I only got part way to my goal today of replacing the old shelving on the west wall next to the stove with my brand new bakers rack. I started by clearing everything off the shelves. Then I removed the shelf with the Pennsylvania Dutch motif.
That came down easily because it had not been there long. Then I attacked the old counter-high shelf. I knew this would be a challenge because it had been there, I think, since the cabin was built in 1939. Too bad I hadn't had this idea before I painted because this paint I bought at Ace that has the primer in it is really tough paint. I could see two screws beneath the paint and dug out around them and cleaned out the slot in the top so I could get a screw driver in there. Then I squirted a lot of WD-40 in and around them. They came out much more easily than I had anticipated, but the shelf didn't budge when they were removed.
I could see a small nail head under each screw hole, but could tell there was something higher up that was keeping the shelf in place. I used a screw driver and hammer to drive down between the wall and shelf. Good thing the screw driver was already damaged!
I finally determined my Dad had driven in nails on an angle, one on top and one in from the side, on each end of the shelf. I was able to get one out because the wood was so rotten it splintered and left the nail exposed, but the other three weren't budging. Time to go to Nederland for a pry bar. I needed to exchange two library books for two more anyway and pick up a few groceries, so cleaned up and made the run into town. Couldn't decide which of a myriad of pry bars at Ace to buy, but with an eye on the budget, figured I'd start out small so paid about $6 for one.
Came home and, with an apology to my Dad, started prying away. The pry bar is my new favorite tool! It really worked. Had the shelf off within ten minutes.
Had to knock out all the old, rusty nails from the shelf since they looked like tetanus to go.
Then had to address the damage to the wall behind the shelves. (While I was thinking about that, I cut up all the cardboard from the packing box the bakers rack came in. I am low on kindling and am having to buy fire starters, so this will come in handy). I could see that some of the damage on the wall was just paint edges from my and other previous paint jobs. But there was some rotten wood behind the lower shelf. I tried sanding by hand, but it seemed as if I was making little progress. Decided I would just build up the areas with a product I had purchased several weeks ago called Erase-a-Hole. It's Spackle in what looks like stick deodorant form. I think it worked fairly well.
I'm waiting for it to dry so I can sand it and then paint. I think it probably needs to dry over night. At any rate, I'm using that as an excuse to stop and start one of my new books. Tired.
These are my new helpmeets:
What are your "must-have" tools? Teddee
No comments:
Post a Comment