As exciting as watching paint dry

Watching paint dry doesn't sound very exciting... in fact its the quintessential opposite of excitement!  And I got to experience it this last week - big time!

My wife hinted (strongly!) that the deck need staining (and when I responded too slowly and unenthusiastically she told me "OK, I'm going to start scrapping, Go get some stain!") Scrapping and staining the deck took several days and in the process, I noticed that the trim needed touch up (to be generous) and that there were several areas of the house where the paint was peeling (to be honest I had noticed and been dragging my heels from starting the arduous chore for several months.)

One thing led to another and the list of must-do jobs was spiraling out of control.  At the same time my available time was growing shorter (we had a trip planned and then work.)   In desperation, I called up my sons, "Could you come home for a few days and give me a hand."

Guilt prevailed.

The outside of the house is high enough, and the job extensive enough that scaffolding is necessary to do the job properly.  I rented enough to give us the necessary height, but it meant constantly moving the scaffolding as we finished a section - about 8 feet - and moved on to the next.  My original plan had been to scrape everything, then paint a primer coat and finally apply a top coat.  The flaw of course was that this involved moving the scaffolding around the house three times and the plan was abandoned.

Instead we scrapped a section, primed it, painted the top coat, and THEN moved the scaffolding to the next section - this meant waiting between coats for the paint to dry.  It was hot out so it took very little time between coats - this of coarse was a mixed blessing, as the heat radiated from the walls like a blast furnace, blinding us and leaving us drenched in  sweat, BUT, it meant that the coats DID dry quickly.

So.... several days of watching paint dry!  It looks good and hopefully it will last for a couple of years.