My Weekend Projects

First, you need a very clear idea of what the color will look like. If you cannot picture it on a large-scale, buy a small amount of paint and test it first. No matter what type of color you choose, you need to be happy with it, so take some time in making this decision.

Next, tape off anything you don’t want to paint. If you are not painting the ceiling, place two rows of wide masking tape in the corner, on the ceiling. And don’t forget to tape across any woodwork and lay out some drop cloths along the floor and furniture. This will keep the paint exactly where it’s supposed to be, and only there.

Next, you need to make sure your tools are in order. You will need a paint tray to pour the paint in, a roller to roll the paint onto the walls, a roller frame for the roller, a pole for tall areas, a paintbrush for small areas and along corners, and possibly a ladder to help you reach some areas. Once all of your prep work is done, you are ready to start painting.

Pour some of the paint into the tray, and roll your roller across it. Make sure to get it coated thoroughly, but don’t get too much on there. Paint trays almost always have ridges along the edge, and you can roll it across there to remove excess paint. When you are ready to begin, roll a large W shape across the wall. This should be about 2-3 feet across. After that’s painted, fill in the W, making a block sort of shape. Many places will tell you that you need to go top to bottom, or from one side to the other. It really doesn’t matter too much, but just remember that you want it to dry at about the same time as the paint right next to it. As such, paint a section of the wall from top to bottom, and then move to the side very soon. Overlap as you go along, and your paint will dry correctly.

Once you’ve finished painting, you need to wait for a while. Let the paint dry for several hours, according to the manufacturer directions. When it is dry, you will do a second coat in the same way as you did the first. This makes sure that you get all the areas that were missed.

Once your second coat is dry, pull your tape off. It does not pay to wait, because the tape will continue to adhere, and may become more difficult to remove later. Throw away a plastic drop cloth, or clean your cloth one. Wash out all of your supplies, and you can use them again.

One final tip: as long as you plan on painting the second coat on the same day use the same roller cover without washing it. Simply use a plastic grocery bag, and wrap it in there securely. Make sure that as much air as possible is gone from the bag, and it should stay usable.

First, you need to make sure that your wall isn’t load-bearing.  If it is, it could collapse your home, or cause massive structural problems.  If you don’t know how to tell, get a professional’s opinion.  Also, you need to know whether there is asbestos behind the walls, or lead paint on it.  Either one of these are not things that an amateur should mess around with.

Make sure you have safety goggles and a mask on.  This is messy work, and pieces of drywall will fly everywhere.  It’s best to be safe.

Take a hammer, and make a hole in the wall.  Drywall is fairly easy to punch through, in between the studs.  After you make a hole big enough to reach into, you can pull large chunks of drywall down.  If you need to stop in a certain place, make sure to mark this along the wall, and use a drywall saw to cut very carefully along this line.

Once you have all the drywall down, you can begin removing the studs.  Using a prybar, you can loosen them enough to pull the nails out.  This will make for a much neater removal.  If neatness isn’t a factor, you should be able to push and pull against the studs, until you’re able to pull them out of place.

You will probably be left with an area of the floor where there is not carpet or tile.  Fix this with whatever method of flooring you choose.  Also, if you get carried away on the demolition, you will probably need to touch up some areas on surrounding walls.

I own a commercial building, and recently needed to pull up some carpet and lay a tile floor.  It’s a fairly easy job, but make sure you leave yourself enough time to accomplish it, in case any problems arise.

Step 1: Pull up the carpet.  If you need to leave part of the carpet in place, make sure that you mark a line.  Put a straight edge against the line, and cut with a box knife.  The rest of the carpet should come up fairly easily.

Step 2: Check your subfloor for any problems.  We had some bubbles in ours where the floor was warped.  You can cut and remove this part and lay plywood down that will bring it up to the same height as the rest of the floor.  Make sure you screw it down really well.  Figure on using a screw every 2-3 inches, all along the board.

Step 3: Open your box of tile and make sure they are all facing the right way.  Almost all tile has a direction, and you need to make sure they are all pointing the right way, unless you are going for a decorative look where you alternate the direction.

Step 4: Mark a chalk line in the center of the floor, making sure that it’s centered.  Then, mark one in the other direction, so that you’re left with an X on your floor.  You will build out from this mark.  Lay out your tiles and make sure that you will not be left with a narrow strip.  If this will happen, adjust your line so that it leaves a bigger piece of tile.

Step 5: If you are using vinyl tiles, you will want to butt them up against each other.  Spread a medium amount of glue over your X, according to the directions on the glue.  Make sure that you can still see exactly where your X is, so that the edges of your tile is touching the center of the X.  Lay the tile.  It’s best to use a smaller area of glue at the first, until you know exactly how fast you can lay the tile down.

Step 6: Build outwards towards the edges.  When you reach an obstruction that you need to tile around, cut the tile.  A sharp box knife will do the trick (make sure to wear your safety goggles).  You can make a pattern with paper, or use a handy trick for around corners and walls.  All you need to do is lay a tile directly over the last tile before the smaller area.  Then, take a tile and butt it up against the wall.  Draw a line, and you will have an exact match of the space.  See this animation for visual instructions.

Step 7: Roll the tile with a large roller.  A rolling pin should work, but will get messy.  Have wet paper towels on hand for easy cleanup.

Step 8: Clean up the area.  After that, stay off the tile for about a day, and put down a threshold anywhere there is tile next to carpet.  The next day, finish it with quarter-round trim along the walls.