I was full of positive energy, as I returned home from the
local Home Depot with my tools in hand.
I started with:
-
Low velocity power washer,
- Paint scraper,
- Sandpaper for my palm sander,
- Paint brushes and rollers, and lastly
- Mildew and water resistant white paint.
I did my due diligence and asked a few neighbours what they used
for their trim maintenance, Goggled it, and let my mind mull over ideas for a
few days. During that time, I saw a
console table in a neighbours garbage, pulled it out and “side trip number 1”
began. I examined my new find, decided
it just needed some sanding and black paint to be reincarnated into stylish
home design. Since I am known for
repurposing other people’s garbage, my husband groaned when he saw it and said,
“where is THAT going to go?”. “I have no
idea.” I replied, and added, “if I don’t
find a great spot I will sell it – don’t worry.” I expect this is the same reason he bans me
from trolling garage sales.
Back to Home Depot I go to buy a finer grade of sandpaper
and black melamine paint for the table.
Notice I have not yet made any progress with the first project. I return home with the chipped paint on the
house and garage trim still greeting me, I sigh and refocus. OK – “step away from the table”, I tell
myself. I change into my painting
clothes, and return to project number one.
That day and over the next several, I manage to squeeze in
1-2 hours of trim work on good-weather days.
I power-washed all of the loose paint away, taking care to keep the
nozzle at a distance from the wood to avoid damaging it. When I reached the base of the railing trim,
the wood flew into pieces when met with the spray of water I had aimed at it. It looked like the trim was not pressure
treated wood. It had collected water as the paint chipped and the wood had
rotted. No problem (translation in brain
– crap – now what), it is just trim, I will take it all off, buy some new trim
and “Bob’s your Uncle”. “Not so fast”, yells
my insecurity – as I look closer. It is
NOT just decorative trim that I’m dealing with but trim that is actually supporting
the base of the structure – and not very well, considering the condition of the
wood. I have just opened a can of worms
.. .exactly what scares me about these projects.
The washed wood required a couple of days to dry, my apprehension
jumped at that excuse to grow and I let my subconscious mull it all over. I was worried about two things. First, I wanted to put a solid piece of pressure
treated, trimmed wood in place of the decorative trim that had rotted, so that
this same problem would not return in a few years. The problem with that is finding wood that is
already the right size and finished decoratively OR figuring out how to use a router
and make it myself ... gulp. Second, since I am basically removing the bottom piece
of a structural pole and replacing it, how do I support the rest of the
pole/railing and porch roof while I am at it?
Inspiration came from one of my favourite pastimes, internet
shopping!! Home Depot sells ‘rail
toppers’. They are used for the top of
rails to make them look pretty. They are
pressure treated, come in all different sizes, are a solid square of wood and
offer decorative edging. Perfect! Off I go, again. While there I see some bulbs for tulips at a good
price (side project number two), grab a new garden tool to plant them, and
along with my six rail toppers (because I have now decided to replace all lower
trim on poles) – off I go again.
Thank God it is raining – I get to take a few more days to
figure out how I am going to lift the pole to get the new wood blocks in
place. I also need to mull over if I
should paint them ahead of time … AND figure out how I will get project number
one, and two and three, all done within the next two weeks, to remain on my
schedule. Come back and visit me to see
how I do!!!
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