Mostly Trim #2

This is the 2nd job in a row when the homeowner was away for a week, took the entire family for an island vacation, left me with a key, we repaired the ceiling and walls, and spent most of our time on trim.  This house had smaller trim than the previous one, but there was much more.

I did not take any "before" photos, but following are the photos of the finished product. 

 

Mostly Trim

This family went on vacation for 10 days and took advantage of the opportunity to get some work done on their house.  They saw some other work I did in their area and wanted the same treatment.  After their floors were refinished, my team and I came in to make the trim "look nice," as I was directed to do so.

Years and years ago, someone did the disservice to the house by painting all of the gorgeous woodwork.  The most recent paint job was applied poorly, so it was chipping and peeling everywhere.  The objective of this job was to paint and repair the trim, but we also painted some of the walls.

Trim example before

Trim example after

Dining room window before

Dining room window after

Living room before

Living room after

Stairs before

Stairs after

Living room bay window before

Living room bay window after

Drywall Over Falling Plaster

I got a phone call from this woman with the sounds of desperation in her voice.  She said a student was about to move into one of her rental rooms and the ceiling was falling in.  As a good person, she usually stayed out of her tenant's rooms.  Little did she know that the ceiling and one wall were on the verge of falling in.  I came in for an emergency job and took care of it. 

We removed the sections of plaster that were falling off the ceiling and wall.  Then we covered the entire ceiling and the section of wall with drywall

Note the rough edges of falling plaster on the ceiling

New drywall and paint on the ceiling

There were just a few cracks on the wall, but the plaster had come loose from the lath over much of the wall.

After we removed the loose plaster

New drywall feathered in

The Painting of an Entire House #3

This condo had not been painted since it was bought 7 years ago.  We were called in to paint every surface (walls, ceilings, doors, and all woodwork) of the 2 story penthouse.  The one challenge with this home, was the 16 ft ceiling.  To add to the challenge, we were on the 7th floor of the building with no way to bring a ladder through the elevator or stairwell.  Fortunately, there was a balcony overlooking the canal.

Me lowering the ladder down after we were done

Dan guiding the 2nd ladder down

Now, the actual work...I didn't have the camera with me to take any "before" photos.  The ceilings were white, the walls were beige, and the trim and doors were a darker beige. 

Bedroom

Downstairs Hallway

Living Room with 16' ceiling (please excuse the dust on the camera lens)

Kitchen

After I sent the invoice, the home owner responded in an email, "I appreciate the great job by you and your crew. I am delighted with how my place looks and you were very easy to work with."

A Cleaning

It frequently happens that when someone is getting ready to move, they need their house cleaned.  You can't show your house and expect to sell it if the walls and baseboards are dirty.  I am not judging.  Baseboards and walls get cleaned when they are painted, and I perform this service for people.  Sometimes, we are cleaners.  We were this week.  See the photos below:

Before

After

Before

After

The Painting of an Entire House #2

In recent years, I have done several things for these people.  I repaired damage from a roof leak, regrouted their bathroom tiles, pressure washed and sealed their deck, and painted their garage and exterior doors.  Suddenly, they had to move and bought a new house in the suburbs.  So, they called me again.

Their new house was in desperate need of a fresh painting.  4 of us spent 5 days applying 22 gallons of paint to their ceilings, walls, woodwork, and doors.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to show what we did, because they went from old dirty white to a fresh off-white.  I assure you that this was an intensive job.  See if you can tell the difference.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Prepare For Moving #2

I worked for these people in September 2010 and they called me back to do some more work this Spring.  After living in this house for years, they finally decided to finish all of the work so they could move to Brooklyn.  They needed the house in a better condition so they could rent it.  The work involved:

following up after an electrician and HVAC (I also added this ventilation soffit),

Before

After

 

putting over 100 ft of baseboard through the house,

installing stringers on the edges of the stairs, 

Before

After

and painting the majority of the 1st and 2nd floor.

Before

After

They were out of town during most of the time we were working.  This is from an email I received towards the end of the project, "We stopped in yesterday for a few minutes and the place looks amazing!"