So, last Saturday’s good idea #2 – decided in a sunny moment on the way home from the grocery escalated from “Oh, this would be a good time to pressure wash the front porch ” to a mini construction project.

My thoughts as I rented the pressure washer were that I’d spend a pleasant, warm afternoon spraying the porch, then have a couple of warm days to let it fully dry, ending with applying a coat of water seal. The reality was that it took a good day and a half with the pressure washer AND stripper and still I didn’t get all of the paint.

Above, after the wash and strip operation…

Monday morning, I returned the pressure washer and asked about renting a belt sander. Now, I’ve never actually used a belt sander, but I knew what they looked like and in theory how they worked. I have an orbit sander but it would leave swirly marks. The rental place “had” a belt sander but they told me that its motor was kaput. I must have looked forlorn enough … they retrieved the thing which had no plug, wired a new plug and turned it on. It only worked on high speed. They said I could take it and if it didn’t work for me, no charge. They suggested that I use it for a short time and then let it cool off – perfect as that is exactly how I like to work! Off I went with my high speed belt sander and a bunch of sandpaper for it.

I assembled the tool of minor destruction, along with safety and comfort gear…

The sander and I got along well – both it and I were good for 4 boards the length of the porch and then it was break and cool off time. It turns out that working with a belt sander on hands and knees is pretty much the equivalent of a full body workout – holding the position and holding the belt sander as it wants to scurry across the porch – it was fun…

And did you know??? – there are people who modify and race belt sanders???

-that second site contains a “how to modify your belt sander for racing”… I’m sticking to using this one for its intended purpose. But if computer programming work dries up I might make a workout video featuring a belt sander – I was plenty tired and a little bit on the sore side the next day, but I liked the way the porch was looking!

I had some trouble getting the paint off the board nearest the house, despite the fact that some of the house paint came off. Can of worms#1 – I decide that I will get some 1×4, paint it and make my own “floor trim” to camoflage that ugly area where the porch and house meet.

Applying the water seal went pretty well. I had a “paint pad on a stick” and splurged on Thompson’s Advanced One Coat water seal.

As I was applying the water seal and thinking about the trim and how I liked how things were looking, the porch rails started bothering me. When I finished with the water seal, I started looking at how things were put together and realized that the horizontal rail sections were just that – sections. I walked away and looked at the porch… Can of worms #2 – I decide to remove the rail sections. The porch is on grade so rails are decorative, not a safety feature. This is the west – I decide to see if a western look will work – adding some upper braces to the uprights – like on the porch below:

And then – Can of worms #2b – as long as I’m doing that, I might as well get rid of the blue trim that I dislike…I pick up paint samples:

I’m not sure the colors in the photos are representing well – I selected Evening Hush …I think…- a dark gray with a bit of blue as it looked best against the existing house color as well as picked up the gray-blue of the tree trunks. Looking at the photos I may check again…like the Beluga as well as the other very dark gray-browns…we’ll see.

Back to the rails – they are not proving to be as easy to remove as I’d hoped – screws painted over some time ago – some come out easily, some I’m going to have to dig out and undo with a wrench – not something I have the endurance to do in one session.

But I did get one section off and I have all but 2 screws out of the section it is leaning against in the above. Next week’s workout will feature sessions dismantling the rail sections. The painting I can do a bit at a time on warm nice days as they occur. Things may look a bit “patchwork” as I progress but ultimately for not too much money and a bit of effort I believe I will be much happier with the exterior.

Friday night I started putting things back on the porch – I’ll have to shuffle a bit as I work on trim and paint but much as I enjoyed the time “in the front yard”, I was ready to be back on the front porch.

Thus ends this chapter of the Front Porch project!