To scrape the house, we purchased an insane 3 or 5 or 47 in one tool that seems capable of just about any household chore short of babysitting my kids. But we haven't used it. Why? Because it's too much tool for the job. Turns out I'm not actually trying to strip my house of all prior paint before repainting it, so my 52 in one tool is too much muscle. Instead, we've scraped with a plain old wire brush. It has seemed to do the job.
One can of primer looks like it is probably going to do the job too, since I am only priming areas of bare wood... or, as I look carefully at my siding... bare cardboard. Wow, it's pathetic material. Moving on.
I find that my house is growing. It seems that every time I think I have completed all of the priming on one side of my house, I walk by it the following day to find an entire section of bare wood (or cardboard) that must have sprouted overnight (there's no WAY I could have missed that much, could I?!).
The caulking is quite another issue. I caulked. It cracked within a week. I caulked again with a fresh tube. It cracked again within a week. Colorado has a way harsh climate, but something had to work. My husband informed me that my dad (the DIY guru) swears by Marine 5200 caulk. Yes, marine as in, for use on boats. WATERTIGHT. So. I've caulked a third time. So far, so good. I am not going to bash products here that I find aren't working for me, I'm just going to tell you what IS working for me, and so far the 5200 is doing great. Added bonus: in the event of Biblically proportioned flood, PARTY AT MY PLACE!
Most of the scraping, priming, and caulking is done. I would say I'm at 75% completion right now, after hubby's help with caulking this past weekend.
Of course, we did find another slight obstacle this weekend.
"Did you see the nest?" Todd called to me from outside on Saturday morning.
Can you see it? Right there atop the brick pillar? Would you like a closer look?
Well, I can't rightly displace a little growing family! This is going to set me back some, I think.
Good update, thanks Meliss.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was an apprentice painter at 15 one day I was assigned the task of painting all the flashing and ducts on top of a row of tract houses on a construction site. I set to the task and was sure I had done a great job. My boss and I were walking along the street the next day and he began pointing out all the shiny metal you could see from the street (that had no paint on it). He asked why I didn't paint them and I said "I got everything. They must have come last night and installed some new stuff". I didn't have that job very long...
keep up the great work! you will have the nicest house on the block by mid-summer!can you come restain our deck when you're finished?
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have done a great job so far, hon. It is definitely going to look fabulous when we're done.And have you told dean about what we need to do with OUR deck?
ReplyDeleteyou are lucky you are an owner-occupant. i just had to do a 8 hour class on lead paint stuff now that that new federal law went into effect. in a nutshell- power washing is a thing of the past. painters and contractors are nor responsible for capturing all waste water. wtf?!?!?!?! anyways, since you are all holly hobby and what not, you should make a paint chip pie for the kids. i hear it promotes smartness or something like that ;)
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