topped it with a decorative chair rail molding, and painted it the color of the lightest strand in the original reed wallpaper.



Project: cover or repair damaged wall treatment.

Result: Damage covered in a decorative wainscoting, making this small bathroom look bigger inside at the same time.