A Tip for Maintenance Free Doors

Well if not totally maintenance free... at least low maintenance!

Let's be totally honest with ourselves.  We built our cottages to relax, kick off our shoes, NOT to supply ourselves with endless jobs for the rest of lives.  It serves us best then to make the cottage and the finishes in the cottage as tough and resilient thus maintenance free as possible.

Thus using an appropriate finish for the doors makes a lot of sense.  Consider the bathroom door - it will likely be, next to the front door, the most used door in the cottage.  Lots of grimy hands, kicks, banging, and hot showers will be attacking that door.  A tough coat of paint that is easily wiped down is the way to go.

Check with the professional in your local paint store or paint department in a big box store for you particular set of circumstances, but you can't go wrong with a gloss or semi-gloss latex paint formulated for bathroom or kitchen use.

The first paint on a new door is not an issue as the door will be primed, but for subsequent paint jobs make sure that you lightly sand the old coat of paint to make sure the new one sticks well.  AND if you are going over an oil-based paint of some sort applying a primer paint may be in order.

With these few tips you will get a paint job that will last longer than you can remember the last time you painted...

;-)

Silicon versus Latex Caulking

...or this could be titled:

Shower Installation: Lesson Number 2...

Yes! there is a difference between silicon and latex caulking. Read your shower installation guide carefully. Silicon DOES NOT stick to some materials well. It fact it is rather poor at adhering to Polystyrene - this material from which many shower walls are made.

I discovered this in shower number one... Used the silicon stuff, in spite of reading the instructions to the contrary - and it did NOT stick forever! Six months later it came unstuck.

So in shower stall number two, latex caulking was used.

In fact I rather enjoy using the latex caulk much better for the following reasons:

• It is paint-able
  
• It cleans up with water
• Does not smell as bad
• Is not a pain to remove - and you will eventually have to remove it.
  

What has been your experiences with silicon or latex caulking? Which do you prefer?

;-)

A Stair Painting Tip: a Halftime Painting Trick!

How do you paint stairs when you have to use them?

The trick is to do it in two steps.

I will be eventually painting the stairs with a textured paint to give a 'stone' look but they first have to primed.

I don't intend to do the finish painting until the spring arrives -- when we can avoid the stairs by walking outside to go up and down between the two floors of the cottage.

But I did wish to get the priming done ASAP to make the stairs cleaner and easier to keep clean. Priming them seemed to be the answer! Except there is a big obstacle.... There is at least two feet of snow on the walkway from the basement door back up to the front door. Not really an option!

The answer is to paint one half at a time. Last weekend I painted one half. This left the other half free for travel up and down. Next time we are up I'll pain the other half and we'll use the first painted half to travel up and down.

Voila! problem solved and a cleaner looking stair to boot!
;-)