All Forum Posts by: Randy F.

Agreed. Everyone is a painter but not everyone can paint. And a good painter is a master with a caulk gun. All too many contractors see caulking as a job best suited to the lowest man on the totem pole. Not so. A top notch paint job is absolutely dependent upon a quality caulk job. Going with flat white ceiling and colored walls? If walls are textured, corners are likely rough. Run bead at all vertical and horizontal corners smoothing out with wet finger, paint ceiling bringing paint down onto walls a bit, then cut right up to ceiling shadow in corners for a perfect no-tape cut line.

What do you mean by, "the home has not been painted before"? New construction? Interior or exterior? Has it been primed?

Floating out a popcorn ceiling is a great idea... NOT!

I'd sooner replace the lid. Even if you're really good, you wont get it in one coat.

Every popcorn ceiling I have removed I needed to float the joints. Also, when most popcorn was done the rock was hung with nails. Its a good idea to run screws to ensure lid is tight against joists. If i isnt, nails will pop as you screw it off. They either need to be pulled or set all the way to joists or they will keep showing up. If there are more than a few nail pops, best to screw off entire ceiling. Using flat paint on ceilings helps hide flaws but i dont use on rentals.

Same with squeeky floors. When I build, I glue subfloors. Many contractors dont and thats crazy considering how little time and money it takes. A good flooring guy will do "the dance", lookin for squeeks. Again, if there are more than a few, just screw off the entire floor.

If you are renovating anyway, Id remove it. If you plan to sell later, popcorn is seen as outdated.

If it has much paint on it, spraying with water wont help much. Often it comes off easily without water. With water it helps keep down the dust but if drywall gets wet it will get damaged easily and alot more patching will be needed. They dont always work well, but they make a scraper with a bag attachment to catch alot of the popcorn, helping control mess.

"biden said"... "really plays to the simple minded"

:c)

Busy street/main thoroughfare may be just the ticket for a B&B. If youre stuck, a little creative marketing sure cant hurt!

How old is the house? Have you ever opened any exterior walls or renovated the bath? Its rare, but Ive seen homes built without a vapor barrier. Ive also seen where a hack has replaced tub surround without installing vapor barrier. In both cases mold was present and covered large areas on back of sheetrock.

If the smell tends to be seasonal, and strongest in the fall when furnace starts running, you likely have mold in the ductwork. If so, the smell would also be more evident at times of high humidity... Rainy season, HUMIDIFIER, etc.

Good luck... Hope you get t figured out!

Hi John,

I see you plan to rehab, hold and flip in Alaska. If the housing bubble burst, somebody forget to tell Anchorage! Many of the market advantages that exist in much of the lower 48 dont apply here. In our mainly service oriented economy, jobs and wages have been fairly insulated from the downturn and the sellers market, while loosing some ground, still persists.

An example is Seascape Subdivision in South Anchorage. Home built there in the late 90's, early 2000's, sold new in the $240K -$260K. They are now listing at $320 and up. Owners who sold after just two years pocketed $40K- $60K. So while valuations have held, they are still inflated. Especially when you consider these are little more than T1-11 clad boxes built on eight to twenty feet of peat. In some instances, they excavated down to clay and poured footers, and under the mere 2 feet of clay... Peat! Many of these homes will see foundation/ structural issues throughout their life. Much of Anchorage is built in muskeg, so sub-grade crawlers and basements are something to pay much attention to.

My opinion is that long term hold is the way to go here. Market conditions, lack of inventory, and high rehab costs, make rehab/flip a tough row to hoe.

I certainly dont posess the depth of knowledge and experience so genrously offered here on BP, but I would be more than happy to share any Anchorage market specific knowledge that I have with you.

Hey Rich!

I use an ozone air purifier. The one I use is offered by a MLM company called Alpine Industries. They have several models but the best one has an automatic settin so it can be used in occupied spaces and maintain an acceptable ozone level. To treat serious odor issues I close up room and run full blast for a day and then air out. They kill mold and deal very well with cigarette and cigar smoke, fresh paint smells etc. i have had customers with allergies and reactions to the formaldahide in new carpet, etc who actually bought a machine after mine took care of the problem a hand. If you google it Im sure yo can find a dealer in your area.