DIY Woodworking, Home Improvement, and Art Projects

I’m always on the lookout for good deals and smart things to do to save money, time, and effort. At this point I’m not in the market for a refinance or a home equity loan, but I know many people are. I found this company called Getsmart.com. They are a service of Lending Tree, a trusted brand that everyone knows about. The nice thing about this company is that they will give you free quotes for lending services from over 250 companies nationwide.

With free quotes available for new home mortgages, refinancing, and home equity loans, you can check out your options risk free. I like Getsmart.com because they are a part of a reputable organization, Lending Tree, and they have a pretty easy, quick form to fill out to get your personalized quote. You can call them at an 800-number, so they’re not hiding behind some fancy, complicated web site. Basically if you want a fast, competitive, and free quote for any type of loan service, then check them out. Just click on any of the Getsmart.com links to go directly to their quick form.

The other nice thing about this service is that the quotes are no obligation, so you don’t have any commitment when you request a quote. Also, you don’t even have to use your social security number when you fill out the quick form. It’s about as easy as it gets to see what your financial options are with them. A home equity loan can be a great way to finance your ambitious home renovation project. The nice thing is that you can also roll in your existing credit card debt to make one easy payment each month.

Let me know if Getsmart.com works for you. I’d love to hear what you’ve done with the extra cash from a refinance or home equity loan. I’m tempted to check it out and make our renovations deluxe…but I’ll probably live vicariously through others who take the plunge and get a loan for their projects.

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Sometimes it takes a little shake up in your routine to get back to the do it yourself projects that have slid into obscurity. My special lady has gone south for the week, and I have plenty of time to take care of the dog, write some fiction that I’ve been meaning to give more attention to, and last but not least, work on the kitchen renovation.

The renewed focus is due in part to the fact that we’re hosting a gathering of friends this weekend for food, drinks, and a look at all of our progress. So, not wanting to let them down, I’m going to give them so progress to look at. The main projects to complete in the kitchen are the cabinet refinishing, reworking the faux brick wall, and priming, texturing, and glazing the other walls.

I’ll post some pictures of the projects a little later as I’ve yet to transfer them from my camera and edit them. I have another site that I’m developing concurrently to host all the tutorials, big projects, etc., all in one place, that will be easier to navigate and display more pictures. For now I’ll just give a quick run down of what I did over the weekend.

The Brick Wall - Not much done on these so far. I went to the dollar store and bought two large, thin plastic table cloths that I’m going to use as catch-all drop cloths. For two bucks total I got enough square footage to adequately protect most of the kitchen now. We’ve already got the joint compound that I’ll be using for the mortar joints and the stucco effect; though, I’m sure I’ll need to buy more later this week.

The Kitchen Walls - Here I’ve taped everything off, prepped the walls by giving them a quick wash with Murphy’s oil soap and water, and cut in all the corners and edges with Kilz Primer. I’ve set myself up for a quick coat of primer using a roller to complete the priming and sealing of the walls before I add the joint compound venetian plaster texture. I wanted to complete the priming and sealing last night but it was getting late and I was beat.

The Kitchen Cabinets - We only had one small section left to complete for this project. There are three doors, and two drawers, plus the faces of the actual cabinet unit itself. I managed to double coat the fronts with that same Kilz primer/sealer, and put one coat on the backs of the doors. This was after sanding, washing, filling, then sanding and washing again. I’m almost ready to put the first coat of color on them; hopefully this evening will see that get done.

As I continue with each project I’ll post updates. These are pretty big projects to try and finish in one weekend and three weeknights (she’ll be back Thursday evening.) I guess I can rest a little over the upcoming four-day weekend. Take care!

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Here is a step by step guide to help you hire a quality home improvement contractor. I think it’s important to be able to locate local reliable, efficient, and experienced contractors. This is the DIY blog, but there are many projects that would be better accomplished with the services of an expert.
Before talking to any contractors the first thing to do is create a budget for the project. Without a budget you will be flying blind and may end up over spending. Having a tight budget will also help you make decisions about what kind of fixtures, and materials to purchase. Most products have a wide price range and having a budget will help keep you in line when making buying decisions.

After you have your budget dialed in get three written estimates from three different contractors. Be sure the estimate is complete; getting a “written” estimate on the back of a business card is not a sign of a good contractor. Getting three estimates will enable you to compare prices from different contractors. Reliableremodeler.com is a great service that will help you get free estimates from quality contractors for free.

Take the time to talk with each contractor and get a feel for which one you will be most comfortable working with and having in your home. Be sure and pay attention to things like who shows up on time and who is prepared to talk about your project. If a contractor shows up late to your appointment chances are they will show up late when working on your project.

While you are in the process of selecting a contractor it is a good idea to make sure they have the proper license, insurance, and bonding. All three of these items are in place to protect homeowners. Working with a contractor who isn’t licensed or doesn’t have the proper insurance might come back to haunt you. A good contractor will show you copies of these documents when they present your written estimate.

The next step is to check the references of the contractor you are leaning towards selecting. Be sure to ask specific questions about their experience with the contractor. “Did the contractor show up on time?” “Did the contractor clean up after themselves?” If you want to be more aggressive you can ask the contractor for the names and numbers of their last three jobs and call those instead of their handpicked references. This will provide a more realistic overview of the contractors daily work habits and skills.

The last step is to select your contractor and have them provide you a timeline for the completion of the project. Having a timeline will help ensure your project is completed in a timely manner.

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So you’ve got to strip some paint or varnish off of a wood surface.  Right.  A fairly common task.  Well, if you live in an apartment, don’t have a lot of work space in your home, or you can’t tolerate the heavier, chemical smells of traditional mineral-spirit-based paint strippers, then Citristrip might be for you.  Even if you do have plenty of work space and the strong smells don’t bother you that much, then you’d still do well to try this product.  We tried it based on the recommendation of a friend and I’m passing that recommendation on to you.

This product does what it advertises to do…it’s a powerful all-purpose stripper that’s easy to use.  I will warn you now, it’s not like you’re just stripping paint with completely safe, gentle chemicals here.  This stuff will eat through standard vinyl gloves in no time.  It’s also a skin irritant and should be washed off immediately if it gets on exposed skin.  If you’re going to try this stuff out, make sure you have a sturdy plastic scraping tool, and several pairs of high-quality, chemical-resistant gloves.  Also, though the smell isn’t as bad as other strippers I’ve used, it still is pretty strong.  We applied the gel in the garage and could still smell it days later; inside the house we could hardly tell there was an odor.

We used the aerosol can applicator rather than get the larger size container.  In our case we had one cabinet door that I used to test different techniques and perfect my repainting system.  Unfortunately since I didn’t get it quite right, I had to strip it all down to the bare wood and start from scratch to get a consistent look to all the other doors.  So we set up two saw horses in the garage, placed the door on top, and sprayed a thick coating of the Citristrip gel evenly over the entire top and sides.  It says that within two hours you may be able to remove the unwanted paint or varnish.  I went out to the garage 2 1/2 hours later, put on my gloves again, got out the plastic scraper, and dove in.

I agree that within two hours it may work for you…but I had at least six or seven layers of primer, paint, glaze, and varnish on this cabinet: Two hours wasn’t going to be enough.  In my haste I kept scraping and scraping, trying to make it work.  The first time much of the paint did come off, but it was very messy, and the paint got very sticky and I was lucky I had thought ahead and brought out rags and a couple plastic bags to dispose of the paint remnants.  So I kept scraping, and spraying more gel, then scraping, then spraying.  I think I should have done one round of scraping, then sprayed another layer of gel and waited another two hours.

Because I was impatient it cost me the extra physical labor involved in all that extra scraping and washing.  I used an old toothbrush to help me get in the corners and then I used Murphy’s Oil Soap and water to clean off the excess Citristrip gel and paint bits.  So all-in-all it’s a great product as long as you plan ahead with your tools, can set aside an entire afternoon to apply it and then scrape it off, possibly more than once, and if you’ve got the proper gloves.  Give it a try, especially if harsh smells bother you, because this product has comparably low odor and was quite easy to clean up once I was finished.

Here are a couple product images with some bullet points from Citristrip’s website.

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I’d like to write a post that says I’ve made some unbelievable progress on the last section of kitchen cabinets that we’ve been working on.  We started this project early this year, in late January if I remember correctly.  It’s eventually going to be a full cabinet refinishing tutorial with pictures, products, etc.  At this point I’m gathering up and editing the pictures we’ve taken and I’m writing my notes for the tutorial.  There will be formulas for a great home made antique glaze, the products we used for preparing, cleaning, and finishing the cabinets, and even our fun experiment with stripping off six layers of paint on our test door (that was fun.)

Another thing that I thought would be helpful to share some of the sources for our new hardware, paint, and other supplies.  Then there will be more parts to the story when I add indirect lighting above the cabinets and finish off the decorative iron accent piece above the sink that spans two sections of upper cabinets.  We’re pretty much changing everything except the appliances and the countertops in this kitchen remodel.  We already swapped out the old, leaky faucet.  The new one is more stylish and has a nice sprayer attachment.  There was a little trouble installing it, but I’ll cover that in another post in more detail.

Well, if you’re doing a kitchen remodel, or cabinet refinishing project, good luck!  I know it’s a lot of hard work…but we’re about 75% done on the cabinets ourselves, and it makes such a huge difference that it’s definitely worth the effort.  Cheers!

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I found some interesting information on home renovation loans as I was searching around tonight. Now Wells Fargo is by no means the only, or the best, mortgage lender out there. I saw this page on their site and it really caught my eye. The idea is that you’re financed for the amount the home will be worth after the improvements. They go through a little list of the benefits of financing your home this way below Wells Fargo link.

In our case we’ve already purchased the home, and are looking to do all of our projects on a tight budget, as we get the funds. So this particular product isn’t for us, but if you’re looking to buy a home that needs renovation right away, consider a renovation loan like this one. If you have already have your home and have some equity built up in it, then you can take out a second mortgage against that equity and use that for home improvements. I would advise you to think this through before jumping in and splashing around your good credit and equity though. Be careful that what money you’re putting into the house you’ll be able to get back when you sell it. If you don’t plan to sell anytime soon, then be aware that second mortgages are often more expensive in terms of fees and overall interest rates. I hope this information is helpful for you.

This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be doing on different financing options for your home and/or home renovation. It’s important to be aware of all the opportunities and pitfalls out there regarding home financing. If anyone would like to help with this series and contribute their ideas, or an entire article, please let me know. Thank you!

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - Renovation Loans
Renovation Loans
Whether the improvements you envision are large or small, necessary or optional, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has a solution that lets you purchase or refinance a home and improve it - all in one loan! Our renovation loans benefit borrowers who:

* Have found a home they love that needs a little work
* Are current homeowners with little equity who want to remodel
* Are increasing the value of investment rental property

Benefits of Purchase & RenovateSM Loan and Refinance & RenovateSM Loan
More Money:
Your loan amount is based on the increased property value after renovation. Lower interest rate:
First mortgage rates are usually lower than second mortgage and credit card rates saving you money on renovation financing.
Lower monthly payments:
Financing your mortgage and renovation simultaneously spreads improvement costs throughout the term of your loan. More tax deductible interest: *
The interest on your renovation costs are part of your first mortgage.
No wait:
You can begin your renovation immediately after closing. Simplicity:
There’s only one application, one set of fees and one monthly payment.

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After speaking with some wise people on a DIY forum, I’ve decided to hold off on using the Bellagio Faux products. While I may still eventually use them, I’m now leaning more towards using a better quality paint and trying to create the multi-layered plaster look by myself. I am concerned about the final result, the durability, and the subtle differences. The Behr product seems to present a more convenient, quicker solution. The DIY solution, using a higher quality paint, and probably joint compound among other things, will be a longer process and not as simple.

Ultimately it comes down to what I think will look the best without obliterating the budget. The thing is, the Bellagio Faux products aren’t cheap, so getting an alternative brand of professional paint and doing the texturing myself might still work out to be the less expensive alternative. In my opinion though since we’re going to be doing this in the biggest room in the house — where we spend most of our time — it will be worth it to spend what is necessary to make it look great. After all the effort it will take to do a nice finish on the walls, I’d hate to have to redo it because it looks poor.

Anyway, that’s just the latest update. It’s also proof that one can never stop learning. Asking questions and interacting with other DIYers can teach you a lot and probably save you money, time, and headaches. Until next time…cheers!

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I thought I’d write a quick intro to one of our next major projects.  We’re going to be putting a faux finish on the main living area walls.  It’s going to be the Bellagio Faux finish by Behr.  After seeing the product and some samples at our local Home Depot, we decided to grab the free DVD they have and the color sample booklet.

They offer quite a nice range of color combinations that they show you in the booklet.  There are final finishes that range from authentic antiqued plaster to combinations of blues, greens, and other hues.  You can use multiple layers in different pre-mixed shades, or just one coat on top of a flat base coat of regular interior paint.  I’ll post a little sample of our choice a little later.  I’m going to make a full tutorial out of this project so you can see just what is involved in the process and give you a chance to see what the finish looks like when an amateur applies it to his own walls.

I’ll post more about this product and particular finish as we gear up for this project.  I’m guessing that we’ll get to it around the end of summer or somewhere around there.  We have a big list and not everything is scheduled yet as we are still undecided on which room to tackle after the kitchen renovation.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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