Yet another summer painting (just a portion of) the house

A couple of weeks ago, I completed painting one-quarter of our house, an annual project. House painting is quite a painstaking endeavor and I’m glad the job’s complete. I have a few thoughts:

When we bought this house in 2004, it was based on emotional impulse rather than cool analysis. From my standpoint, there were MANY drawbacks to the house and property, including the fact that the house had wooden shingles that would require regular painting. I do think wood shingles look better than vinyl siding, but the upkeep that’s required is a negative. Our previous house had aluminum siding, which meant I didn’t have to paint for the entire twenty-two years we lived there.

The previous owner of this house had it painted immediately prior to putting it on the market, so I knew it was good-to-go for several years after we moved in, but I waited way too long. By the time I finally painted, nine years later in 2013, the house was starting to look shabby with the paint layer becoming very thin and peeling away in many places. Because I had waited so long, the preparation (scraping, sanding, and priming) was intense, plus the entire house needed two coats of paint to cover properly. It was MAMMOTH undertaking. Condo, anyone?

I remember whining about my travails to a co-worker, and he recommended an excellent strategy. He himself had a routine of painting one-quarter of his house every summer and taking one season off after each cycle. This five-year strategy required minimum prep and only one coat of paint because the paint layer wasn’t given the opportunity to degrade to a significant degree.

I’ve been using that strategy ever since and it works great. Yes, I’m painting four years out of five, but it’s not a HUGE, backbreaking project.

I painted the southwest area of the house this summer (photo above). I usually procrastinate and wait until early-September to begin painting, but I felt ambitious this year and started in early-August. The early start meant that I could pay A LOT of attention to detail, like thoroughly filling in cracks and holes and priming and painting the wooden lattice on the inner-windows. The early start and finish means I have a nice long break before the backbreaking leaf season, which begins in earnest the last week of October and stretches to the first week of December.

Thanks to my blogging friends who offered their support and encouragement this painting season! Thank you, Lord, for our shelter! Whenever it’s raining, cold, and snowy outside, I often forget to thank God for a warm, dry abode. It’s our place to eat our meals, to relax on the couch after a strenuous undertaking, and to sleep in the evenings.

Postscript: As you can see from the photo, our house is a ranch so when I paint I only need to use an extension ladder on the four gables. Painting a two-story house is a real bear of a job, as I remember from back when I helped my father paint the old family home.