Since I had a clean house I figured I should probably prime it. So I got all my supplies out and thought “Well, this shouldn’t take very long. Maybe I could get the primer coat on in one day, by myself. I mean it’s only one story, sort of, right?”
So four days later the primer coat was done! What I failed to realize initially was, well there is a list:
– I would have to cut in each row of shingles with a brush to make sure I got all the little crevices and banish the harvest gold forever.
– My shingle has a lovely three dimensional wood grain effect with grooves that you must roll over 4-5 times to cover.
– My arms would give out a lot faster than I thought.
So here is a shot of the side of the house before the primer in all is harvest gold glory:
This is the south side of the house where the paint had begun to peel. Cement shingle usually holds paint well but the sun beat it down. Before priming I took off all the loose paint which accounts for the large white patches you see above. You will also see that it’s the middle of October and I have tomatoes still growing. In fact the plant is still blooming which means that I’m not the only one who likes summer weather in the fall.
So here is a pic of the now primer coated side of the house.
Even the primer white made the whole place look better. The neighbors have all become interested, yet haven’t volunteered to get on the ladder. There was a group of grade school age girls who rode their bikes over to ask me all about what I was doing since they didn’t even know you could paint a house.
Maybe I will have inspired one of them to grow up and realize girls can do home renovation too! Power tools are so enchanting.
