I panicked today, once I started to think about where Paul's graduation was and the people who would be there. I talked with Becky and Marie about my panic and worries and asked for advice. Marie said she understood and that neither of us had really thought about that part of the graduation. She said Paul would understand if we celebrated his graduation another time. I asked if we could work on girding my loins so that I might be able to go to his call service. I do so want to support his studies, his passion.
After struggling with the failure of not being able to cheer my friend's beloved, I went searching for something to distract me. I finally decided that I would tackle the back porch, something I've wanted to do since I moved in here three and a half years ago.
The floor is in horrid shape. When I moved here, there was an ancient refrigerator left in the corner of the porch. I put it on Freecycle immediately. Plus, this is where I keep my firewood, so this end is in the worst shape. However, the entire porch floor has been painted over and over and over again, without proper prep work. Sadly, the flipper painted the garage, the back porch floor, and the garage, but did not prep or use bonding primer. She also used interior latex paint to cover exterior oil-based paint. Hence, all three are covered in extremely thick layers of cracked and peeling paint and need attention.
Much of what I have been doing since I moved into my beloved and beautiful 1920 home is to update it for the next buyer, so that it will not be gutted and modernized like so many of these houses have been. I have worked to restore rather than renovate, making choices on what fits the house best. I want folk to find it a beautiful, functional home, so that it might be loved and lived in for another century ... or two ... as it was built. The electrical work has been the lion share of the expense, save for the kitchen, but so much was not proper or balanced. Plus, there simply were not enough outlets to support a modern lifestyle. The rest has been lots and lots and lots of elbow grease, with judicious purchases here and there.
[It frustrates and frightens me that at almost 47, I've nearly come to the end of my elbow grease.]
When I look at the back porch, I see something that is old and tired and a mess. I also see what might look like a "problem" to others. The wood on the front porch was merely grossly neglected. Power-washing and sealing it two years in a row made the front porch a prime feature of the home ... that and creating an outdoor living space with a wonderful ceiling fan for hot days.
The back porch is a problem. My goal is to strip the paint and get it to a point where I can seal it like the front porch. Some of the wood is in poor shape, so I have to watch for splintering as I scrape.
These are my tools. I'm in love with the heat gun, having already used it to restore and repair the garage entrance door. My second favorite tool is the broken paint brush that someone left behind when I was renovating my house in Alexandria. It makes the perfect whisk broom. The black and red handled scraper is what I use once the paint is heated up, but I use the small spackling knife to clear off the melted paint when it builds up on my paint scraper.
Here is all the paint I scraped off tonight. It is surprisingly heavy.
Here are the 12 boards that I completed. I think the red stains are where newer paint was applied to bare spots in the wood. I am hoping that once I am done, I can get Firewood Man to power wash the last bit and thus be able to seal it without sanding it. I wouldn't mind some of the coloring remaining, as long as the sealant took.
Here are the other 44 boards that I still need to do. If you notice a bit of a blackened spot on the edge of my doormat, that might possibly be where I was not quite as careful as need be whilst aiming the heat gun.
I sat on the floor, listened to my most soothing play list, and scraped. Those 12 boards took three hours. I think, perhaps, that 12 might be too much for a session. Perhaps just eight next time.
Sadly, the even greater problem are the walls of the back porch. The paint is peeling off something fierce. I cannot even fathom how one would prep the lattice. My one thought would be to try to knock as much loose and then first paint a layer of bonding primer, before finishing with a coat of premium outdoor paint. It would still be all lumpy, but the paint shouldn't flake off.
The problem with this home improvement task is that, from the outside, the entire job would be on a ladder. And I could not just sit my way through it. It is both too much work for me and would be wildly expensive to have someone do a proper job. So, I don't know what to do about it, even though every day brings more falling white paint chips. A perpetual snowfall.
But at least the floor will no longer be a mess.
Eventually.
Hopefully.
Perhaps, too, in working I will forget some of my terror ... the part of my life I want to fade away will. Sooner rather than later.
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