Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Hitting the nail on the head ... 879 times

The wintry weekend was the perfect opportunity to finish my wall covering project,
where "finish" meant nailing on the 82.75 feet of trim.
No way would I have found the ambition to stay inside for this torture had the sun been shining.

The nail spacer tool seemed like such a good idea when I bought it, 
but I couldn't make it work on the vertical surfaces – the nails kept falling out.
So I used it to mark the trim where the nails were supposed to go, which proved just as useful.



I did the green wall first, kneeling, bending over, lying on the floor, standing on my head...
Nothing seemed to make the job easier.


By the time I got to the beige wall, I figured out that if I pushed the nails through the trim first,
it was a helluva lot easier to pound them in without stabbing myself and/or smashing my fingers.
Six hours and 879 nails later, I was done. 
(Note to self: dust baseboards before shooting close-ups)


Smooch: Now can we go for a walk?
Me: As soon as I can stand upright again.



Someone asked recently how I got Smooch to pose for my pictures.
If she knows there's a cookie in my hand, she will usually sit still until I give it to her.



Me: Nuh-uh-uh...not yet.



Me: We'll get done sooner if you put your tongue back where it belongs.



Smooch: *raspberries*



When her eyes glaze over and she won't make eye contact, I know she's had enough
and then she gets a cookie...or two or three.


13 comments:

  1. It sounds like the nail-spacer needed some of the Post-It (insert trade-marky thingy) adhesive to hold it on the vertical surface.
    However, the job is done and it looks good from the closeups :)

    And I'm sure Smooch is glad you have put your hammer away.

    How did you handle the trim in the corners ... overlap or miter?

    M in NC

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    1. Whenever I came to the end of a trim strip, I butted the next piece next to it and pounded a nail over the seam. In most cases, this didn't happen at a corner. At the corners, I bent the strip and sort of did a 45 degree angle fold, pounding a nail over the top.

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  2. Beautiful work. I have never seen a wall treatment like that before, it looks good.

    Laurie

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  3. Looks great. And the light one shows Smooch so prettily. Now you wait for the sun and beautiful NM blue sky,

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  4. Smooch looks maavelous against the beige background...nice job!

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  5. I was a furniture upholster for over 30 yrs so I know your pain you needed what is called a "tack hammer" its small and has a long nose to get into tight spaces! BUT you did it without one --good job!! Now a days I see in the mfg. side they have air brass nail guns just aim and shoot...there is also a tack strip where you insert a nail head every 4 inches that makes a sold unbroken line, in my biz I had to set them side by side for an unbroken line..some jobs it would be 2 full days of nothing but nailing...
    I'm, in the market for some used brown if you wanna get rid of the old stuff you took off. dusteerhod@gmail.com

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  6. Good golly, you've got some will! I've spent 2 days moving rock and stall mats and......just a lot of up and down and squatting and lifting. My whole body aches. I don't know how you keep going and going when you know it's going to hurt the next day. Your work looks beautiful!!

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  7. It turned out great. Well done.

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  8. Your walls look great. I know it must have been a pain as you described it but how wonderful that it is done and beautiful. As to Smooch.....she's wonderful as well.

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  9. Darn, coming to this blog late in the day is like getting to the buffet line last. All the good superlatives are taken. Beautiful, wonderful, excellent job. I hope Smooch got her cookies and her walk.

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  10. Fierce perseverance, great reward: All new and totally cool walls! And never has wall covering been shown by a prettier model. - Hope your back and hands and arms will forgive you soon for the "tour de force".

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  11. An American in Tokyo2/3/15, 7:37 PM

    Your new wall coverings and trim look beautiful!! I don't know how you do it!!

    Does Smoochie-poo know any tricks? (I may have already asked you this before...getting old! ha ha!)
    My pet finch learned a new trick recently -- he can "kiss" someone on the cheek!

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  12. so did you avoid that metal strip that you discovered or just grit your teeth and pound through it?
    both of those walls make very lovely portrait backgrounds.... just sayin' too bad they are 1/2 walls and indoors..... would be hard to get the herd inside and on the floor for some portrait shooting.... :) (just tickled at the thought of it, actually)

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