Among Friends

[Bird mama]

Porch Column Refresh: Day 1 Lunchtime Observations

I'm sitting here sharing some pizza with Presto, my sparrow.  If I'm eating she wants a taste so I give her a tiny piece of dough with no sauce or cheese on it.

I worked on the porch column closest to the driveway for 3 hours and believe that I've learned a few things that will help me expedite the work on the column near the shrub.  

In general I like the citistrip product and I can testify that wrapping a larger piece in plastic and letting it sit overnight (when possible) is the way to go.  Did I run into some stubborn areas?  Yes however that could be user error on my part because those areas weren't slathered with the stripping agent.  I used plastic scrapers to get the dissolving paint off of the column.

The next step is application of the after wash.  The metal can and flammable warning should have been a dead give away but I read wash and thought detergent.  Whoo this is like turpentine or mineral spirits and I don't know how it could be used inside.  I was getting light headed using it outside.

I had an unused round scrubby thing that came with some Bio Clean that I bought from the Q.  I think that's the name of the product.  If Mousiegirl reads this and I got it wrong she will let me know.

Any, I put that after wash in a plastic pan and it didn't take long for it to break down the Bio Clean scrubber doodie.  That's what I call those things no matter who makes them - scrubber doodies.

I had a bag of fine steel wool pads and dipped them into the after wash and worked on the stubborn spots.  To some degree doing this was breaking down the paint that was left and smearing it a little.

I went into the garage, grabbed a bucket that I knew I wouldn't use to wash floors or walls and filled it with cold water.  I have some old dish towels that are on their way out and grabbed one of those.  I repeatedly wiped down the first column and found that paint was coming off without me using a steel wool pad and that after wash.

Didn't learn that of course until I was near the end of the can of the after wash with another column to go.

Once I checked my pupils to make sure that I didn't look high as a kite from the after wash fumes.... I called in a pizza order to Little Caesars and headed over to home depot.  I bought another can of after wash and 2 pairs of stripping pads (something I didn't have).  One pair is coarse, one is medium; I got no patience for 'fine' pads after using that 'fine' steel wool pad and putting my back into it.  I also picked up another plastic drop cloth thing - the self etching primer is in a spray can - Lord Hammercy - so you know I need to block everything precious off.

So, how can I do better with the column near the shrub?

I think I used more citristrip on that column - I slathered it on like nobody's business.

The citristip has had a few more hours to do it's thing while I worked on the column near the driveway. 

After I scrape the citristrip I'm gonna take a rag dampened in hot water and wipe the column down before I even think about the after wash.

I have proper stripping pads.

Oops, break time over......

[viva923]

hey all

another major project birdmama. you can do it,slow but sure.

busy day here. on road all day. did a costco and sam's run today. one store up north,one store down south. on go all day.

ok guys tomorrow

[Bird mama]

Porch Column Refresh Update #2

This is what the column looked like when I removed the plastic covering and started scraping.

Even though I bought stripping pads for the second column, I ended up going back to the fine steel wool finishing pad (shown below) because it held the after wash solution better and was easier for me to work with. 

This is the first column that I worked with nearest the driveway.  This was mid-afternoon around my lunch/pizza break.

This photo was taken at 6:40 pm when the sun was shining on the back of the house.  I mention the time and position of the sun because the columns don't look as shiny as they really are.

[viva923]

hey all

not much here, 

did many chores. attended Mass at 4pm, our church still not open, when it will reopen don't know yet. we attend a wonderful church out of Peachtree,GA. like their settings and getting to know their songs.

not much else.

later guys.

[viva923]

hey all

not much here today

did get both walks in, house still opened up, getting more humid sticky as day goes along, may be closing up later. 

dh works long this week, so he won't be around much. ok guys see all later.

[Bird mama]

Porch Column Refresh Weekend Update

I won't bore you with photos of how I blocked off the columns, covered the front door and light fixture and used sheets to cover the evergreen shrub and leafy shrub.

It was windy yesterday so working outside was a bit of a challenge.  I spent time taping brown painters paper around the porch roof trim near the columns.  I also put plastic across the front door and light fixture.  A fitted sheet was used for the leafy shrub and a flat sheet was used on the evergreen shrub (used clothespins).

I had hoped to use plastic sheeting all around the porch to create an enclosed work space but that didn't work with the crazy wind. 

I was ready to shake the can and prime the columns when I read the instructions on the primer.  It said to remove paint (check) and wipe down the metal with mineral spirits (check).  Then it said to use wet-dry sandpaper to sand the columns.  Wut?

I have shelves in the basement storage area that include items by projects - a shelf for plumbing, a shelf for sanding/scraping, etc.  I went to grab the plastic bag o' sandpaper to see if I could find the finest grit of sandpaper I had since I didn't know what 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper was.

Well..... in the bag was a package of wet-dry sandpaper.  Two sheets of 300 grit and two sheets of 400 grit.  My husband must have bought it years ago.  I stood by the washer and said, well honey even from the grave you take care of me.

So I took one sheet of 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper and a bowl of water since I had to use it wet according to rustoleum.  Wow that was sloppy.  Once I wiped the columns down and they dried out, I worked with mother nature and primed.

I removed the plastic and sheets by this time since I wasn't gonna be spraying any more.

I waited a few hours for the primer to cure good and applied the first coat of white paint.

This was applied with a roller and brush.  I waited almost 24 hours for this coat to cure and applied the second coat this afternoon.

Both columns are done - this is one without any paper blocking.  I still need to caulk around the bottom and top of each column.

I have to say, this was a heck of alot of work but I'm glad that I invested the time.

[viva923]

hey all

just a pop in, not much else going on, prepped for tomorrow cleaning.

ok guys later

[phluphy]

Birdmama, what an undertaken for a project, the pictures look gogeous.  You did a heck of a job.  

[Bird mama]

Thank you @phluphy   Now that it's behind me I'm glad I did it 

[viva923]

hey there

almost time for a new thread to begin.

not much here today, monday quiet, did chores, got walk in,

sat on my computer glasses AN ARGH !!!! moment. bending them back into shape.

not much else guys later.