Painting The West Side Of The House

Our West Side Story
(sorry, too easy)

There's no way around it.  I was HOT.  I did most of the work in the morning.  Once the sun started coming over the house I was done.

Here is a close up of what the siding looked like.  The paint was just falling off. It would seem easy to prep right?  Somehow this took me all of July.  But the kids were home and I couldn't exactly ignore them all day.  I basically worked on this about three to four hours in the morning.  Occasionally in the evening when the sun went down.  This side I was really worried about.  I did a lot of googling and most everything I read was that this type of peeling usually means there was moisture behind the siding. The caulk between each board was also falling down. I'm hoping maybe that was the cause of the moisture. From what I've been told it had last been painted between 10 to 12 years before. I took off some random pieces of siding here and there and no mold or anything.   It has been a year and a half and so far no signs of peeling.

Getting up and down the ladder was the worst part.  I credit it with giving me Bursitis in my right hip.  It's hard to describe how disgusting I was every day.  If you've ever used a paint scraper on old paint then you know.  When I would put the paint scraper on the siding I used both hands, one on the handle and one on the little handle at the top.  I would bare down and well, scrape.  When you do that all of that paint and dust come up and basically hit you in the face and chest.  I would come inside and see specs of paint in my eyes, embedded in my scalp (should've worn a cap) and covering my arms. On top of that I had the dust from sanding all over me.  A lot of times I would jump in the pool which my husband would then blame our micro particle problem on me.  Haha

I wish I could say I was Wonder Woman and forged ahead diligently.  I did forge ahead but occasionally with tears and feeling overwhelmed.  BUT I knew there was no way I was giving up. This was me saving 100 year old siding. This was my marathon.  This was me proving something to myself. (which after this I no longer feel the need to do. Ha)

I got to where I couldn't stand to even move the ladder.  I would get my oldest son out there and have him move it for me.

I went through two sanders during this time period and around 150 pieces of sandpaper. As I got one section sanded, I primed.  I went down to bare wood on almost every board so I wanted it painted as soon as possible.  It's supposed to take the paint better than if I let it sit. And boy did it soak it up!

I don't even know how much caulk I went through.  There were a few big gaps in between boards.  For those places I sprayed Great Stuff then caulked over it.

If you can imagine there is a street running along this side of the house.  So, yeah, I got quite a few comments, honks, a few thumbs up, occasionally a whistle or two, it was somewhat entertaining.  Ha  I also got A LOT of compliments and people saying how much they just enjoy driving by and seeing the progress.  It really did help me keep going.

Primer!

See those circles at the top?  Blown in insulation was added at some point and they cut holes at the top to blow it in. Why they just didn't take off the top piece of siding I don't know.

I just want you to imagine caulking underneath EVERY. SINGLE. BOARD.  No wonder it took so long!

I gave Victoria the honor of the first stroke of yellow.

After all the hell of scraping and sanding there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the paint go on.

The bottom board was painted white because we were putting up white lattice.  Do you spot the cat?  That little booger was living under the house.  He drove our dogs nuts!

"WHAT? A second coat and you want me to smile in this picture?"

I do have to hand it to her.  She helped more on this side.  She didn't like the scraping and sanding (how can I blame her?) but the painting was OK.

Just some advice, don't ever try to open a can with a knife.  I'm sure you smart people out there already knew that.  I tried to break the seal of a can of brush cleaner, it slipped and I stabbed myself right in between the  thumb and my finger.  My husband took me to the ER and I got stitches.  You wouldn't think it would bleed that bad but when we got back I realized our house looked like a crime scene.  Haha

Sooooo...Before:

After:

The day I finished: July 26, 2012 My Facebook status "I'm going to go take pictures of the house now that it's painted.  Although I did stab myself with a knife on what was supposed to be the last day of painting the miracle is that I never fell off the ladder."

A year and half later it still looks good:

This picture pretty much summed up my entire July:

For my posts on painting the exterior of our house please visit:
Part One
The Front
Rotted siding and injuries
Hot June
The Front Door
The Front Peak

Linking to:
DIY Showoff
Remodelaholic




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