Staining the Deck White

Two weeks ago I started the process of staining my deck white.  If you follow me on Instagram then you have probably seen a photo or two of the progress.

I am using Behr Solid Color Wood Stain in Ultra Pure White.  We use Behr paint in Semi Gloss in the color Ultra Pure White for the trim and shutters on the exterior of our house.  So we knew that we wouldn't end up with clashing white tones.  

This deck will require two coats. The first coat is blotchy but the second coat fills in the lighter spots and makes everything look the same color.  My plan is to get a single coat on everything before doing a second coat.  We are doing it this way because the first coat of stain really highlights any imperfections or problems.  

This was especially true of the top board.  It gets the most sun, rain, and snow so it was not looking its best.  To remedy the cracks and splits in the wood, R has been using a universal filler that we buy at ACE Hardware.

It is called Evercoat Home Fix Universal Filler .  We have used it on cracked exterior wood trim and window sashes.  It can be used for both interior and exterior use and we have been happy with the results.  The above photo is after filler was applied and then sanded off leaving filler behind in the cracks and crevices.

I will be so happy when we can finally store the ladders in the barn instead of under the deck.  We have ladders of just about any height and not a day goes by that we don't use at least one of them.

Follow Gear Acres on Instagram to get an early look at what we are up to at Gear Acres.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle

Rot Repair, Sanding, and More Priming

This weather just isn't cooperating.   Nice sunny skies but cold, very cold.  I was able to finish priming the second set of shutters.  But now I am just waiting for a day where the weather is sunny and at least 55 degrees before I can even think about putting two coats of semi gloss paint on them.  We have spent a lot of time making these shutters and hunting down the hardware for them so the last thing I want to do is rush the top coat.  This will be a test of my patience but I must resist the urge to paint before the weather is warm enough.

Best way to resist the urge?  Move on to another project.  I started raking the flower beds around the garden shed because that is where R was working and I like to get the hosta beds raked before they start growing.  None have pop through yet but I did find some tulips and hyacinth bulbs that are starting to come up.  Also the daffodil bulbs that R and planted last year under the hedge row of lilacs out by the street have popped up.  We can't plant tulips like we want to, due to the fact that we have a lot of black walnut trees that are toxic to a lot of plants.  Tulips don't do well but daffodils do just fine and they are more deer resistant, too.  So to add some variety I try to plant different daffs every year.  This fall I am going to plant white or very pale yellow ones.  AND more hyacinths....love hyacinths.....the scent...is only second to lilac.  Love them both.

R has spent the last two days working on filling in the rotted window sills in the garden shed with universal filler.  We have used it before and it holds up to our extreme winter weather.  Should we have cut out the rotted sills and replaced them?  Probably, but this is a garden shed and we have bigger fish to fry then to do a restoration on the shed.  We have made big strides with the garden shed that everyone said "tear it down!"  So for now, filling in the sills with filler is just fine.  It is not like George Washington slept in our garden shed.

On Thursday, R put the first coat of filler on and today he sanded and shaped it, and then refilled again.  It's a process of layering.  

R touched up the flower boxes with the sander before he put it away.  Depending on the weather on Saturday, I might start priming just the inside of the flower boxes.  I can do that in the work room and not have to worry about the cats stepping on the wet paint.  I probably just jinxed myself and the cats will all decide that they must sleep inside the flower boxes.

Within the next month, we have a tree trimming crew coming for 8 hrs to trim our large trees.  We have a very large ash tree that has two large low limbs that need to be removed and also a few dead limbs that are too high for us to get to.  They will also remove two black walnut limbs over the sun room and remove all the small limbs that grow downward.  The bulk of their work will be on two huge silver maple trees that have a lot of storm damage.  These trees are important because they are situated where they give us our afternoon shade in the summer.  Do I wish that they were not silver maple and maybe oak or sugar maple?  Yes, but I cannot go to the nursery and buy a 100 year old tree.  So we are making these trees work by removing limbs that will cause us problems in the future or limbs that could compromise the health of the trees.

I am currently collecting bits and pieces for a focal point design piece for the back of the house.  There isn't a rush on it because we have to reshingle and hang eave troughs first.  Here's a hint...it involves our scrap pile....Surprise!!

Reuse Repurpose Recycle

 Don't forget to follow Gear Acres on

Pinterest

Instagram
Dynochicks Treasures on Etsy

Join Ebates to save $$$$

We've Been Very Busy

We have been so busy that I sometimes forgot to take photos. But as R reminds me....."People don't need to see another photo of a trailer full of wood." He's right.....but don't tell him that!

I've lost track of the number of lawn trailer full of twigs, leaves, and branches that we have picked up so far. Far too many and far too many left to be picked up. We basically stayed outside on all the nice days picking up branches and raking out flower beds. We knew colder weather was coming so we made the best of the good days we did have.

We cut down two semi dead tall cedar trees that were on the back property line. Once they were down we were able to see why they were dying. They were completely rotted out in the center of the trunks. We haven't a clue as to what caused the rot.

Once the trees were gone we then had access to clean out the dead branches, empty walnut shells, and old leaves that have piled up over many many years. We then decided that we might as well get started on the dismantling of the old pool.

Sometimes in the past, probably whenever they decided to decommission the pool, they broke up the floor of the pool to allow rainwater to percolate into the ground. So that leaves us with removing the pool decking which is cement embedded with slate and removing the 10 inch wide cement pool coping (ledge/edge). We plan on using the slate to repair the slate walkways that need to be fixed through out the yard. The cement ledge/edge we will store because it would make great steps or a top for a retaining wall.

We can knock in the walls after all the slate and ledge removal is complete. In the meantime we removed the 24 inch high chain link fence that surrounded the pool. I wonder what the thinking was behind a 24 inch tall fence? R is making a scrap metal run in the next week and now is the perfect time to get rid of it. FYI for all you scrappers out there.....scrap metal is high right now and will soon go lower once summer arrives.

When the weather got cold again......we went back inside where we were back to stripping and sanding. We sold the two poplar doors that were too tall and are patiently waiting for the new door to arrive. The only reason I am patiently waiting is that I am waiting for some vintage ball top hinges to arrive so even if the door does show up we cannot install it until the hinges arrive.

I should finish up stripping the staircase tomorrow. That project went fairly fast because the paint was on top of varnish. The only hiccup was when I run across old carpet tacks that need to be removed. It was very difficult to get a good photo of the entire staircase because it is slightly spiral. The staircase will still need to be sanded and the treads will be stripped with citrus stripper because they will need to be stained and sealed. The rest of the staircase will be painted white with the handrail also stained to match the treads.After tomorrow I will have to make the decision of whether to move back to the living room and strip the baseboard and fireplace mantel or move on to the dining room OR finish the casement windows so when the weather gets warm enough to paint outside the casement windows are ready to go back into their openings. R is voting for finishing the casement windows.

The other day I was on the road as the sun was setting. Wow the sun was huge. There was a heavy haze so it filtered the sunlight just enough so you could see the entire outline of the sun.

Another Day...Another Door

We did not get as much accomplished as we intended. R sanded the baseboard and touched up some other areas with the sander. I stripped the clothes chute door and started stripping the trim around the built in cabinet.

Stripping was a slow process with a heat gun and dull scraper. Note to self....buy new scrapper tomorrow. I previously had stripped the doors and drawer fronts in the built in cabinet so I can't take credit for stripping those today. The built in cabinet is going to be quite the project because the paint is coming off in gobs.

This is what it looked like when we started today.And this is what it looked like when we quit three hours later.No, we did not install the door. Several years ago, I purchased 5 doors off of eBay from a seller in the southern part of Indiana. We drove there to pick up the doors and even though I told the seller we would not be there until 8 or 9 PM, the seller was already in his jammies and bathrobe when we arrived to pick up the doors. We just grabbed the doors and left without checking them. I did not realize until today that he gave me two doors that are too tall. I will need to sell those on eBay or craigslist. It's a bummer because the doors are new and made of poplar and look perfect except they are too tall.

We rummaged through our stack of doors in the game room and found door that we will install in the game room opening. I insisted that we just place the door in the opening so I could see what it would look like once it was installed. I just love it. The door totally changes the feel of the hallway.I now need to order a door for the kitchen doorway. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can find the size and type I need IN STOCK at Home Depot. I am getting antsy to install the kitchen door and I really do not want to wait while they order the correct size.

In the meantime we will continue to strip and sand.

Dutch Door Removal

On Sunday we removed the Dutch style door that leads into the kitchen. The door did not close properly and will be replaced with a French door. R and I agreed that the door was not original to this location once we were able to look at the jamb up close. The deciding factor was when we removed the door stop from the jamb and saw old nail holes and paint witness marks from the door stop's previous location.

Here is a photo of the bottom portion of the Dutch door. The front and back are different styles. The side showing in this photo is the side that could be seen from the hall which is a recessed panel door like the doors in the rest of the house.The next photo is of the top portion and shows the side that faced the knotty pine kitchen.
The knotty pine was attached to the door making the door about 4 inches thick.

We do have a theory about this door. We think that possibly the panel door is original to the location but not the Dutch style nor the knotty pine. We have a hunch that the door was cut in half and knotty pine added to it when they installed the knotty pine in the kitchen. The knotty pine is not original because we can see the painted plaster wall behind the knotty pine panels.

We hope at sometime in the distant future to completely gut the kitchen and return it to a 1930 style cabinets but until then we will make do with what we have. Also the hallway is dark and having a French door will allow natural light to filter into the hallway.

When R was removing the door he said it reminded him of the old TV show Mr. Ed. R said that every time he walked by the closed Dutch door he expected Mr. Ed to throw open the top portion of the door and say, "Wilbur, I need some carrots."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSsuohepbVk

Now try and get that song out of your head. You will be singing "......a horse is a horse, of course of course....." all day long. No need to thank me......I do what I can.

Back to the house. "...a house is a house, of course of course...." Good grief.

Well anyways. Today we will move along the hallway sanding the base board, stripping the old clothes chute, and sanding this cool built in cabinet. After that we will strip the trim on the doorway leading into what will be the game room. This doorway also had a door on it at one time evident by the remaining door stop and hinge witness marks. Our plan is to install both the kitchen door and this door at the same time, probably mid week.

I had better get ready and go to Home Depot and see if they have any 80 grit sandpaper for a 5 inch round orbital sander. We will need the coarser grit to remove the paint from the built in cabinet. It appears that it was always painted and never varnished. The paint is harder to remove with the heat gun when the paint is not over varnish and always leaves paint that needs sanding.

"...a horse is a horse, of course of course.."

While the Men Play....The Women Work All Day

Today was an all female line up for B & G's deck redo because R and G were in Ohio racing.

On board were two regulars.....J (me) and B. Pitch hitting for R was B's Mom.

B got an early start and continued her painting of the spindles and assorted deck parts. I arrived around 1:30PM. I was late because I needed to dig up some 6" X 18" X 4" cement blocks for the back door slab project. B's Mom arrived shortly after me.

While they painted, I unloaded the cement blocks. We then rearranged the 2 X 10's so that they could get on another coat of cream stain. By this time B and her Mom needed a Mocha Frappe break and I needed to go home and get some work shoes since I forgot and left the house with inappropriate shoes to work in and was currently working barefoot.

Break time.

Breaks over. While they painted some more, I started digging under the tilted slab at the back door of their garage. Over the years the rain had washed away the sand and the slab had fallen forward at a steep angle. Obviously this had happened many years ago since the steps to the deck had been built to accommodate the steep slope. You might be able to see in the next photo how steep it was. I forgot to take a before photo.Once I had dug out enough sand we ventured out to the race shop and found a floor jack. We placed the jack under the middle of the front edge of the slab. We held our breath and slowly raised the slab until it was a tad less than level (for drainage). Here's B checking for level side to side. Dead on. Damn we're good.We then placed the cement blocks under the slab and back filled sand back under the slab. Next we raised the level of the surrounding area with dirt from a pile they had brought in last year. We then tamped down the dirt. Here's B putting some muscle into it.While they shoveled, I sanded the exposed joist ends. Remember R cut them off using a reciprocating saw and I needed to smooth out the rough edges. I put a bevel on the edges after I had sanded them smooth.

Ladies....I think we did a great job today.

I think the ladies deserve tomorrow off.....don't you???

Almost forgot.........Gooooo Smoke! Good luck at Michigan International Speedway tomorrow!

The scraping is finished, finito, DONE!!!!

In between football games and a MRI, I was able to finish stripping the sashes, scraping paint off the panes, and sanding all 6 sashes. I have 3 blisters, 2 sore arms, and 1 gigantic mess. Before I can move on with the next step, I'll need to clean up all the scrapings, dust, debris, and tools.

Next on my agenda is gluing all the loose joints and filling the rotted areas with filler. That should take up this entire next week. I can only glue 1 sash at a time because I only own 1 bar clamp big enough. So to fill in the down time between gluing, I will start taking out the panes (1 at a time), clean them, brush on boiled linseed oil, and re bed them in a little glazing (eliminates rattling).

After I complete all that, I will begin to prime and paint. After all the painting is done I will finish up with the glazing. I'll paint the glazing this spring after it has had a chance to set up.

I'm still uncertain about the hinges. All the hinges I like are too big. I was leaning toward the strap hinges. But the top rail is rather small and I don't know how that would look.

Time invested on Sunday 3 hours 30 minutes + R's time spent removing broken screw 30 minutes = 4 hours. Total time invested so far 11 hours 30 minutes.

One sash down.......five to go

After I arrived home from work last night (3am) I removed the form and sanded the patch. Here's what it looked like after sanding with a palm sander and 60 grit sand paper.

Not too shabby but notice the voids??? I knew there would be some so I was not too surprised. I mixed some more filler, filled the voids, and went to bed. Time spent......35 minutes.

Fast forward to morning....I sanded some more. To make sure it was smooth I usually close my eyes and run my fingers over the area. I probably don't need to close my eyes...I could look away...but I don't.

Here is how it looked after scraping, sanding, filling, and some more sanding.

Not too bad considering how 'damaged' it was before I started. By the way, that palm sander was only $10.00 at Home Depot. About 3 years ago, during a trip to Home Depot, I noticed a big display with Skil palm sanders and jig saws for $10.00 each. Sounded like a good deal so I nabbed one of each.

I scraped sash number two. Removing all the paint and glazing compound before it was time to get ready to leave for work. I'll sand when I get home tonight.

Time invested....35 minutes last night and 1 hour today....4 hours 55 minutes total.