Installing the Floor Molding

Now finally, finally, finally we can install the molding, fill the seams and paint.

You may recall that I previously filled and painted the shelf when I installed the ceiling moulding.  As (bad) luck would have it, the seams where the shelf top boards join have cracked.  My guess is this may be a never-ending battle, but I'm going to fill them again and see what happens.  I originally filled them when it was cooler, and during summer when it was warmer they opened up again.  They're still pretty much opened up so maybe this time I'll get lucky and they won't crack.

I'm not sure why the PO used two boards and left a seam in the center.  He should have just used one 10" wide board...who knows why he didn't.

At any rate, I filled the seams again and used my trusty Ryobi random-orbital sander to sand the filler.  It's probably a good thing that I'm repainting the shelf tops, since they got marked up and dirty when I sat tools there.

I've actually gotten pretty good at painting.  I used to really hate it and rush through it.  But since I now take the time to do the prep right, my jobs are coming out much better, which makes me be more careful and makes it almost fun.  Note that I said "almost."  I still wouldn't want to paint for a living.  Now if I can learn to refinish radio cabinets the same way, I'll be in good shape.

One little detail I don't want to overlook before the floor molding is finished is one last bit of wiring.  It's for the phone line, and I need to run it from the place where the combined phone/cable/data outlets will be.  Actually, there will be 3 data drops total, and 2 cable drops.

When I ran the data line from the sunroom to the main router in the basement, I came up with a method to run the line from the room under the floor (actually up on the basement ceiling).  I have this Italian-made (!) extension pole for painting.  It rocks.  I just tied the phone wire to it (see the arrow in the pic) and then used the pole to run it under the floor to a point where I could retrieve it in the basement and finish the run to the phone box.

The area in the basement has a (dreaded) cheap tile ceiling much like the one I ripped out of the sun room.  The PO was REAL fond of that stuff.  I took some tiles out so I could then get up between the joists and pick up the end of the pole.

I took a picture of it which you see here.  The shutter speed on the camera as real slow - like an eighth of a second or something.  So what you see is a little surreal looking because of camera shake.  (Not to be confused with Shaky-Cam you see on You Tube).

The light at the end is a flashlight sitting on the sunroom floor pointing toward the basement.  The pole is on the left, and on the right you can see the coax for the cable. 

Another detail not to overlook is a cut into the molding where the two AC lines, the data line, the phone line, and the cable line will all run behind the molding/"wall" under the shelf section.

The white line is the AC for the outlets, while the gray is for the heaters.  You can also pick out the brownish phone line here as well.

You can also see where I masked the floor with brown paper.  I want to make the edges of the molding clean, but I can't risk getting any paint on the tile.

Simple-but-neato tool time.

I used a nail set to drive the finish nails holding the molding on below the surface of the molding.  So simple, so clever, so cool.

After you drive the nails in, just spackle over them, sand a bit and paint.  The nails are now invisible.

I put down a big tarp and moved all the tools and sordid junk onto it in the middle.  This stuff had all accumulated on the shelves that go around the room.

The tarp will also help keep the tile relatively clean during the rest of the project.

While I was doing all this, one of our neighborhood cats was out patrolling.  What a life.