Office Plaster Saga

Yes, it deserves to be considered a "saga." Because this plaster repair job has been weighing on my mind, overwhelming me, and forcing me to reach beyond my skill set. After consulting the hero next door, I had a plan.

I grabbed what I needed from the basement, and thought "This is blog material- better grab the camera" only to discover my batteries are dead. All of them. Even the batteries from the fridge. Both sets of rechargeables are useless, because the charger cord frayed.

So pardon the quality of the photos- I had to use my computer's built in camera. Side note: my computer's camera takes mirror image photos. To correct this, open the photo in Preview, select the Tools menu, and scroll down to "Flip Horizontal." Tadaa!

I didn't feel like I needed *everything* painting related, because I was just going to paint a bit beyond the repaired area. I didn't even use a drop cloth, or put paper on the floor. I did keep a damp rag handy.

Anyway. First, I washed the whole wall with TSP. That was an improvement right there.

Now I can see that there's really not much left to do. Just sand a bit here, and spread on just a bit more plaster here, and there. Of course, the picture isn't so impressive...

Primed:

None the less, I'm feeling a lot better about my chance at not totally failing this project.

Another side note: Did you know that primer can go bad? This primer is about a year and a half old- maybe closer to two years. We used it in the Dining Room. Anyway, the white primer had what looked like mold on the inside of the paint bucket lid, and globs of RED, CARMEL and BLACK goo. I flicked the big ones back onto the lid, and left the little globs, since I have to go back over the plaster anyway. I figure I'll sand it all off, then.