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I am painting my house. It's been something I dreaded and avoided, and finally, after two winters of naked wood and factory primed hardisiding, someone had to get on that ladder. It worked out to be me.
I'm not done yet, but there is an end in site.
This is the back of the house. This wall was not so hard and didn't require much ladder work. Once this section was done, the job didn't seem quite as terrible.
The front poses more of a problem. The porch is strangely constructed - I guess our contractor thought our house was playtime. I don't know why he put those blocks on one post and not the other. The decoration at the top is impossible to paint through the screen that is covering it...
I'm beginning to subscribe to the idea that what can't be seen isn't there.
I'm not sure about getting to the top of the other roof behind the porch. The thought of climbing up there is really frightening for me. Also, the top of the other peak is just a tad higher than I'm wanting to stand on my 8' ladder.
Untethered heights scare me.
(The tall posts are temporary to define my dog-free zone, newly established in April. That is the first gate-first anything- I ever made of wood, which was just a few days ago - interlude from painting).
Looking good, 4paws! I have spent many hours on the top of a ladder, trying to keep a good paint coat on an old house in a damp environment. (Before we moved here to the desert!) You have my sympathies.
I hope you have a sturdy and safe ladder. After using old wooden wobbly ladders for years (you know, the ones that lean LEFT and RIGHT when you get way up there?) I finally splurged on one of those nice sturdy fiberglass stepladders at the big box stores. They are not really that expensive, and sure do make you feel safer when you're up at a height you're not enjoying. I love my blue ladder!
Also, it's not cheating to hire someone to finish up the portions that are just too worrisome for you to reach. I've done that. It's a good use of money when you consider the high costs of broken bones!
Thank you for the encouragement and looking at my photos, oldmudhouse! I've been using an old wooden ladder for the lower heights and fortunately, I'm tall, but those peaks...eeeks... I have a good 8' stepladder and an extension ladder that came with the place. I guess I'll be seeing how that goes. I'm thinking I'll paint from the roof, perhaps?
I've hired so many people here in the last two years who have all done really TERRIBLE work, so I've decided that I can do just as bad on my own and not have people hanging around (that sure was tiring!) and taking my money, then being irate when I call them on errors (then charging by the hour to correct them!). However, if I could get someone to paint the top, I would. It's just impossible out here. :-(
Painting is an exercise in anger management as well. I see all the places where the various carpenters (even a licensed one, who erected the addition, which is where the front door is) were negligent.
I want to get out today and finish, but my right arm feels like it's about to fall off! It gets numb while I'm working. A good thing is that I'm getting more ambidexterous. I'm doing it all with 4" and 1.5" brushes.
I understand completely. I am a Grade-A fussbudget, and usually prefer to do painting on my own. I get really annoyed by the love affair that many professional house painters have with spray guns, and I've spent hours razor-blading paint overspray off my windows and skylights (after they assured me "oh no ma'am, that would never happen.") Plus, I really think that the prep you do before exterior painting is important, and I have had a hard time getting some pro guys to really scrape, repair, and prime the surfaces to the degree I'd like.
If you have the time and courage to do the work yourself, I think chances are excellent you'll get a better job (especially if you're a fussy detail person.) I'm a brush girl myself. My husband generally prefers big wide brushes to get the job done quickly, but I'd rather poke along with smaller brushes.
Our house was two stories, and I only caved in when it got to the top floor. I had to stand on the roof and hang on to the rafters with one hand to get that part done...and I'm not brave about heights. Finally paid someone to do the high parts. Yes, they sprayed. No, they didn't prep it well. Yes, there were drips. But the good thing was, unless you stood on our roof, you really couldn't see it. Or, unless you were a total nutcase fussbudget like me!!
I used to be fussy, but in this case, I've changed my ways. It just has to get done so I can get on with the fun gardening stuff! I'm quite a messy painter, but discovered I do better without tape than with it. I carefully taped the sidelights, and when I removed it, there was much more paint on the frame than on any of the windows I didn't tape! Which reminds me, I better get out there and get it off!
:-)
I took the day off from painting to haul rocks for my south side (left in the photo) foundation bed perimeter. Much more fun than painting!
And good news is that a friend has 12 and 16 foot ladders I can borrow! Further to fall, but better footing to start with.
:-)
Thanks, magpye. The color changes dramatically with the changes of the sunlight.
Work on painting has not progressed since picture day - instead I decided to play in the dirt more, haul rocks, arrange literally hundreds of feet of hose, attend to my second year blueberry bushes, and haul in more sawdust. I so wanted to avoid getting back up there, I cleaned house. lol
Tomorrow or Wednesday I start again. After several (scary and unsuccessful) attempts to reach higher, even with a borrowed 16' ladder, I finally called a friend and negotiated for her nephew who is helping her paint. He's going to do the last 4 feet or so at the tip.
we have a 2 story house and are perfectionists, so we can't hire people for anything. however, i'm terrified of heights and can not get on a stepladder. we purchased scaffolding. it comes in sections and stores easily. you can also rent it at an equipment rental place. not expensive at all. and not scary.
I looked at scaffolding at Costco, but couldn't get it that day since I had the car, not the truck. When I went back a couple of weeks later (I don't make lots of trips to town for only one thing), it was discontinued. The only scaffolding I could find otherwise was quite expensive. The one at Costco was only about $150. I have a guy painting right this minute...
I've given up on perfection where the house is concerned.
Odd that they put the decorative stuff on the one pole and not the other. Either they put it there to cover a boo boo...or they meant to put it on both sides and got distracted and didn't finish. I'd take it off the one side and go to Home Depot or Lowes and get some Millwork to put in its place, or I'd make matchign decroative pieces to go on the other side. On a positive note, you are really donig a tremendous job n the painting!
My house is 116 years old. The previous owners did some things really well...and really fouled up other things. The windows are a godsend. Double paned with the drop so you can clean from inside...and they can open from the top or the bottom so my cats don't destroy the screens. But the interior paint is a nightmare. And even worse than that, they didn't properly insulate the AC ducts under the house resulting in two of the floors getting woodrot...plus they reroofed the house and didn't do it properly causing it to leak backwards...now I'm going to have to replace the entire roof on the back addition...wood, trusses and all. For this one small section, I'm looking at spending at least $1200 just because he put down felt instead of rubber under the shingles where the roof doesn't slope enough.
Ah well, the house was CHEAP, even after I do all the necessary work to it...and the work will give me something to do in the winter when I can't garden.
lol
actually, he was one of many "skilled" workman who clearly read the word "MARK" on my forehead.
Now I figure, I can do the work just a badly as the next person, and I work cheap. Good help is hard to find around these parts.
Ditto! Heck, bad work is hard to find in these parts...everyone left to go work in the hurricane prone areas where they can do less work for more pay...and stay in hotel rooms and pig out on beer and junk food at the company's expense when it rains...(shaking head) Whatever happened to work ethics?
I think they both went out the window when the government started telling businesses that they had to pay people for doing slip-shod work, they couldn't fire people for being lazy or drunk, and stupidity can get you a big fat liability settlement instead of working for a living...
4paws, it's great!!! I love it, what a great job you've done!!!
We subscribe to the do it yourself rule here too... when we put in carpet 9 years ago, at first I was only doing "one room" well, as soon as that was down, I wanted everything done.
Hubby did the first room himself, but didn't want to do the rest of it because of the hallway and the steps. So... we hired somene to intall it. What hubby did is 100xs better than what the "pros" did. So, now I'm planning on carpet again in the near future... guess who my installer is!
Thank you, Melissa! My hubby makes himself scarce when it comes to home projects, so I'm the handyperson around the house. I've tiled most of it because dogs (overload @12 now, 7 are available for adoption) and carpet just don't go well together.
Another big summer project is to put a roof over the deck on 10' x 5' section of the deck on the south side of the house, then expand it out another 10', kind of like a carport, but it will be a dogport, where I can set up a washing machine for dog blankets, towels, and rugs, and a bathing/grooming station for the dogs. It can't be seen in either picture, but looking at the photo of the back of the house, it's to the right.
The person who put in some fencing for me is teaching me how to do it, and to correctly use power tools, so it will take a while, especially since he only has a half day on Mondays for class. :-)
Oh, I would LOVE to have tile, and when we build on, that is what I will have at least in the addition. :-) Our house was built pre civil war, and it sure seems like it was built pre levels too. :0) Nothing is level or square it seems, so I'm afraid tile wouldn't go down without a complete overhaul of the floor... and can't do that right now. :-(
Do you rescue all types of dogs or just one breed? Both of our dobies are local rescues, I lost my greyhound about a year ago, (she was 12) she came from Birmingham, and last but not least, Princess, a dobe that came to us after being found dying along side of the road in Maryland. She was only with us for 6 years, but it was a happy 6 years. :-)
Hi, Any suggestions on a really inexpensive home we can build/have built.
My husband is on disability and until recently did almost all our projects.
We've had to sell our house of 25 years and move to an old farm house
his Daddy built years ago. It has a tiny kitchen, medium liveable livingroom
and master bedroom. Just a shower so he has put in an old clawfoot
bathtub and now I need to do something to the floors. I think I'll try the
stained plywood that looks like old planking. We have a screened in
porch we are going to try to make into an all season room. We have
a spot on our property that we would like to build our own house but
with very, very limited funds and having to pay someone to do a lot
of the work this will probably not happen unless we just get really lucky.
Where we'd like to build we have to have a basement so a mobile
home is out and then when you get to modular they're moving into
being too expensive. Look forward to asking for help in
moderizing our little farm house but any suggestions would be so
appreciated.
There are a couple of sources I had looked at a while ago. Give me a few days to find them again, because I don't seem to have them bookmarked any longer, which is strange, since I never get rid of anything!
I had found one company that had prefab homes, which were delivered to the site and constructed by the homeowner (and/or crew). I was most excited about the round houses and the A-frame (which was the least expensive), but there were also traditional designs. They started getting pricey, in my opinion.
Did you make your own thread asking for suggestions? More folks would see your post than one on this thread. (Plus, I still haven't finished the last window trims. Once I set down that paint brush, I couldn't bring myself to pick it up again! lol My arms were feeling like they would fall off, especially at night, when they would go numb!)
I'm taken with the idea of building smallish outbuildings (16x16 or so) and dogtrotting them to the main house, but that wouldn't be for everyone.
