July 25th, 2007
The Up Side of Outside
Two days ago we finally began again to work on the outside of our old house. This work has been going on so long that we actually purchased our own scaffolding.
Hmmm, come to think of it, that may be the very reason it’s gone on so long. If we were renting scaffolding, you’d better believe that Barry would find the time to work on it!
Either way, it feels great to be back at it. Last year Barry was so swamped with inside work all summer that the only thing we managed to do was move the scaffolding from the back of the house to the front. So it’s been two years since we did any painting and 5 years since we began it.
That first year, we laughed about it taking us so long that the first painting would need to be re-done by the time we got back around to it. We’re not laughing anymore. I think neither of us had any clue that it would take us this long. And the thing is, we’re five years older and not exactly feeling like spring chickens! Who knew that was going to happen?
Our house looked fine on the outside when we bought it six years ago, but it was very plain and had a flat roof. 
Predictably, that first winter, the roof leaked so Barry, who once made his living from carpentry, decided that he would put on a pitched roof the next summer. 
We were lucky enough to be able to get our talented and hardworking (!) friends, the Sobers, to help along with two young men (Mike and Andre) from the local trades high school, and the work was [mostly] done by the time winter set in. 
The next summer we began to shingle and paint the gables and new roof line. Barry had always loved the wildly painted Victorians in Halifax and San Francisco, so we made our plan, chose our five colours and began on the first big gable.
I named the five gables—which are all different sizes—the granddaddy, mama, papa, teenager and baby gables. As of two years ago, we had finished all five gables and had only a stretch of roof line across the front of the house (see below) that had to be painted (still a complicated paint job, taking four of the five colours, but a breeze compared to the time-consuming gables). Since last summer was a bust for outdoor work, that’s what we’re doing now. 
Once this is done, there’s plenty more work.
Our front porch has to be completely re-built! In August we hope to get the foundation and decking of that done. Next summer: the roof of the porch. The next? Painting the porch, including one more gable. And some time in there the bulk of the house has to be painted (it will be the same colour as the shingles of the gables) as well as all the windows. Any sane person would hire at least some of this done but so far, my husband’s sanity is questionable. I think even he, who likes to maintain control of his project, is wavering.
So why isn’t this unending project a drag? I certainly do not relish going up and standing on the top of that scaffolding! It’s something I’ll never get used to. But I am proud that I’ve learned to do it, that I still can do it and that I’ve overcome a certain fear of heights to do it! The main reason that it’s fun to get back to it is that it’s our project. Our house. Our scaffolding. Our colours. Our folly, if you will. The inside of our house is beautifully detailed and preserved. We feel that the outside should be as special.
We know not everyone would agree with our wild paint colours but we don’t have neighbours to offend so there’s no one to answer to. One day it will be finished and will be a show piece. And if that first grandfather gable is peeling by then, so be it. It’s an old house after all.
Before: 
After: 
Barry’s Patented 6-colour Painting System
I’m impressed with how easily we got back into this painting after a year away from it. Here’s the tricks of painting with six colors (counting the white primer) over 6+ years:
1) Keep the paint (the best quality you can afford) in your house; we have it in the closet under the stairs. You know, like the one Harry Potter had to live in, once upon a time.
2) Good quality paint brushes. We probably spent $25 CA on the four trim colour brushes but they are still perfect after five years. Of course, we are fanatical about cleaning them each time we’re through with them.
3) One colour = one brush. No exceptions. 
4) For ease of use on scaffolding, we’ve taken large plastic ice cream containers and made wire handles for them. We pour the paint into a smaller plastic yogurt container (not the tiny ones) and put those into the larger container. 
When atop near the roof, the handles make it possible to loop the containers over the top of the scaffolding so that you don’t have to hold them while you’re painting. Good for those of us who are wary of Falling Off and need hands to Hold On. I’ve also put them on my belt when there’s no scaffolding handy. When not being used, we have lids for the yogurt containers.
5) One yogurt container = one colour. No exceptions. 
6) We use a simple rope and hook and big ol’ plastic bucket to haul things up and down the scaffolding
7) This is totally Barry’s way of doing things. Mine would have been to just use any old brush on any colour and buy new ones next year. I’m proud to be associated with such adaptive compulsiveness. It works!
What it will look like (sort of):
