I've done the sponge thing but I've also used my bare hand to get a more raised stipple. Oh, and pros say 'joint compound'.
I did a bath tear-out, and there's a window in the shower area. I decided to replace all the wood with Corian, and fashioned a sill. That router setup pivots on one side, so I set it up for width and used a round-over bit. All I had to do was push that Corian against the back guide and it looked like it came out of a fabrication shop. I did this with Wedi backing instead of Durock cement board. Wedi is a foam core panel with a fiberglass cemented surface. You cut it with a utility knife, so you can put up a sheet, overlap the window opening, and cut it to a perfect fit. You use a special sealant so it is 100% water tight before you install the first piece of tile. I lined the inside of the window opening with it, sealed it real tight, then trimmed out the window with Corian and vinyl quarter-round. I stumbled onto this when I went to a tile shop and told the guy I already had my tile (it was given to me), but promised to buy all my other supplies from him if he would let me pick his brain on what to do about that window. I ended up not taking his advice (marble) but bought the supplies from him as promised. All he sold was the Wedi product. That niche is a Wedi pre-fab. I'm glad I stumbled onto this stuff. So light and easy to install...and it's guaranteed to be water-tight.
Great Job!! As for spackle: For small jobs when a thicker consistency and less shrinkage is needed, it is indeed a job for spackle but I buy joint compound in such quantities that there’s no sense in buying the high priced spackle even for small jobs. I figure that since I always have some mud sitting around doing nothing so why not just use what I have. About 8 years ago I had an extra 60# pail so feeling a little innovative I stuccoed a whole living room accent wall with the stuff. When it dried I hit it with a satin enamel antique white and to this day it’s still a beautiful wall. I wanted to put wrought iron center lighting to keep the motif going but the owner didn’t like the price tag and said that renters would probably steal it anyway.
Good plan and yup, a good router and table is the king of the shop. When I think back at when all I had was just a small $20 trim router and getting so frustrated because things just didn’t strike me as being the best that i could do.
When I was working with that non-profit doing home repairs for folks, we did a job where someone had installed cheap wood paneling with Liquid Nails on all 4 walls and later tore it off, leaving raised strips of the adhesive all around the room. Two of us skim-coated the entire room (except the ceiling) to raise it to the depth of the L.N. I told the homeowner he needed to change the deed to reflect the loss in square footage.
Along those lines, someone mentioned vinyl moulding. One of my first jobs was with a contractor who did a lot of government subsidized work back when there was plenty of money for that. All of our work was in the shabbier parts of town. The boss picked the very cheapest paneling finished off with vinyl moulding. I hate the stuff.
Uh-huh. Did one stint remodeling a motel room with the stuff and nope, never again! At the time, I hadn’t gotten over the fact that perfection just doesn’t come with some things so it was a high source of aggravation and although the installation looked good, the whole concept made the room look like something one would rent by the hour.
I used to be a perfectionist to the point that it interfered with getting enough done. I cured that compulsion by deliberately letting less-than-perfect work stand as it was. Others thought my work was good even when I did so.
Lol. I had to rationalize the debacle between perfection with something I’m doing and imperfection to a spiritual level. The Master asked me to seek perfection within myself, not with something I’m attempting to create. So, in order to avoid a lot of anger and cussing, I learned that the things I cannot make perfect to lay as simply the best I can do. Yvonne has told me on a couple of occasions that what I see, no one else can see.
Yvonne has told me on a couple of occasions that what I see, no one else can see. I've heard from others what amounts to the same.
Regarding "perfection": I remind myself of all the imperfections I've seen in the walls when painting a room, and just letting it go. Weeks later the room still looks nice and all those dings are forgotten. Regarding vinyl molding: When I did that bathroom window, I finished the perimeter with thin vinyl quarter round. I agree with not using it for baseboards & such. But for an application like inside a shower stall, it's a miracle product.
Re: cheap paneling, I used to have to work with 'decal' paneling - 3/16" thick and the wood grain is actually just a decal that's not even waterproof. If it gets damp the the 'grain' will peel right off. It's disgusting how poor they can make some products and disgusting that people will buy such trash.
When I was with that non-profit doing free home repairs, we worked on our share of trailers. At some level, it's a form of home ownership that certainly beats renting...but it's a very basic form. I got "quality" stories. Outlets are not mounted to framing...they are affixed to the paneling itself, so that when you unplug something, the panel bulges out a couple of inches until the plug releases. Replacing rotted floors ("I can see the grass!!!") was a common item for us. People buy what they can afford. And then there are differences in taste...
The vinyl strip molding is fairly easy to install and can add to a surface but the vinyl base molding is a bear to install and if the vinyl and adhesive isn’t warm it’s highly improbable that it will install correctly at all. On the other hand, the base molding stuff is easier to clean, the color is permanent and doesn’t chip but that said, if I EVER have to mess with it again I’m gonna charge extra money just to throw into the cuss jar.
I used to install electronic security and access control systems in office buildings in DC. We would install a system on every single suite in the building under contract with property management, and if the tenant wanted their system activated, we activated it and charged property management, who worked out whatever they charged with the tenant. I've pulled/reinstalled my share of that crap...usually when installing pressure padding. I'm all too familiar with that nasty adhesive and the struggle-to-stick.