Bikini Waxing the Bathroom Walls
...
When we last saw our heroine, she was stuck inside her bathroom, painting fake ceramic tiles and questioning her life's choices. She knew there was one huge -- and unpleasant -- part of this project left to tackle.
Last winter we realized that the paint on the walls above the "tiles" was failing. It became uncomfortably clear that this problem was the result of poor adhesion between paint layers that had been applied decades ago.
I have a habit of assigning colorful names to situations like these, to help people understand what the issues are. In this case, we're going to refer to Bikini Waxing.
If you've done much painting, you may have run into this problem. You apply your masking tape, and when you remove it, it pulls off the paint you were trying to protect.
This can be a catastrophe, or it can be a Brilliant Solution. In our case, we knew that the paint was cracking, several layers deep. No amount of additional paint was going to stop that from happening. We were going to have to remove the paint, until we found a layer strong enough to paint over.
So, I got the widest tape I could find, and I stuck it on the walls, and burnished it so that it was really well-adhered.
When I ripped the tape off, the paint came away from the wall. Bikini Waxing. Yup.
And what's more, there was no dust involved in this process, no struggling with heat guns, and no noxious solvents.
I did all this with two rolls of automotive masking tape. You can see where I ran out of tape, around the medicine cabinet. And, of course, I still need to do the ceiling. That is going to have a High Suck Factor.
The other thing with a High Suck Factor is this: even though I've successfully removed several layers of poorly-attached paint, the layer that is currently exposed is riddled with fissures and cracks. I'm going to have to remove that layer as well. And I don't think that is going to be an easy process.
I won't lie. I'm pretty damn sick of working on this bathroom. It seems that just about every part of the project is messy, awkward, and makes the room look worse than it did before I started. I need a bit of praise, because I'm feeling somewhat demoralized.
I guess that professional Bikini Waxers find their job a bit grim at times, as well.
When we last saw our heroine, she was stuck inside her bathroom, painting fake ceramic tiles and questioning her life's choices. She knew there was one huge -- and unpleasant -- part of this project left to tackle.
***
Last winter we realized that the paint on the walls above the "tiles" was failing. It became uncomfortably clear that this problem was the result of poor adhesion between paint layers that had been applied decades ago.
I have a habit of assigning colorful names to situations like these, to help people understand what the issues are. In this case, we're going to refer to Bikini Waxing.
If you've done much painting, you may have run into this problem. You apply your masking tape, and when you remove it, it pulls off the paint you were trying to protect.
This can be a catastrophe, or it can be a Brilliant Solution. In our case, we knew that the paint was cracking, several layers deep. No amount of additional paint was going to stop that from happening. We were going to have to remove the paint, until we found a layer strong enough to paint over.
So, I got the widest tape I could find, and I stuck it on the walls, and burnished it so that it was really well-adhered.
When I ripped the tape off, the paint came away from the wall. Bikini Waxing. Yup.
And what's more, there was no dust involved in this process, no struggling with heat guns, and no noxious solvents.
I did all this with two rolls of automotive masking tape. You can see where I ran out of tape, around the medicine cabinet. And, of course, I still need to do the ceiling. That is going to have a High Suck Factor.
The other thing with a High Suck Factor is this: even though I've successfully removed several layers of poorly-attached paint, the layer that is currently exposed is riddled with fissures and cracks. I'm going to have to remove that layer as well. And I don't think that is going to be an easy process.
I won't lie. I'm pretty damn sick of working on this bathroom. It seems that just about every part of the project is messy, awkward, and makes the room look worse than it did before I started. I need a bit of praise, because I'm feeling somewhat demoralized.
I guess that professional Bikini Waxers find their job a bit grim at times, as well.
Comments
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley
So impressed with you. The world needs more Lisa and Robbs.
Keep enjoying life!