Summer, The Painting Season

As it always does, spring rains gave way to summer. In Seattle, as soon as it becomes dry enough to paint, it's almost too hot to paint. We stripped and sanded the peeling paint down to the wood, which most critics say is overkill. However, the end result of this difficult labor is perfection. The first neighbor we met came over with a business card in hand offering painting services before the ink was dry on the closing papers. We declined his services, but one of his employees would sometimes stop by and chat. "Oh, you'll be working on this all summer," he postulated. Even with an extra two hours of effort after work some days during the week, he was right. It took us all summer.

Before.	Painting In-Progress.

Nick replaced a rotting board at the big peak in front, which had to be specially sourced given the difference in dimension of old lumber and new. He enlisted a mill shop to make a trim piece for the peak over the entry and then made the cuts necessary to create the curved effect (I have no idea what this technique is called, but perhaps a reader with a woodworking husband will know).

Still working...can you spot Nick?	Curved trim piece.

One of my favorite finishes is the tongue and groove board that creates the ceiling in the entry alcove.  The gross peeling paint bothered me immensely and refurbishing it was a fast and very satisfying job. I don't have a proper before photo, but imagine it looking similar to the peeling brown paint around the door frame in the below photo. I stripped the old paint with a heat gun and sanded the whole thing, including the grooves. Then, I patched the imperfections, including a piece that was deeply gouged, and Nick caulked each and every-other seam where two joined boards came together with a bit of a gap.

Sanded, patched, and caulked.	So pretty!