cheap fixes

We are painting the interior of the BIG house. Started by repairing past mistakes made by previous owners.

At some point nail holes were filled with joint compound. Filling holes with joint compound is a good idea, but... This is not the way we do it. See the flat spot where a mud knife was used to put compound on the wall. It should have been cleaned off with a wet cloth until only the hole was filled and the texture of the wall was not compromised. Usually we just leave past mistakes and repaint. In this house details matter so we are sanding all these spots down with an orbital sander.

There was one crack running up from a window to the ceiling that had the last couple of paint layers pushed out. I started up the angle grinder to grind down the ridge before sanding. Matthew came flying into the room and asked "Is the grinder your new sander?" I think he thought the old man had lost it. A little later I showed him a 45 degree corner that was poorly done and would need to be fixed. He wondered out loud how he was going to get the old joint compound scored back. I pointed at the angle grinder. Yea, looks like the old man wasn't so crazy after all.

So we sanded down previous repairs,

sprayed new texture,

and painted with primer.

Seems like we had to redo about 30% of every wall.

The finished product was worth the effort.

2 bedrooms done and only 2 more to go, oh and the hall way upstairs and down stairs, the entry way, the living room, the dining room, the extra formal front room, the kitchen and the back entry room. I don't think we are quite finished yet. 

Sometimes, we try to hide our sins under a veneer of self righteousness. Cover up what we do wrong by justifying it to ourselves. Maybe it is like a quick ugly patch. If we look at what we do wrong as God would, it is obvious we are not fixing it the right way. 

I know I have to be careful I am not just covering over my sins and I am allowing God to fix my life. The blood of Jesus is the only way to fix past sins, and allowing God to direct my life going forward is the only way for my life to be done right in the future.