Remember the Media Room job I started several weeks ago? Well, I’ve been there for what seems forever, due to one very incompetent contractor. The first week I started, I was just doing a lot of prep work, so did not mind that there was a lot of commotion going on in the room while I’ll worked. Once my prep was done I told the contractor to call me when it was 100% done and I’d come back to do the final finishes. I got the call, returned, only to find the room was far from 100% done. The room remained under some state of construction and in fact, is still not 100% finished. It has been frustrating to say the least.
Here’s a good example of what a typical day was like for me on this job. The contractor would say the remaining crown molding would be installed by the end of the day, so I could do a finish on it. He would set up his saw, in the middle of this small room, not cover anything, saw away, get saw dust all over my walls and woodwork, in my boxes of supplies that were on the floor, etc. It was beautiful weather out, a deck was less than 10 feet away where he easily could have set up the saw. I would return the next morning to find the job still incomplete.
Weeks ago, I brushed some metallic bronze paint into the grout lines that separated these wooden panels. I then laid down a 1/4" tape over the bronze and base coated the panels. I thought I would be glazing these panels the next day, but due to contractor delays, I could not glaze them until 2 wks. later. By then, the tape had sat on the walls way too long, pulling a lot of the bronze paint off when I finally was able to remove the tape. I had to go take a small artist brush and hand paint in all the chipped off areas. Thank God there was only this one wall to do!
Here you can see the retouched lines and you can faintly see the striae on each panel. The direction of the striae changes on every other panel.
I got tired of waiting for this contractor to remove this junction box and patch, so I decided to go ahead and do the wall and deal with it later.
Eventually it was removed and patched and I, of course, had to redo the panels involved with that patch.
The columns and this side of the room was done first because for a long time, it was the only side of the room ready for me.
Here’s another view. This Media Room is in the center of the house and is open to a large, formal living room.
Back over to the other side of the room, crown molding was still missing, which held up my finishing that piece of the job. Here you can clearly see that there will be no room for the rim of the speaker because the molding is now in the way. I’m guessing when the guy comes to do the speaker install, some fur is going to fly.
Running out of time and patience, I put the finish on the molding. I’m sure I will be touching it up after the speaker install! Also, the contractor decided NOT to install the adjacent molding and had me paint it on the floor instead. He will install later. Another touch up, I’m sure!
When I complained about the large gaps in the corners, this was his solution! He globbed in a very thick layer of putty, which took 2 days to dry. Apparently he never heard of applying thin layers. He also kept trying to pawn this type of patching and all caulking off on me, but since I had to repeatedly redo areas that he damaged, I was not about to do him any favors.
Here’s a good example of what I mean about having to redo areas. This wire was moved twice AFTER I had glazed the wall.
I had two areas that I had to rework because they were just a little too dark.
I struggled with trying to get these areas to blend for hours! Today, I put in an S.O.S. call to my good friend and fellow decorative painter, Denise Kilpatrick for some technical assistance. I did the best I could, decided to let the walls dry and will tweak a bit more if needed when I return for all the touch ups I know I am going to have to do.
The saving grace on this job is that the clients are very nice!
