Many Eyes

 

There is a new, rather large, high end condo project in the works and the owners called on us to do some wall coverings in the show suite/sales center which will be opening shortly, if it is not already. There is a washroom mock-up, done in marble, glass, and mirrors that needed a bit of dressing up. The graphics guys were already putting up their art work when we started. Fortunately we had a perfect work table where the architectural model was going to be installed under glass. That is our continuous roll of high end ultra fine string cloth on the table in the top photo.

 

There was some debate as to whether the material should be hung vertically or horizontally. Vertically won out.

 

This mirror was protected with a sheet of plywood. There was just enough room to run our material against the LED lights. There was another frame of glass going around the lights and the final effect was supposed to be spectacular. I will be going back when it is open to see what they were talking about, but I could see that it was going to be good.

 

The final piece is going against the marble. I was so glad that they had not caulked or grouted the edge so I could tuck the material just behind the edge, making a perfect finish line. Working with high end is a bit stressful, but when the end of the job comes and it turns out well, there is little that is more satisfying. After all, there will be many eyes on this project. What sells units for the developers? Location, price, layout, materials, and workmanship.

 

Thom Creek Estates

 

Several years ago we painted the entry/stairwell for this couple on Promontory Heights in Chilliwack. They called us back recently to do the kitchen/family room. It was so packed with furniture, shelving, and knickknacks that I was sure we would have to help them move it all. When we arrived at the prescribed time, the room was cleaned out enough so we could get around the edges to prep and paint the walls. Again, a total transformation with some intense colour. This is going against the trend which is light grey/beiges. I was happy that I did not have to help them put it back together.  

Work With a View

 

We were given ample lead time for this job, but, the day we started it, we found out there were severe time restraints and deadlines. We had already started on a Saturday morning to get a head start. The floor layers were there and promptly informed us that we could only be one hour as they were 'floating' the wavy floor in preparation for laminate. The smooth set could only be walked on 24 hours later. So we hit it with a vengeance on Monday morning.  

 

There were some intense colours and the change from lime green was welcome.

 

The office was a deep burnt orange. There were six colours altogether. The living/entry was a deep rich red with black trim.

 

We finished about an hour after the final cleanup crew arrived, and the movers were parking their big rig at the base of the tower. We put up with loud saws, hammering, and very fine sawdust all week and were more than happy to get out of there. This was the third home I have painted or wallpapered for this client. We also hung some commercial vinyl wall covering in his restaurant. Needless to say that we like each other.

Watching With Wonder

     Watching American Politics has never been more fascinating. With every day that passes in the race for the nominations for the presidency, the stakes get higher and the citizens of the USA become more polarized.
    It is interesting that Bernie Saunders and Donald Trump, though diametrically opposed on almost all issues, are using the same tactics to gain support. It is the old trick of dividing and conquering with fear, alienation and anger. Donald with his dose of racism and Bernie with his 1% lament and diatribes against the wealthy. Each of them have their own brand of 'scary' if they should be elected. And heaven forbid we get another lying Clinton in the White House.
   To put things in a little bit of perspective, let us realise that so much of what we see is showmanship and manipulation of the electorate. Knowing what to say and how to say it is the key to winning over voters, especially those who are ignorant regarding the pressing issues that are often ignored in political campaigns. We saw a classic example of this in our Canadian election just a few months ago.
    But we must realise that the POTUS does not really run the country. The bureaucrats, congress, special interest groups, lobbyists, and big business with its deep pockets are who truly pull the strings behind the scenes. I recently heard Obama state that much has been done but there is so much to do. He was referring to his 8 years in office and his accomplishments. He had 8 years and there was still much to do! That says that he did not have the power to do what he really wanted, and it will be that way with the next president.
    But for me, the bottom line can be found in Daniel 2:21 where it says that God sets up kings and deposes them. That says that God is in control and if Trump (or Saunders) get in, it is not a surprise to God and he will use that for his purposes.
    So I would like to see the American people let democracy run its course. Forget the protests and attacks, and let the people vote for their leader. It is all orchestrated by God and last I heard, He does not make mistakes.

Tropical Island

 

It is always a bit of an adventure going to a new job to actually hang the mural before seeing the mural or the room it is going in.

This was a surprise because of the size. It was 12' wide but only 4' high. It fit quite nicely onto the wall behind the bar in this basement man cave.

 

I thought it was quite fortuitous that the light from the lamp hit the photo mural in just that spot, making it look like the sun was breaking out on the beach. It is a photo of one of the Maldives Islands. Being a cold and rainy day, this really made me want to go there.

As Solid As A Brick Wall

 

It would appear as though I could now add bricklaying to my many talents.

Yellow Roses

 

What a pleasant surprise it was to find that the mural we were to hang was a bit of a dream come true for me. With the advent of non-woven wall coverings, I was wondering when murals would be printed on this amazing medium. Well, now they are. A regular sized 12' x 8' photomural now comes in 4 panels instead of 8. The adhesive can be rolled on the wall and the panels put in place without any expansion, soaking, warping, twisting or stretching.

 

This German made product was simply the best. Because there is no soaking time, and because there are only 4 panels, the hanging time on this mural was not the usual 3-4 hours, but a mere 1.5 hours, which was mostly spent plotting and pre-trimming.

 

The colour and print quality is outstanding and the finished product is beautiful, with invisible, butted seams.

 

As a side note, I papered this entire townhouse unit about 20 years ago. The couple I worked for at that time have since deceased and the man of the house is actually buried right next to my Mom and Dad at a nearby cemetery. There have been two owners since and now that all the old wallpaper is gone, the murals are going up.

Entry

 

Over the last 6 months, we have totally re-painted this house, in bits and pieces. The big project was left for last, namely, the entry, stairwell, lower hall, and dining room. There was a time when I did all the ladder work and braved all the high spots. No longer. I leave that for those younger than me, but I offer danger pay. Ladders and scaffolds are not for the feint of heart.

 

We covered the two shades of gold with two shades of gray beige. The whole area looked so much cleaner, brighter, and expansive. The customer was thrilled, especially when we came in under budget.

Surprises

 

I would not normally drive as far as Ryder Lake to do a small job, but the customer said she had 22 rolls of wallpaper and the whole room was to be done. That is worth a longer commute.

 

However, her description of the room was not accurate. "Just a standard bedroom" it was not. The only accurate description was that the ceilings were 8' tall. The house was under renovation and there was no heat. There were window treatments that had to come down, shelves mounted on the walls, a full length mirror on swivel brackets, art work, drapes and rods, and a few other goodies. We thought at first that it could not be done in one day because of all the prep and the fact that there were three closets with wrapped drywall returns, two windows with drywall returns, an alcove with a round corner header, and 4 round outside corners which can be a real problem if they are not deadly plumb.

 

The one redeeming factor was that the paper was random match....no pattern that had to be matched, and it was non-woven, the best and easiest paper to hang.

 

By noon we were half done, and by 4 pm we were out of there. I was delighted and surprised. Too bad the light and the photos do not show off the beautiful silver shimmery pattern on the paper.

Gold

This was an exotic glittery gold wall covering that the client ordered on-line. It took longer to figure out the pattern match than to hang the paper. 

Fortunately for us, the seam fell exactly on the wall mounted TV bracket and we went around the TV in no time flat. 

I thought this might have looked fantastic going around the whole room. But that would have taken another 25 rolls and would have broken the bank. It was a rather large room. 

A Touch Of Italy

 

Our first two jobs of 2016 were mural installations. This one was in a master bedroom on the wall facing the bed. It was an 8 panel mural and was 12' wide x 8' tall. It did not quite fit on the wall as the vault went to almost 10 ' and the wall was 14 1/2 ' wide.

The first panel absolutely has to be installed plumb and level.

 

4 panels up and all is straight. The customer insisted that the plug plate would not cut off the nose of the cruise ship....and we made sure it did not. (bottom right hand corner)

 

Panel 5 of 8 and we ran into a warping problem. These panels are soft and stretchy when the adhesive has soaked into them and they will stretch if pulled back and repositioned more than once.

 

 

After the 8th panel was up and smoothed down, there was a sigh of relief as the customer was thrilled with it. A baseboard along the bottom, some cedar lattice along the sides and to fill in the triangle of the vaulted ceiling, and these folks will wake up thinking they are in Italy, looking out over the terrace of their bedroom.  The murals today are very hi-res what with mega-pixel cameras and hi-tech printers. This photo was consistent in colour and was very sharp and clear. I have always been very impressed with any wall covering product coming out of Germany, like this one was.

Workout Inspiration

 

Our first job of 2016 was hanging a wall photo mural. We had to cut around 16 inches off, vertically, and it was not wide enough horizontally. We centered it and the colour of the wall was the same shade of green as the leaves in the photo, so it was fine.

As always, the first two panels are critical as to plumb and level.

 

It slowly took shape and after three hours, the exercise room was transformed.

 

You can barely make out the seat of the recumbent bike, and beside it, the treadmill. The client was feeling motivated to get back to her exercise routine with the lovely outdoor scene, also reflected in a mirror on the other side of the room. I had never hung this one before so it was something different, beautiful, and turned out very well and to the customer's satisfaction. Oddly enough, our second job of the year was also a photo wall mural. Photos to come.

Christmas Leisure Time

 

A tradition around our house at Christmas is to gather round the dining room table and put together a few Jigsaw Puzzles. We did two very interesting and challenging puzzles this year.

 

My son snuck into my computer one day and stole one of my car show photos. They then had it made into a puzzle. It was of very high quality and was not at all easy to do. (1000 pieces)

 

It was, however, fun and rewarding and of course it had special meaning to me. I was tempted to mount and frame it, but only old folks do that.

 

The second and equally challenging puzzle was given to me by my sister. I am sure it was meant to challenge  the old guy and was an attempt to drive him nuts. Every piece seemed to have every colour that was needed for the piece you were looking for.

 

Without the photo on the box, this would have been almost impossible. Strangely though, when we were about 3/4 done, it suddenly got really easy and we were putting in pieces as fast as we could pick them up off the table. As you can see, Andrew fried his brain doing this one. Liam is putting in the last piece, and I was still sane enough to take a photo.