And Now For Something Completely Different

I’m not sure this is something I’ve talked about on this blog before. This may be a subject that few of you are familiar with, but I think if we take it slow, I can have everyone up to speed in no time at all. I’m talking about paint stripping. You see, there comes a time when paint build up requires you to remove that paint that is there and start over.

I am talking about the paint build up on the first floor trim. That is the next project and once again Stupid PO Tricks have made the job that much more difficult. When they had the house painted 6 years ago, they painted over the asbestos siding and they also painted the trim. The asbestos siding wasn’t a problem because I removed it. The problem was, they did a lousy job of prepping the trim. There is this new, thick layer of latex paint over an old failing paint job. It’s going to be loads of fun to get it all off.

I finished painting all the siding and second floor trim today. Many, many, many trips up and down the ladder. It's been worth it, though, because I am just really happy with the color scheme. I’ve been getting a lot of complements from neighbors and people passing by. Nothing improves the look of a house more than a fresh coat of paint.

Before I start the joyful paint stripping project I need to deal with the apartment over the garage this weekend. This is the part of land lording I dislike. I wish the tenants would keep their mouths shut, give me money every month, and stay there forever. Is that asking too much? I just ventured up to the apartment a few minutes ago. This is the first time I’ve been up there since I went up two weeks ago and found the place a mess. A mess is putting it mildly. The place was disgusting. I’m happy to report that the exiting tenant has done a pretty good job of cleaning the place up. In fact, she did a great job.

Just from my cursory tour of the apartment it looks like I’m only going to have to replace the water heater blanket and shampoo the carpets. The current tenant used a product called “Natures Miracle” to get rid of the urine smell. There is still a lingering hint of it that I’m hoping to get rid of with the carpet shampoo machine. I should know by tomorrow how well it’s going to work.