Week 26 - Painting

I was very happy with the City's recycled paint I used as a primer. I did finally decide to use it on the body of the house as well. None of the colors were exactly what I wanted, but I thought I could get pretty close by mixing equal amounts of the grey and the tan, which is what I did. It made a wonderful mess and, in retrospect, would have probably been easier if I simply got a larger container and poured both five gallon buckets into it instead of mixing back and forth between the two.

However, I did not think it would be possible to create the trim and accent colors I wanted in the same way. Also, I would not need the same quantity of any of these colors and the recycled paint only comes in five gallon quantities. So I went ahead and bought them new. The fiberglass clad windows are already painted, and I may find that ordinary exterior paint will not adhere properly to them, but I was told that they could be painted so, if necessary, I will find out with what and redo the accent colors (off black and green).

At the beginning of the week, I picked up scaffolding. It's faster, safer, and gives me way more control over how I work. There were also a few spots that simply could not be reached with my ladder (gutter overhangs particularly). The scaffolding itself, which I got at Kennedy Rentals was relatively easy to set up and take down on my own, an important feature since the tree, the reduced size of the front yard, and the porch steps made it impossible to move the scaffolding anywhere without taking it down and setting it back up again where I wanted it.

Also, it is very important to figure out how you will need to do an unfamiliar task before you get the equipment. I could have gotten larger scaffolding, but it would not have worked in my situation. As it was, some areas were a very tight fit.

Normally I would do all or most of one color before moving on to the next, but because of the scaffolding and time considerations I did two coats of all colors in each location before moving on. And I concentrated on the areas that needed scaffolding to reach them. If necessary I can finish the lower areas after the scaffolding goes back.

First I did the office front, it being the tallest and most complex to paint, although it was also the easiest to reach since there were no major obstructions. Also, since I was evaluating my color choices, I did the whole wall top to bottom.

Then I moved to the front wall over the porch, except for the area directly above the steps. Getting that little bit involved off-setting the scaffolding with one set of legs on the steps and the other on the ground.

The next set-up was in the driveway, another offset setup because of the driveway slope. This allowed me (finally) to reach the overhanging eaves, one spot I could not reach with a ladder because of the driveway slope and the height.

The last area was the east side of the office, which involved the added complication of setting-up and working around the tree, a fence, my electrical wires and the cable hook-up. Very interesting. On this side I will have an odd color transition between the old and new house that will be visible from the street. I had planned on painting my vinyl siding on this side to match, but I doubt that will happen this year, since the weather is already changing and I still have the garage to do.

At this point everything that requires scaffolding is done.

In the office I did most of the cut pieces around the perimeter of the floor. Tedious but necessary. After discussing it with my contractor I glued down the diamond and cut the transition pieces for it as well. There are some irregularities that will need to be dealt with, but overall I like it. We also worked out some of my misunderstanding about the closet doorways, so now I know how to proceed with them as well. Totally my fault, what I THOUGHT was in the contract wasn't the same as what was ACTUALLY in the contract. And no excuse, because I took it out myself.

Slater also finished most of the minor detail work that needed to be done, leaving only three issues, the porch flashing, the screen door sweep and the pocket doors.

Next week, the weather is changing.

Week 27 - Outside