we worked all weekend. all three days were spent in the garage refinishing the exterior wood that was removed to install the new downstairs living room window and fix the leak.
because the house was built with beautiful, solid redwood and replacing it is expensive and wasteful, we’re reusing every bit that we can. i spent the weekend stripping paint, gluing, filling, sanding and painting exterior siding and trim.
this is what we looked like for most of the weekend. mathew up on the scaffolding: scraping, removing, installing, sanding and painting, me with my respirator mask, gloves and various tools.
we’ve gotten into using bondo, a car repair filler. it sets fast, is waterproof and durable. it makes the siding and trim look new again. but it smells really bad. (left) all those little blocks of siding were in pieces when mathew removed them from the house. it was a job for “puzzle savant” (that’s me), now they are whole again.
see? more bondo filler. (thanks bob, for the tip.)
(left) a view from the scaffolding. (right) mathew wiping down the wall with a wet cloth after sanding with the vacuum attachment, trying to minimize the amount of lead paint dust we release into the air!
a piece of refinished trim that goes near the window.