The Weekend Where I Learn to Sand, Prime and Paint

Of course after I posted all those house projects we tackled in our first year of home ownership it made me pine for a new project.  Since I'm still on the injured list in fact, I'm going back to the doctor AGAIN on Monday for new xrays and hopefully a prescription for some meds. (Note: I really dislike taking meds of any kind however, it has come to a point where walking, especially first thing in the morning is EXCRUCIATING.  It's time for the meds.) I decided Saturday that riding any part of the Covered Bridge Ride just wasn't the smartest idea.  Sure I could have ridden the family 40 mile or probably even done the metric century BUT at this point I want to do whatever I can to help my foot heal and while riding doesn't seem to make it worse I decided why torture myself with a few hours of painful riding.  (This is the first FAIL on the list of August goals, oh well.)


Moving on...what did I decide to do with my spare time?  Took on a house project!

When we moved in last year we knew we wanted to make improvements to the deck.  The picture below shows most of the side of the deck, it's a wrap around so there is deck in the front too.  

On the list was: 

1. Re-stain the deck--CHECK

2. Hang baskets along the deck--CHECK
3. Build a gate (ooooh, I forgot to add that to the Year 1 list...maybe I'll go back and edit)--CHECK

My dad and Mr. Pi build a gate last summer

4. Scrape, sand, prime and re-paint the railing and slats


We have already tackled the first three items listed above I thought might as well give the 4th a whirl.  I had intended to just sand and re-paint the green railings and leave the slats for another day but then I started in on the project and got carried away.  At first I was going to cover just one section but then again, I thought, I have all this equipment out why not tackle the whole side of the deck.  

And begin...

Scrape!

Sand

Half sanded (left), Not sanded but peeling paint (right)

Getting ready to tack the slats

Ready, Set, Prime!

All primed by about 2:00 pm, Sunday (man hours at that point were about 11 hours between Saturday and Sunday)

Half with primer, half with fresh paint!

re-painted slats

And...several hours later (like 15ish between the two days), with a little help from Jen, everything is painted!

FINISHED! 

When Mr. Pi got home from the Century Ride, which he rocked!, I realized that 15 hours really did make a difference but this wasn't a project that really added anything to the house.  It was more or less just a fixer project.  While it's satisfying to have it finished, I'm ready to take on something that adds to the house next time. Bring on the patio and all the little projects to get the yard ready for the patio!