The Windows that Almost Killed Me

We wanted to install crown molding in our master bedroom, but the window trim was too close to the ceiling.  We had a few options, but we knew the one that would look the best would be to remove the existing trim, cut everything down from 4" to 3" and reinstall it after the crown was up.  Sounds easy, right...

The first surprise was that the window frame was 4" inches wide and had a big gap on the outside edge.  This means that I would have to use some joint compound to fill it in, sand, prime, and paint.

Then, we found out that plaster doesn't survive 90 years.  Basically, the wall was held up by paint and trim.  When I removed both, it turned to dust and fell on the floor.  More joint compound.

With the wall rebuilt, I had to cut the trim down to size.  I then bought new rosettes (the squares the in the corners) that were 3 1/4" and would fit under the crown.  Unfortunately, there was 90 years worth of paint on the trim, so I thought it would be nice to sand it off.  I started with sandpaper - way too difficult.  Then I moved to a dremel tool (6 hours worth!).  That was too uneven.  So, I bought some paint stripper.  That worked great, but because there was so much paint, it turned into this horrible paste that got stuck in the grooves. I gave up after a few hours of trying to scrape it off, and threw it in the alley.  Then, this morning, I decided to give it another try.  I guess sitting in the cold all night made the paste harden and I scraped it off.  Success.  A little sanding and primer and it was ready to install.  I put it up and calked the whole thing.

Thought it was a huge headache, it looks great and was worth the effort.