Friday, July 24, 2020

Painting and staining in the backyard

I finally decided it was time to paint up the decorative fence in the backyard.  Bob and I did think about just taking the fence out but maybe if we get a dog, we might still need the fence?  Well, we're not really getting a dog,... but who knows these days when we are stuck at home and need a new "project".  Ha ha!

Here's one side of the fence - nice and white.  Well, it looks nice from afar but in reality, there is so much rust and parts of the metal fence have bubbled from water damage or just falling apart :-(
I thought I'd get Graham and Charlie to help out.  All they have been doing is playing on their tablet and watching TV lately.  So why not?!
Well, this is probably why we don't hire the kids to do anything.  Barely halfway and my crew have disappeared!
Those little nooks and crannies on the fence is ruining my brush.  Boo hoo..!!!
And entire afternoon later, the one side of the fence is done!  This dark color is actually the same color as the house trim.  Good thing we had plenty of leftover paint!  And looks like the fence is not standing out as much now.  Maybe that's a good thing?
The next couple of days later, I decided to stain the pergola toward the back wall.  I was sort of thinking a more reddish color/stain but somehow the stain I picked out was darker/more brown:
Doesn't Chestnut Brown sound like it should be more red though? Wait, I guess chestnuts are brown, aren't they? Hmmm... well, just glad I wore some gloves.  This stain is getting everywhere and it's not water-based!
So far, I've only stained the bottom rails.   Looking pretty nice and fresh though, I must say :-)
I have yet to stain the other wooden slates on top.  Bobby says that I should.  I was telling him how kitchens now have different colored top and bottom cabinets and that was the look I was going for.  Well, he didn't buy it.  Now I can just hear from the next homeowners say, "That's weird they didn't stain the top part." or "Wow, they really skimped out on staining everything.".  So looks like I will be staining the entire pergola.  In time... in time...

Within the next couple days after staining, I decided to paint the other side of the decorative fence in the backyard.  Phew, so much work with a paint brush these days.  I thought I'd try and fix his massive gap in the fence by sticking a branch in it.  I had painted it with some waterproof paint so hopefully the bugs won't get to it.  It's just a temporary fix for now, although who knows when we will ever get a professional to solder a new piece of metal here:
So here goes, fence painting Part 2!  Oh, the gate wasn't even attached to the fence anymore so I decided to just move it and have it painted as well:
Looks like Bobby has been busy with my phone camera :-P
Halfway through...
Despite the past experience a few days ago, I still decided to get Graham and Charlie to help with the painting project:
Within 2 minutes, Graham had already painted Charlie's big toe through the gap in the fence.  Ha ha!

Well, time for me to relax - at least just for a few minutes:
And within those few minutes, a formation of 4 planes flew right over our house!
Looks like the boys are done.  Although I wouldn't call it "done" unless I am going with a "rustic" look perhaps:
Wow... these kids know how to take their snack breaks:
Yeah... I would say "rustic" for sure.  Graham and Charlie missed a few spots:
... and it doesn't look like either one is coming back:
A few more hours later, another brush is ruined:
Right now, I've decided to put this gate at the very back of the yard - against the brick wall.
Almost feels like I should paint a rainbow of some sort on this wall above the gate.  Hmm... another paint project perhaps :-)  Thank goodness the weather has been so nice lately.  No one broke a sweat!

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