Three week project turned into four months and honestly I kept smiling about it

I told my friend I'd help her repaint her living room, figured it'd be a quick weekend thing. Turned out the previous owner had used oil based paint under latex and the whole thing started peeling after the first coat. Between stripping, priming, and repainting it took me from February to early June because I could only go over on Sundays. Has anyone else had a simple favor balloon way past what you promised?

3 comments

3 Comments

corablack1mo ago

Ugh, that sounds like a total nightmare, but at least you kept your cool about it. Hey @kelly385 I think you meant to say the previous owner used latex over oil, not the other way around, since oil under latex usually bonds fine. Either way, that notebook idea is genius for keeping your sanity when a project turns into a saga.

kelly3851mo ago

Oh man, the oil over latex nightmare is real. That happened to me once with a dresser I was refinishing for my sister. What finally worked was just accepting that the timeline was going to be what it was and stopping trying to rush it. I started keeping a little notebook of what I got done each Sunday, even if it was just sanding one drawer. That way when I felt like I was making zero progress, I could look back and see I actually did stuff. Also, I learned to just tell people up front now that "I'll get to it when I can" and that usually sets the expectation better than a date.

wood.faith1mo ago

@kelly385 you've about talked me into trying the notebook approach, I was never a list person before.