Baby Gates

Pfitzer started crawling early and he is a climber! The other two weren't this bad (or maybe I have already forgotten.)

The dogs are not allowed upstairs, so when we moved in, we put up a baby gate to train them. It was a pressure mounted gate that we fixed to a width and just slid it over to allow access to the stairs. But I knew I would need a more permanent solution one day. I just didn't want permanent holes going up in my walls or newel posts!

But once Pfitzer started climbing, I had to find a quick solution. Mom has a walk-thru pressure mounted gate that we like. She uses it to keep her dogs on that side of the house.

I bought two (one for the bottom of the stairs and one for the top.) It was wide enough and easy. But when I felt the amount of pressure that went it to securing the gate safely, I got worried about the pressure pushing on the newel posts. The posts are only secured to the ground and the top part would be pushed out with so much force, that I feared the post would eventually start leaning over time. And I also learned pressure-mounted gates are not for stairs! Even if they say they are stairway safe, don't do it. Pressure-mounted gates can easily be pushed (especially if not installed correctly) and a baby/toddler would go flying down the stairs with the dislodged gate. I quickly returned the gates and decided to build my own. It meant holes were going in my posts and walls.

I got the inspiration from The White Farmhouse Blog.  They had a white gate at the bottom of their stairs.

I bought pre-primed pine wood in a 3-inch width. I measured a million times before cutting. I bought gate hardware with self-closing hinges. I know my boys aren't good about shutting doors or closing drawers, so a self-closing gate would help them to make sure the gates are always closed.

The bottom gate went in first. With the pre-primed wood, I didn't have to paint it right away. I did have to add an extra piece of wood to the newel post to make the hinges call in the same zone.

I measured the desired height in coordinating with the newel post. The gate at the bottom is about 30 inches tall.

The newel post at the top of the stairs is shorter, so the gate ended up being only 26 inches tall. I made it so that you had a little bit of a landing before the gate and the gate opens away from the stairs, so you don't have to be awkward on the stairs and cause yourself a trip hazard.

I think it makes it look like a white picket fence!

The boys really liked the gates. They "helped" me build the bottom one. They got out those tools and went to town. After it was up, they were constantly playing on the stairs behind the gate pretending they were in jail. I built the upstairs gate while they were at school, so they missed out on that one. But when they came home, they were equally as thrilled. Mr. Brigglesworth kept telling me he loved my beautiful gate upstairs.

Not only is Pfitzer now safe from the stairs, but all my friends/relative with babies can come back over and let their babies roam free without worry. The playroom can be a playroom.

I used small screws to fasten the pieces together as this was prior to me buying a nail gun. But I filled in the screws as much as I could and then I painted four coats of gloss paint on these. Because they will be used a lot, a lot of layers of paint were needed.
 
I am really happy with the gates and so are the boys. Mr. JCrew said we could keep the gates up forever and my mind instantly went to needing these gates for our future grandchildren. Ha! I can't let myself rush life.

Drywall Tape Repair

I don’t know when the offense occurred, but our staircase ceiling had a separation from the drywall tape to the drywall.

It hit at such a hard-to-reach location. The staircase is so tall. It’s the only reason I haven’t painted the staircase wall. I can’t reach that high and putting a ladder on the landing would be dangerous.

This was a project I attempted right after my dad’s death. I so badly wanted to ask him for a solution. After the first failed attempt, I look up and asked Dad to give me some guidance. Allow me to think creatively and use my resources.

Attempt #1: The first attempt, I taped my trowel to my paint pole and put drywall plaster on it. It was such a hard angle and the plaster was not closing the gap. Fail #1

Attempt #2: The next attempt involved the ladder. I made Mr. JCrew get up there. We attempted to use the plaster again since we could get a better angle, but the plaster was not holding the gap shut. We needed to close the gap first. We used super glue to put the tape back up. The super glue was not holding and we ran out of glue. Mr. JCrew was tired, so we stopped trying and took a break.

Attempt #3: We bought more super glue and added painters tape to our resources. After we glued the tape, we used the painters tape to hold it in place while it dried.

Mr. JCrew's Handi-work

We let it sit like that for a week. Each time I wanted to get back up there to take the tape down, Mr. JCrew wasn’t available. There was no way I was getting on that ladder without support. I always had a plan while Mr. JCrew was on the ladder, that if he fell, I’d push him towards the door on the second floor. It would be less of a fall.

While I had the week to think, I came up with an alternative solution. I would get back on the ladder one last time and use a piece of painters tape to gently ease the seam into the ceiling.

I could then use my long painter’s pole to paint the tape to match the ceiling and all would be fixed.

I could use a roller and not have to secure a paint brush on the end, but I’ve dealt with corners with a roller, and it’s not easy. I thought I could handle the corner easier with a brush.

And it was a good solution. I have no idea why the tape decided to separate from the ceiling, but it was a problem that needed to be fixed. I was so close to calling a professional, but you know me… I like to do it myself if I can. 

Problem solved! It was a risky project and I am so glad it is done. 

Additional Security

I am not the Safety Police in our house, but with the projects recently, you’d think I was!

Mr. JCrew proudly holds that title. Every time I hang something (turtle shell, elephants) he makes sure I have securely fastened them to the wall.

I recently showed you how I went around and fastened all the furniture to the wall to prevent tipping, and although I see the fasteners, I’ve gotten use to them and I feel better knowing they won’t tip.

To continue on my safety streak, I got a tip from my dad. My dad has so much useful knowledge that I’m going to start doing posts filed under ‘Dad’s Shop’ so that I can start collecting all these tidbits and not forget. I can ask my Dad a question that is phrased out of order and using made up words, and he knows what I am trying to say and has a solution!

Before Mom and Dad left to go out of town recently, they made sure their home was secure. We aren’t paranoid people, but it’s a nice feeling knowing you’ve done all you could and no harm was done because you were neglectful. I once had my car ransacked because I left the car unlocked in the driveway. My own fault! I was too lazy to lock the door with the clicker from my window.

We had a break-in in the neighborhood two months ago and the police report said the intruder entered through the back door. The deadbolt held up, but the doorframe did not. It made me curious as to how my doorframe was secured to the house.

We bought 3 inch decking screws to go into the frame.

I drilled a pilot hole smaller than the screw about every six inches or so.

After the pilot hole, I used a countersink tool on my drill that created a cone shape entrance to the pilot hole.

This allowed the screw to bury into the frame and I could wood putty over it.

My dad has all the cool tools. He let me borrow that countersink bit for my drill.

Now that the door framing is secure to the house, I told Mr. JCrew he could slam doors all he wants and I would not mind! He is not a door slammer, but he has my permission to become one.

Just like usual, during the project, I found a better way to do it. The bottom half of the front door, I put the screws out in the open. You can easily see them when the door is ajar. I then realized I could be putting the screws behind the rubber seal as much as possible and they would be almost hidden.

I still have to go back and putty and paint over them.

During the installation on three doors (front, back, garage) I only found three nails in the frames! Those three nails were in one door. I really hope those aren’t the only things holding the frame to the house, but I never ran into any during the install.

I was really glad I took the extra precaution to make sure our door couldn’t be kicked in. It’s not that we have things to steal that are of value, but I don’t like the feeling of being violated. Plus, I have kids to protect now! 

Do I get a Safety Patrol badge for this? I loved being a Safety Patrol in Elementary school. I got to do it in both fourth and fifth grade. And then the patrols got to go to DC for a week. Do they do that anymore?

Furniture Safety

My Target bookcases that I have three of, came with attachments to secure the bookcase to the wall. I never used them. Maybe I was naive. But after I read a story about a woman that lost a young child, I went out and bought protection to secure every tall piece of furniture to the wall.

This woman’s child was quietly playing in her room until it was “time to wake up.” When her parents finally got up, they discovered their child underneath her dresser. They never heard her scream because a drawer was on her neck. She couldn’t scream. 

Little JCrew is usually always accompanied by us while he plays, but there are times we give him freedom to play independently. This kid loves to climb and I know once he transitions out of the crib, there may be nap times or mornings when he gets out of bed to play without supervision.

The funny part to this story is that I ordered WAY too many. There was no picture of the packaging or a description to say that one package had 8 sets. Two pieces on each furniture means one package could secure four pieces of furniture. I ordered 13 packages! Luckily they are cheap. I ordered from Diapers.com and they allowed me to return 10 packages. Whoa! I knew something was wrong when my shipping confirmation said it weighed 10+ pounds. I just had to laugh at my oversight.

It took me one nap time (1.5 hours) to go around the house and secure all the furniture to the wall. I didn’t want to put extra holes in my wall and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to rearrange furniture any time soon. But the price of safety outweighs the holes in the wall.

The product description stated how you can unlock it to move the furniture to clean around it. This was good to know, since I move my furniture when I vacuum and sweep (yeah, right! I should.) I even put it on the furniture that appears heavy. You never know if a 20-30 pound toddler can be just enough weight to tilt a 100-lb chest of drawers. 

I now have the peace of mind that I’ve done what I can to keep my children safe. You have to let kids live a little, but keep them safe at the same time.