Still More on Painting your Home

So you Want to Paint your Home?

More on Painting a house

I started out in June with the idea of Painting my home as a way to protect the siding on my from having to replace it. I have noticed many homes in poorer neighborhoods than mine with paint peeling away and the siding becoming not repairable or salvageable. So, eventually they will either have to replace the siding(which is expensive especially if it is wood siding). However, if your home is stucco this is less of a problem and if it is just stone this is not a problem at all. Because stone faced houses never need painting. With Stone faced houses mostly you are dealing with cracks in the mortar and repairing those over time. Also, I have a lifetime roof because it is cement tile that never needs replacing unless you walk on it wrong and break a tile. However, you still need to periodically (5 to 15 years depending upon your local weather) have a roofer replace the tar paper underneath the lifetime cement tiles to prevent leaks into your attic or house.

Note: Remember, don't install a cement tile roof unless your house is specifically designed to carry that much extra weight. Because if you do this it without having the home designed for this specifically it might cause your home to collapse, especially in an earthquake.

If you read the above word buttons "So you want to paint your home" and "more on painting a house" you can benefit from some of my experiences both good and bad so far.

At this point all of the house not seen from the road in front is painted with a minimum of one coat of paint. My daughter's boyfriend who has a lot of patience at building things and repairing things and even enjoys rebuilding his own VW engine for his antique VW Camper Van (which I believe is about a 1971) came down from Oregon to do the front of the house because he actually has the technique, patience and time this summer to do it. So, paying someone (in the family) or a good friend also is a good idea to keep your family or friends rolling along in financially  better shape during these times I think is a good idea as well. However, just be sure you have liability insurance on your home insurance and anything else you need if you are going to do this.

So, I have a lot of confidence in him doing a good job that everyone will be happy with in the end.

The extensions for rollers I have found to be personally life saving because I don't have to go up on the ladders at all or barely at all when I use the extensions. I also have found the short rollers on my particular siding of about 4 to 6 inches in length are very effecting for painting 8 inch tongue and groove pine siding (especially for the grooves). But I find it takes about 10 times as much time trying to paint finish places like where cement or decks or Rock Walkways meet parts of your house than it does to paint large surfaces where there are no obstacles at all. So, even though you might knock out the front of your house (painting wise) in one or two days, the preparation that you should actually do might be one week. Then finishing the detail (if you don't do it all at once might take another few days to a weeks time depending upon how many hours a day you are working on it. 

But, if you are retired like me and over 60 years of age working over 4 hours a day isn't the best idea. I have a Hot Tub Spa so my back pains don't become problematic from all the movement in my upper body. It puts a lot of strain on your lower back if you work anymore than one hour or so if you are over 60 years of age unless you are in perfect shape. Though I am very strong I am still losing weight and I notice it in my lower back even after about one hour of using a roller and an extension in my lower back. However, I also have a right lower back injury from when my daughter (then a baby about 2 years old) tried to jump out of my arms and I did a one armed save before her head hit the sand on the beach which tore a muscle in my right lower back. So, it is always something I am periodically dealing with. But, I find if I immediately get into the Hot tub at around 99 to 101 degrees (I don't like it any hotter than 102) it immediately saves my back. But if I left it it could get serious over a few days. The other thing is that I can stay an hour or more in the Hot tub if I keep it at 98 or 99 degrees and surf or write online that way by reaching out to my computer outside the hot tub.

Also, if I walk 1 to 3 to 5 miles in a day in the forest with my dogs I also jump in the Hot Tub Spa to relax my muscles so I don't have problems either. Some people like to pay someone to massage them but that isn't my thing to do like it is others in my family. I much prefer to get into the hot tub outside and look at all the pine and oak trees and plants in my back yard, listen to the birds sing and have a more out of doors experience. Then if I want to surf on my laptop or Ipad I can there as well.

So, anyway, now my job with the painting is mostly over and now I'm sanding and peeling up any paint drops that fell outside the drop cloths on decks or cement walkways or driveways. Since Indoor outdoor latex is basically liquid plastic often you can peel up the drips with a knife or putty knife. But if that doesn't work be sure to sand with the grain of any decking or wood it fell upon. If it fell upon dirt or plants you can usually trim it off the plants and turn over the soil wherever it fell. So, no matter where excess drips go you can usually get it off over time.

Also, I have come to think of painting one's house with latex paint as basically sealing it in colored plastic which greatly protects whatever siding you have by encasing it in colored plastic.