Painting a house…the right way
Posted: March 17, 2010 Filed under: Outside stuff Leave a comment »I really started to doubt the thinking behind the decision to paint the house ourselves when my feet started cramping from standing on a ladder for so long.
The thing was, the house was in desperate need of new paint. Not a “blow and go” paint job either, where a couple of college kids, a pressure washer and an airless sprayer show up for a day or two, charge you five grand and leave you with a somewhat better looking house.
No, our paint was cracked, checked and peeling. The house needed some serious TLC. This meant stripping down to bare wood, doing a thorough job restoring the siding, applying many cases of caulk, priming, repairing window casings and trim, then applying the highest-quality paint in a way that would highlight the house’s architectural style.
I should also mention that the house’s paint had never been stripped. This meant it was covered in many coats of lead-based paint. And we have a young daughter. Lead dust and kids don’t mix well.
In some ways the smart thing would have been to pull off all of the siding and cart it to the dump, replacing it with something new. It would have been cheaper and faster. But in my mind it would also have been a tragedy. We have clear fir and cedar siding and shingles–the stuff from old-growth forests that were harvested to … build houses. And we felt a responsibility to preserving this. Plus, you can’t buy materials this good anymore. They simply don’t exist.
Coming off this tangent, what do you think it would cost to pay someone to do things the right way? And keep in mind that this was at the height of the housing bubble, when all contracters were super busy. Anyone?
If you guessed $25,000 to $30,000, you’d be guessing right. And this wouldn’t include stripping in a way that minimized lead dust all over our gardens.
After reading a bunch of our posts you might guess what we decided. To do it ourselves of course. And when I say “ourselves,” remember what I just typed about a young daughter. K.’s job would be entertaining L., not spending all weekend every weekend, and most evenings stripping old paint.
Many hours of internet research and discussions at Sherwin-Williams later, a plan was in place. First, we “invested” in an infrared paint stipper (Note: “investing” in a tool is like “winning” an auction. It means you’re spending money you’ll never recoup). The Silent Paint Remover is a very slick system. It uses infrared heat that breaks the bond between the paint and the siding, but doesn’t heat it enough to vaporize the lead in the paint. It’s then scraped off, making clean-up a snap and removing the risk of contaminating soil, family and pets. If you have an old house and are into restoration, I highly recommend this thing.
If you watch the videos about how it works you’ll also notice HOW FAST AND EASY it is. Riiiiiggggt. It works really, really well. But it’s far from fast.
My guess was that it would take a weekend (maybe two!) to strip the entire house. I think it took me close to two months, and this includes a week or so that I took off from work. It was brutal–the middle of summer, hanging out in the sun on a ladder with a 400 degree heater in my hand.
The good thing about doing this project ourselves though was that 1) we were confident that everything was done well and 2) we sprung for the best paint we could buy. And good paint–the kind with a lifetime warranty that costs $60 a gallon–makes a huge difference.
In the end, the project took longer than expected, but looks awesome. Our “sneaker white” (more like, dirty sneakers) house is now two shades of green that’s much more appropriate for a craftsman. Trim is off white, and we used reddish-rose as an accent color. Cool stuff, and I think the house is happier for the change.
There’s also a funny story about the paint colors. When you undertake an ambitious outdoor project in a walking neighborhood like ours, you have to expect lots of visitors. Most of these are great, and in fact neighborly “how’s it goings” are a great distraction from hard and often-monotonous work. But then there was Bungle Boy.
Bungle Boy isn’t his real name, but he’s a guy that walked by almost every day to check on our progress. And he was really into paint color. Evidently Sherwin-Williams has a paint color called Bunglehouse Grey. This isn’t a color we used. (for the record, it’s Oxford Ivy, Zeus, Calablanca and English Rose.)
Anyway, Bungle Boy introduced himself one day (not as Bungle Boy) and complimented our choice of paint color. Here’s how it went down.
BB: “Hey, nice job choosing Bunglehouse Grey.”
Me: “Thanks, but it’s not Bunglehouse Grey. That’s a different color.”
BB: “No, it is. Sherwin-Williams has a paint color called Bunglehouse Grey, and it’s really similar to what you have. You must be using a different brand.”
Me: “Wow, that’s a super interesting story. But we bought our paint at Sherwin-Williams, and it’s not Bunglehouse Grey. It’s called Zeus.”
BB: “That really surprises me, because it looks just like Bunglehouse Grey. In fact my wife is really into design. She might even be a designer one day as a job.”
Me: “Um, OK.”
BB: “Yeah, she’s really talented. OK, well I’m off to get some a frozen coffee at the Rocket. Man, it’s really hot out here today. Bet you wish you were drinking frozen coffee.”
Me: “Yes, well, luckily I haven’t noticed that it’s 94 degrees and that I’ve been out here for 8 hours. But at least I can work in the shade so that the paint doesn’t coagulate the second I open the can.”
BB: “Yeah, that’s lucky. Well have a good day.”
Me: “OK. Bye.”
BB: “Alright dude. Bunglehouse!”
So then K. comes up and says something like, “what’s up with Bungle Boy?”
For the next few weeks we had daily Bungle Boy sightings. It was funny at the time.
Anyway, just in case you’re exhausted from reading here are some happy snaps. And once again, I know I need to take some better and more recent pics.
Strip the entire house in one weekend? Uh...
Lap siding is hard to strip. Shingles? Brutal.
Ever played Chutes and Ladders?
Sure, no problem. Go ahead and play on the ladder.
In progress, but getting closer. Strange to see the house before we had put in gardens in the front corner and parking strip.
Cousin R. and Uncle J. come to check on progress.
The view from our neighbor's awesome leaf pile.
OK, this has nothing to do with house painting. I like the photo though.
Too much painting. Not enough hiking.
The Garagemahal. Part Trois: A new room.
Posted: March 6, 2010 Filed under: Design, Garage Leave a comment »For four years after college, I worked from home. In fact a big chunk of this time was spent on the road, traveling the world with pro cycling teams, but working “in the office” actually meant working in my bedroom. And trust me, it was far from ideal.
The problem, in part, was that there was no divide between time at home and time at the office. The computer, fax machine (remeber those?), files and more were always inches away. Not a good thing for that elusive life/work balance.
Back then I promised myself that if I ever had the chance, I’d have a home office that was truly separate from the rest of the house. And our garage project gave us this chance.
In reality we designed the 375 square foot space above the garage to be supremely flexible. It can be (and has functioned at different times) as an office, a craft room, a yoga studio, a play room, a bike shop and more. Call it an “away space,” if you’d like.
The Loft, as we call it, is one of our favorite spaces. It’s beautiful, and with the abundance of light and views of trees and gardens, feels like a very adult tree house. The clerestory windows, bamboo floors, maple trim and moulding, and ample-sized deck all add to the experience.
And while we have a heat pump to heat and cool the space, more often than not it’s off. Until you’re in a space like our loft, you don’t realize how noisy any house’s systems (furnace, water, etc.) are.
K. often practices yoga up here and loves the quality of light, the privacy and of course the beautiful floors. Evidently when one practices yoga a lot of time is spent looking at the ground/mat.
Anyway, it’s a space we’re proud of. Like many other projects in the 1527 House, we took our time, learned new skills, and picked and chose materials carefully. The bookcase guardrail, that gives something interesting to look at as you enter the space, is something I’m particularly happy with. And the maple trim is mellowing to a beautiful color. Most people though comment on the amber bamboo floors. The vertical grain works well in the space, and the variation in color has an added benefit of masking dirt!
Here are a handful of happy snaps. Really, I need to get back up there to take some better pictures. These don’t come close to doing the space justice.
A blank canvas.
Ascending the stairs, here's the bookcase wall.
An early pic, looking back to the entry and light well.
Not sure why that old radio was there, but here's a view onto the deck. Up close that desk is very cool. It was my great-grandfather's drafting desk.
Before the garden started to mature. Funny to look at how small these plants were. Fun to look back on. Anyway, the deck is a super-nice place to hang out on and offers a nice view of the garden and patio.
Kind of embarassed to even include this, but it at least shows the view entering the loft. Really, it looks much better today.
