The Continuation of the Basement Stairwell Walls

I've been hammering away (not literally) on the basement stairwell walls. I must have done at least 4 sessions with the spackle at this point. Last night, I sanded them and washed them down for the last time before trim and primer.
Just a tip - don't play carpenter angry. Don't paint angry either. Sometimes it can't be avoided if you want to get the work done though.

Right side w/ trim and primer.

Left side - trim and primer. Can hardly tell there used to be a hole around the light switch.

Trim and primer.

I did not put up the trim "the right way" at all. I wound up using long narrow brass screws (that's what I had, brass is generally the devil to work with) because trying to hammer finish nails had the plaster shaking and cracking, and I didn't need more of that.
I've been trying to avoid taking the right rail down, but in order to paint the wall well, I'm going to have to. Because it's screwed in over plaster, I'm going to try to free the rail and leave the supports on the wall (lest removing the supports wakes a sleeping crumbling plaster beast.)
So, a few more steps forward. Tonight, first coat of paint.

Basement stairwell walls

Last night I sanded down the walls to figure out where the high spots were, and slapped some more spackle on the divots and holes.

Left side - Fixing up pretty nicely, actually.
One more sand and this one should be good enough to prime.

Right side - this side is a bigger pain in the next because the rail is in the way, and there was more damage.
The patch above and around the light switch is slowly getting better.
This side will need another round of spackle and sanding before priming.

Stay out!

That last picture is from where the wall of the right side of the stairwell joins the stairs above. It's the most amusing, ridiculous thing. The hole is maybe 7-8" long, and maybe 3" high, and blocked with 4 large framing nails (?).
I'm not entirely sure what we're keeping out (or in). Mice would dance right through the gaps. Rats? (Have seen no evidence of rats.) Squirrels? Cats? Wombats? A rogue wallaby?
I don't know, but I'm leaving it alone as a point of interest.

Not much of a visual difference, but I'm puttering away on it.

When I'm allowed too, anyway.
Good thing it's hot, she's not all over me for my lap right now.

Busy weekend of sheds and walls

I finally was able to complete the shed door this past weekend. It took about 8 hours over the course of the week, dodging rain drops, and making trips to the store for things I needed. But it's done -

Patch applied, I think this was post sanding.
Worked up from 60-120 grit, wiped it down with a tack cloth.

First coat of primer. I wound up putting on 2 coats to smooth it out.

First coat of paint. It was a lot more blue than I thought.

Final - 2 coats of paint and an overnight dry dulled it down a bit.
I need to pick up some black Rustolium in a can for the hardware, but other than that it's done!
Next - the roof.

In between the rounds of work on the shed, I decided to deal with the basement stairwell. First, because the mosquitos in town now carry EEE, so I can't be outside in the evening unless I'm dosed with bug spray. Second, because even though the dehumidifier makes the basement warm, it's dry, and feels nicer. Third, all the stuff hanging on the wall right at the top bugged me.
Plus, I could practice spackle in a place where it doesn't really matter.

Before cleaning and removing a rail. Dual rails are great, but it make the stairwell really narrow.
I will store it so that in the future if it's a code issue, I can slap it back up.

Post TSP scrub and rail removal.
Just scrubbing the left wall made a huge difference.

Patches patched. Some were pretty deep, so I am going to let it dry
for a good 24 hours before smooshing on another coat.

One downside to dating a historic preservationist, (hi Honey!) is that you pick up things by the very virtue of being at trade get-togethers and having evening conversations. He's a professional, and I mean well. I know there's right ways and wrong ways of doing things, and in the case of this basement wall, it probably should be stabilized with plaster washers and injected adhesives and all sorts of things. Pricey things. I know this. But... forgive me... I just want it to not have lath showing, so I'm smooshing spackle and fiberglass tape over the worst of it and smoothing it out (sort of.) The worst part is right over the light switch, which you can't see very well in the pictures, but at least it's not a gaping hole anymore. The patch might fall out in a year, but until then, for a basement stairwell, it will be good enough. Rather than tape and fill the corners, I think I'm just going to get some 1/4 round molding to cover the gaps. I think electrical runs around behind there, so I don't want to make it super difficult to get at.

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures in basement stairwells!

Some Pig.

Shed door progress

You can't tell, but I'm making progress!

It might rain!

I've been tuning up the shed door. There's been patch involved for the holes, and a lot of sanding. It seems that there was a light coat of varnish on the boards that mildew got under, so I've started with 60 grit to strip all that junk off (and take the patch down.)
I have to stop tonight and pick up more sandpaper, since I discovered last night that I jump from 60 to 150 in my sandpaper library. A few years back I bought an electric sander to finish my sister's wedding cake stand, and it has proved it's worth time and again.

I love my sander.

I also succeeded in killing the hornets, so the driveway is officially all edged.
Thank goodness. Time to get sealed. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain on the day my guy is scheduled to do it.

All edged! All grass removed from the cracks!

Stuff in the yard

I spent a huge amount of time this weekend (between 10 and 12 hours) edging the driveway. The fist day I was using a flat head shovel and a paring knife, and then upgraded myself to a step-on edger. It was a significant improvement, I tell you.

Before

During

Still during. There was a lot of during.

After. This was Saturday.

Sunday got me down to the road (at least on the right side.)

Things you find buried by the edge of the driveway.

I have about 40' more left to do, but there was a ground hive of yellowjackets I needed to take care of first. Last night, under the cover of darkness, armed with a flashlight and a can of Raid, I did the deed. This morning, there was no activity, so I think I'm good, but I'm going to watch the hole for a few more days to be sure.

While doing yard work things, I was going in and out of the shed. The door kept hanging up where the flashing was rubbing on the ramp. Eventually, I tired of fighting with the door. This was the door -

(Photo from June.)

I got out my hammer. And my screwdriver. And I yanked all that crap right off the door.

They had enough nails and screws on that thing to withstand a hurricane. The proper application of brute force and annoyance had it all in the trash bag in less than an hour.
Low and behold, there's a door under all that nonsense.

Behold! A door!

Granted, the metal flashing had been holding the moisture *against* the wood, so there's a few inches of rot and insect damage in the lower left hand corner. Nothing looks active, so I scraped out the loose stuff. It is not worth the aggravation to try to replace the planks.

Metal flashing didn't help here, what with the water splashing back up on it from the ramp. (no gutter)

I picked up some bondo-style patch, which has been applied. I'll sand, prime, and paint it at some point this week.

In other news, the phlox is still going strong.

How?

How can I get anything done with this adorable weirdo sacked out in a catnip coma on my lap?
Spackling had to wait.

More things that want to poke me

I got in a morning of yard work before driving to my folk's Saturday. Got the yard mowed and then attempted to prune back the forcythia. A 6th sense told me to step back, and I discovered I had been all but on top of a ground hornet nest. All I can think is that my foot was actually on the hole, plugging them in, and then I backed up fast enough that I was able to get away.
Ok. Enough of that.
I went and started to cut back the front stone wall that was starting to over grow again. 6the sense told me to back up again, and to my amazement the lawn (now at about face height) was covered in Bumble bees, all flaying around at about 6" off the grass.
Not one to piss off a Bumble bee, I decided to wrap it up and head in for a shower.

Other yard news - The hosta is blown out and now my phlox is going crazy. All sorts of colors, thought right now the dark pink is dominant. There's a pretty little coral colored one that I need to watch - I'd like to have more than one of that. I've caught some of it getting mildewed, so I've hit it with a weak vinegar solution to hopefully control it before it spreads too bad.