Adam M. Smith asked:




One of the most common problems I see in homes is paneling. Faux wooden paneling found its heyday in the sixties and seventies, and has become the nightmare of the modern decorator.

In those days, wooden paneling was often put up in lieu of drywall because it was easier and cheaper. The problem with paneling is that it’s dark, dull, outdated, and difficult to replace.

Not everyone has the money or energy to take on the project of tearing out walls of old paneling and replacing them with drywall. It can be a financial and mental drain.

Thankfully there is a cheaper solution. Painting paneling has been an overlooked solution to this common problem. I’ve met many people who did not believe that their wooden paneling could be painted, and many more that believed that painted paneling would look terrible.

Neither of those is true. Paneling can be painted, and it can look great. You can turn that dark and dingy paneling into something bright in the course of a few hours. But there are several special preparation steps that need to be followed to get great and lasting results.

Here is what you’ll need:

o Liquid Deglosser

o Oil-based (Shellac-based) Primer

o Latex Eggshell or Satin Finish Paint

o 3/8″ Nap Paint Roller

o 2″ Nylon-Poly Brush

o Painter’s Tape

First Step: Deglossing

Begin by cleaning the paneling and taping off ceilings, adjoining woodwork, windows, etc…

o Tip – Be certain that your area is well ventilated. Turn on fans, open windows.

Wooden paneling has a natural gloss or shine to it. The first step in ensuring that your paint will adhere to the surface is to remove the gloss. You could sand the entire surface with fine-grit sandpaper… But that is entirely too messy and labor intensive. There’s an easier way.

Liquid deglosser is a great product that can take the sore muscles and dust out of the equation. Once applied, it removes the gloss from painted and wood surfaces, allowing primer and paint to better adhere to the surface.

Using a lint-free cotton rag, apply the deglosser lightly to the surface of the paneling in five foot strips. Allow the deglosser to sit on the surface for the directed amount of time (follow label instructions), then move to step two.

Work across the wall in sections…deglossing and then priming the deglossed area. Deglosser is only effective for a set amount of time (usually no longer than an hour) so the primer must be applied over the deglosser in that amount of time.

Second Step: Priming

Select the right primer for your project. For wooden paneling, I suggest an oil-based primer. This adheres better than water-based and provides superior stain-hiding coverage. But remember the tip about maintaining a well ventilated area.

Apply the primer with a brush and roller. Use the brush to “cut in” and prime into the grooves of the paneling. Roll out the remainder.

o Tip – If you are intending to paint a darker colored top coat, use a properly tinted primer.

Third Step: Painting the Paneling

Finally, apply the eggshell or satin finish over the dried primer. Be sure to allow primer sufficient time to dry before beginning to apply the paint.

Cut in along the edges and into the paneling’s grooves with a 2″ brush, then roll out the remainder of the wall with a 3/8″ nap roller.

If necessary, allow the base coat at least 6 to 8 hours to cure before applying a second coat.
When finished, remove all tape as soon possible. If the paint has dried and formed a skin over the edge of the tape, run a utility knife along the edge of the tape to separate them.

Painted paneling can make a tremendous difference in the look and feel of a space. Update (and upgrade) your outdated and dull rooms by painting paneling.

nap

Kristel Nicole Eniego asked:




Creativity knows no bounds. Let us take the Japanese for example: the gadgets they come up with are amazing. Some are useless but then again, it takes a lot to think of something and then actually pull through with it. Only the Japanese have the guts to conceptualize strange gadgets like that and then actually produce it. For that reason, I’m putting the spotlight on several strange gadgets.

Here are a couple of favorites:

1. Noodle Eater’s Hair Guard

Do you have long hair? Does it annoy you when your hair suddenly falls and dips in your bowl of soup? Being primarily a country who takes pride in their noodles, it’s only natural that the Japanese are starting to get annoyed at that experience. So what do they do? They invent! Basically, the Noodle Eater’s Hair Guard is a pink rubber gadget that fits snugly just around the face. It’s similar to a dog cone actually, only it doesn’t cover the whole head but just the face. In any case, when you wear it, you’d still look like you’re wearing a dog cone. This peculiar gadget is not only strange, but of all colors it just had to be pink.

2. Nap Alarm

This is particularly interesting for me. The Nap Alarm is the perfect gadget if you find yourself sleeping in between classes, lectures or even driving. You place the Nap Alarm just over your ear and through its electronic motion sensing feature, it calculates when you’re about to nod your head off and then it sends a loud sound right in your ear if it senses that you’re about to fall asleep therefore saving you from embarrassment or even death. (Though I doubt that an alarm would make the fact that you’re about to sleep a little more discreet)

3. Plunger Helmet

When the Nap Alarm fails, you can always use the Plunger Helmet. Not when driving of course. The Plunger Helmet is a gadget you use when you fall asleep on the train. It basically looks like a hard hat; the typical helmet construction workers use, but then it has a plunger attached to the back part of it. The plunger keeps your head in place. It is actually more helpful for your seat mates rather than yourself as this prevents you from swinging madly from side to side. Perhaps if you’re going to buy one, you’d rather use it on a drowsy seat mate than yourself.

4. The Amazing Shoe Umbrella

For people who buy designer shoes and wouldn’t dare have anything soil their footwear, the Japanese thought of something that would aid them. It doesn’t matter if your whole body gets wet, as long as your shoes remain untouched. How this amazing umbrella can fit into your shoes without destroying it is an unknown fact but as long as it keeps water out of the shoes then the inventors are satisfied.

These are just four of a lot of Japanese gizmos and gadgets that made its way to the market. The conceptualization of these gadgets seems to be logical. The addressing of a simple need is what propelled the invention of these weird gadgets. Isn’t that what consumerism is all about though? Isn’t it all about the creation of something that satisfies a simple need? If that’s the case then we can safely say that these gadgets fulfill those needs. Perhaps what we should laugh at is how absurd our needs are. Not the gadgets that are made to satisfy them.

adrenal fatigue

Jim Muckle asked:




The tan carpet in #216 was shot.

It was hopeless.

A new carpet was needed.

That meant pulling up the old one, scraping off the pad, and then calling the carpet man and shelling out $1000 or more.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

The carpet had served well.

But, upon closer examination, I decided it wasn’t really in that bad of shape.

It didn’t have frayed edges, or worn down spots, and the nap was still pretty good. It just looked terrible. Bleach spots, stains, dark trails down the hallway and into the living room, and light spots where the sun had hit it on a daily basis through the windows.

No one would rent the apartment with a carpet in that condition.

I steam cleaned it in hopes that it would be miraculously healed.

No such luck.

Then it hit me.

Why not try dyeing the bleached out spots to blend in with the carpet.

I purchased an 8 ounce bottle of RIT tan dye (the kind you use for dyeing clothes) at the drug store for $4, mixed a little in a spray bottle with steaming hot water, shook it up and sprayed the spots.

They came out a brassy brown, nothing like the color of the existing carpet.

I had the carpet professionally steam cleaned. Surely they could perform a miracle.

Nope.

But I noticed that my dyeing job over the bleached out spots had maintained its original color.

Then it occurred to me, why not try dyeing the entire carpet to match the spots I had sprayed?

Two pictures came to mind on how I might do this.

I could mix the dye with hot water in my little steam cleaner (one like you would rent at the market) or I could use a pump up garden sprayer. I decided on the sprayer because the tenant below had suffered through enough steam cleaning noise.

I purchased an ACE Sprayer for $24.

I mixed 8 tablespoons of dye into the 2 quarts of steaming hot water in the sprayer, screwed in the pump, shook up the contents and pumped it up.

I placed four 1″x 6″ x 3′ pieces of wood along the edges of the walls so as not to get dye on the white paint. I adjusted the nozzle on the sprayer to a fine spray and began.

I moved the boards as I dyed, but after a while as I became familiar with the sprayer, I didn’t really need them.

Also, after dyeing a section, and before reloading the sprayer, I used my little Bissell carpet sweeper to even out the areas I had sprayed and work the dye into the carpet.

But still, the bleached out spots didn’t match the overall carpet color after I finished dyeing.

So the next day I applied another coat.

Better, but still not good enough.

Then I went back to the store for more dye, but they didn’t have anymore tan. I went to three other stores, but no tan.

So, I bought RIT’s dark brown dye.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I put 4 tablespoons of this darker dye into my 2 quarts of steaming hot water, pumped up the sprayer and applied another coat.

That’s when the magic began to happen.

The darker brown really kicked in.

The trails down the hallway disappeared, as did the light spots under the windows.

The carpet started to look like a real carpet again, but the bleached out spots still dyed a slightly darker shade than the rest of the carpet.

To compensate for this I dyed other parts of the carpet darker by spraying more dye on them, and continued using my carpet sweeper to even out the dye and work it into the nap. My goal was to blend everything together.

It worked… somewhat.

I applied two coats of the dark brown dye, about $12 worth of dye, over a 700 square foot area.

It was easy, and fun to do.

By the time I applied the second coat the carpet looked almost new.

Because I’ve obsessed over the bleached out stains in the carpet I can still find some of them, but not all. There is a slight darkening in the carpet where they once existed, but when a potential tenant came through to rent the apartment, and I explained to her what I had done, she glanced at it, said it looked fine, and went to look at the kitchen.

My daughter and my neighbor also viewed the carpet and both stated it looked great, better than their own carpets.

But I know it’s not perfect. It went from a D- or F to a C+/ B- or maybe even a B, and those grades really depend on what angle you look at the carpet from.

My father mentioned that the dye might be toxic.

I hadn’t thought of that. I figured if you could dye your clothes with it you could certainly do a carpet.

But to be safe I called RIT, the makers of the dye, and their representative assured me that all their dyes are non-toxic, but that they don’t recommend using them on carpets because some of their customers have called and said the dye rubs off over time.

I went back up to #216, soaked a rag with steaming hot water, and tried to rub off the dye in several spots.

Nothing happened.

Maybe in time the dye will wear off in well traveled areas.

I’m not sure.

Time will tell.

But if it does wear off, and the carpet is still usable, why not dye those areas again, like repainting walls, or staining wood doors and trim that experience wear and tear?

P.S. My daughter suggested that I include this following idea: Why not cut out a stencil of your favorite design, say a star or elephant, place it over the stain or bleached out spot, and then spray the dye into the stencil. A lot easier than dyeing the entire carpet!

Just a thought.

adrenal fatigue

Thomas M Elliott asked:




The time to figure out what you need for a do-it-yourself painting project is before you open the can of paint or make your first brush stroke. Once you have begun the project, interruptions and restarts can cause conspicuous lines and “seams” to appear on your wall, as well as color changes from uneven mixtures that dry under different conditions. You don’t want your painting project to turn out looking like a patchwork job, so take a few moments to prepare in advance.

Before beginning your project, gather the following tools and supplies together in sufficient quantities so you have a few extras when you are done. With the exception of custom mixed paint, any unused extras can usually be returned to the store for a full refund. It is best to have more than you need and not have to stop the job mid-stream to resupply yourself.

Roller and Paint Brush Tools:

Roller Handle: There are many options in choosing a hand paint roller. Some are flimsy and disposable while others are more sturdy. This tool is one where you want to spend the extra money to get a sturdy one. When you are applying pressure to the wall with a paint roller, the heavier duty tool will apply the pressure more evenly across the length of the roller nap. Some of the better roller tools have “telescoping” handles that allow you to extend your reach without needing to stretch on a stool or ladder.

Mini-Roller Handle: A smaller version of the larger hand roller, the palm-sized version allows for easy detail work around corners, above windows, and over doorways. Disposable versions are fine for this tool because the length of the roller, itself, is typically only four or five inches. The roller sleeves that slide onto the roller handle are commonly either nap or foam rubber.

Roller sleeves: The roller sleeves are the washable or disposable pieces that slide onto the hand roller tool. The nap of the roller for the hand roller or the mini-roller will vary depending on the texture and saturation you want for your painting project. Be consistent with the nap you use. If you have the choice of using a foam rubber mini-roller sleeve or a nap mini-roller sleeve, go with the nap version as it will be more consistent in delivering the paint.

Brushes: A high quality 3″ brush and a high quality 1/2″ brush are essential tools of the trade. You will have several choices at your local home improvement store, ranging from brushes in the $2 to $4 range, up to $14 to $18 brushes. Although price isn’t the only determining factor of quality, it is a good indicator. Whether you clean and keep the brushes or throw them away after your project is completed, make sure you buy brushes on the upper end of the quality scale. The better brushes will have a clean taper that keeps its shape while carrying the paint, and will not leave strands of the brush on your wall as you paint. Working with poor quality brushes will result in “brush hair” all over your wall in the latter phases of your project as they begin to fall apart from flexing brush strokes on the wall.

Border Rollers: Typically a flat 3″ x 4″ napped pad mounted on a plastic handle with small guide wheels on the edge, a border roller makes life easier when painting a consistent, even line where the wall meets the ceiling. It is amazing how much paint a good border roller will hold. You must be careful not to get paint on the guide wheels, or you may leave an unwanted trace of paint along the ceiling. This problem can be avoided by using masking tape along the ceiling.

Masking Tape: Get a roll or two of painter’s masking tape. The tape’s texture is important, so a painting grade of tape needs to be used. The surface of less expensive masking tape can make your project vulnerable to paint seeping or bleeding underneath the painted edge. Masking tape only works well on smooth surfaces such as window sills and door trim for the same reason. In those cases where you may need to protect a textured surface (such as etched or sand-swirled ceilings) from unwanted paint, a putty knife should be used in addition to (or instead of) the tape.

Putty Knife: A wide blade putty knife (4″ to 6″) is an important tool to have on hand. Again, there are varying qualities available. Using one with a beveled edge will give you precise control over defining a clean line, whereas a thick edge tends to create paint streaks. You will need to continually ensure that the edge of the knife is clean before placing it on the surface.

Drop Cloths: Here, again, there will be several choices available from plastic sheets to absorbent material. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Paint will not soak through plastic, but will easily splatter and run across it, or pool up to a potentially messy, slippy hazard. On the other hand, absorbent drop cloths minimize splatter, but if a roller tray of paint falls onto it, the puddle of paint can saturate through to the surface below. Paint can be almost impossible to clean out of seams between boards on older hardwood flooring, or out of the nap of tightly woven carpet. Getting absorbent drop cloths with non-permeable backing can be excessively expensive for an occasional remodeling project. To find the happy medium, consider plastic sheeting around the perimeter of the room with padded moving blankets on top for absorbency. This will keep the costs down while achieving the same protection as more expensive, professional grade drop cloths.

Roller Tray: Plastic or metal? It doesn’t much matter what type you choose as long as it is durable. Some of the disposable trays are so flimsy that you risk dumping the entire load of paint when you pick them up. The roller tray, like the paint roller handle, should be good quality.

Lint Free Rags: Finally, ensure that you have some lint-free rags available. Using a low-lint or lint-free rag is important when it comes to cleaning up around corners, wiping up, or dabbing a spot to remove foreign material. Using a fuzzy rag from a bag of rags can spell disaster. Clean terry cloth is a good choice, instead.

The type of paint you use, flat or semi-gloss, is up to your personal preference. Semi-gloss is best for a durable, high quality finish that can be cleaned with a sponge once dry. Flat paint is fine for a low sheen, low glare finish, but is much more vulnerable to marks. Just ensure that you have enough paint for the job, and enough for a second coat if needed. Depending on how clean the surface is, you may need to prepare the walls for painting by using a primer or cover coating of some kind. For clean up, you’ll want to have some paint thinner available and a good place to bundle up the trash, rollers, cans, etc. without making a mess.

Once you commit to doing the job, be sure to finish a wall at a time. Doing the trim work for the entire room first is fine, but once you begin painting the main section of a wall, do not stop until the wall is done. If you do run short on paint and need to get more before finishing the entire room, it is less noticeable if the dividing point between the old paint and the new paint is at a corner than if it is in the middle of a wall, where the different batches may be obvious.

One last detail that is often overlooked, a fan can help in the drying process. When using a fan to help speed the drying process, place the fan in the doorway, blowing out of the room. Do not point the fan into the room, and especially do not point it directly on the freshly painted wall to dry it. Any foreign object, dust, dirt, bugs, etc. will stick to the paint if blown into the room. Pointing the fan out of the room will still create air circulation in the room, but you will have less of a risk of ruining your quality paint job. Happy painting!

adrenal fatigue