Kinda what I figured. Just didn't have the balls to start turning stuff on / off when I first started poking around.

I have spent the past 5 days painting my house. Here is what I've learned:

-I hate painting

-Even the highest quality paint will require 2 coats if you are going with a light color.

-18" rollers are the greatest invention ever.

-invest in a good quality extension pole.

-it's nice when friends help, but make sure you have at least one other friends that can cut an edge without the need of tape.

-climbing 20' up a ladder to cut an edge at the ceiling sucks, and make your calves sore after an hour.

i can't even read "20' ladder' without becoming uneasy.

I used to have to climb up a wooden ladder at least that tall that looked like it was from the early 1900s, carrying a 30-40lb bucket. It was the worst.

Yeah, me and ladders don't mix well either. When I was a kid my old man used to make me climb up one of those old wooden extension ladders and scrub the aluminum siding on the house. Had to put a lot of elbow grease into it and I could feel that ladder shaking and moving underneath me. Never fell, but got close a few times.

Is there that much of a difference without having to use tape? My thought is if you need to do more than one coat, then using tape takes the same amount of time and cuts down on mistakes. Do you think using tape is that time-consuming or is there another reason?

I've done this before and it does indeed suck.

The texture on the ceiling made it near impossible to tape and ensure no wall paint would seep under and get on the ceiling. A steady hand and thick coat was a better choice.

Also taping while up a ladder and having to move and tape another 3' length would have been to time consuming. I could cover a 5 l' width by just painting.

20' ladder is fine; 16' aluminum extension ladder with 200lbs load capacity extended to 20' that cost $99, not so fine.

Gotcha. Both make sense in those situations.

i've never needed to, but i think i could actually do 20' in an indoor setting i have complete control over, or at least be less uneasy about it. control freak issues aside, something about knowing there are 'soft' walls and a flat landing area rests my mind.

over the years, i am getting worse though. i've mentioned it a couple years back when the subject came up, but for instance, walking up stairs, I need to stay to the inside or I get nervous. same with escalators.

also, i won't get within 10 feet of a floor to ceiling window that is not on the first floor.

/deeprootedissues

All of this talk of being uneasy climbing ladders reminded me of this...

HOLY ****. Serious case of the sweat hands that stuff is insane.

Tell me about it! I had to shut it off when he hit the red section of the tower.

I used to paint houses and do yard work in the summer. I'd always get the jobs where they guy painted 3/4 of his house and left me the downward side of the hill where I needed a 30' ladder to get to the top. Good thing I was completely invincible back then.

Professional painters almost never use tape. You get better and quicker results without it, if you know how to do cut in work.

Ugh. Need a new roof over a portion of my house.

Had a play room added onto the house a bit over six years ago. Passed inspection, etc. Over the weekend, I noticed a couple lines of water stains on the ceiling - looked like a leak resulting in water running down the joists.

Had a couple reputable roofing companies come out and they both said the same thing: the pitch of the roof is too shallow for regular shingles, which were what had been installed. It's not a big deal most of the time, but with a big storm, the rain doesn't run off properly and ends up getting under the shingles.

Both presented me with the exact same solution: replace the roof over that room entirely, using a certain kind of roofing material. One of the guys gave me a cheaper option, but said there was no guarantee it would work (basically, very heavy rains could still defeat it), so he couldn't warranty it.

Going to be around $4,000. Blech.

So, just a warning to people planning on an addition. Be very, very certain that the roof is the right pitch and/or the roofing material is appropriate.

EDIT: Interestingly, I called up one more roofer today and left a voicemail, describing the situation, but not telling them what the other roofers said. They called back (another voicemail) and already knew it was a pitch problem. They won't even come look at it until a GC raises the pitch. Guess they don't have the same materials the other guys do.

Roofing companies are the worst. Good luck.

My dad owned a roofing company for many years, ill ask him and see if there are any alternatives and report back.

I used to own a home with a roof that didn't have much pitch. Roof was covered with some kind of asphalt/rubber material like you'd see on a flat commercial roof. Never had a problem with it. Seems like it should be pretty common.

post a picture of the roof. what is the pitch? was it actually built to code? consider suing the general contractor or at least complaining. $4000 sounds like a lot for what i assume is EPDM roofing? How many squares is the roof? Get more quotes and opinions. Are the shingles three-tab or dimensional?

also does your insurance company know that the roof slope is so low? have they inspected the roof? do they list it is a flat roof on your insurance?

Another window treatment question. I'm deciding on the colors of the solar shades and was considering doing different colors in the family room and the kitchen. It's a semi open concept with a big opening in the door between the two rooms. Is it acceptable to have different color shades in this scenario?

I know there was some talk about matching fixtures for similar/connected rooms.

An internet search yields mixed results.

How big is the addition? What do they want to use? Gold?

Personally, I say stay within the same color palette given it is semi open. But I am not a pro.

Any suggestions for a good cordless drill?