Wanted to get that done early, since most of the day the sun really beats on the south side. That Hardie-board on the south wall of the main cabin has worked out so well it occurred to me I ought to get some and redo the addition’s south side with it.
Then I laughed right out loud.
I’m going to put it off as long as possible, of course, but soon I’ll have to do high work. The west side will be easy, the only hard part being the transition from roof back to ladder. The east and north sides will all be ladder work. With a paint pole. What could possibly go wrong. Last time I borrowed Neighbor S’s scaffold, but I also needed that for hanging the high siding. Seems like overkill just for swinging a roller for a few minutes.
My vote is to go ahead and borrow the scaffolding. First, it’s safer. Your body doesn’t know the difference between a fall from a brief job or one that takes longer.
Also, that would give you an opportunity to finish the flashing on that side.
It looks great Joel. Now all you need is a front porch so you can really kick back when it’s “Miller Time”.
Personally, the new color is richer and more attractive than the original…I like! The Lair is starting to look cedar rat upscale chic. What with your growing building skills maybe a deck with a wood fired hot tub could be the next project. :0)
I see from an earlier post that your Empire did indeed come with a thermostat. Mine came with the same model – just a cheap bi-metal ‘stat but it’ll do the job. By necessity mine ended up on a wall too far away to reach from my bed on cold mornings so I replaced it with an inexpensive programmable Honeywell. So nice to roll out to a warm room on freezing mornings!
Actually no it wouldn’t. The scaffold is only six feet high. The only thing that’s ever going to really complete the Lair’s flashing is a person utterly and stolidly unafraid of heights. Even the “balcony” has terrified two people much better with heights than me into vows of complete future non-participation.
After reading yesterday’s post, I started to post something like “Hey, Joel, who’s going to paint the front side?” and then, uncharacteristically, decided to be nice. I reckon I knew you were already thinking about it, and not happily.
I’m not bothered by heights–I used to love rappelling (‘abseiling’, for our European friends) before the leg got dinged up. Wish I could send you some of my non-acrophobia.
If in doubt, use the scaffolding. Peace of mind is worth the extra work.
Be careful, stay dangerous.
It’s simple. Just use the approved South-of-the-Border method and put the scaffolding on a couple layers of cinderblocks, then put a stepladder on the scaffolding.
And, you have to have an overturned paint bucket somewhere.
I will not tell you that you can use Igloo coolers as the base of a jury-rigged scaffolding. Nope. Won’ ever admit to that. Nope.
An option . . . don’t paint the “top” of the place. Don’t paint the part above the “balcony” or the big “triangle” on either end. Just paint up to the top of the 8-ft siding panels and call it good.
See how you like it for a week or so, it might grow on you. Seriously.
🙂
Random thought (caused by the pic). Those small awning windows high up – am I correct in remembering that they’re for venting the loft?
Might it be possible to easily increase the size of the one on the west side to provide an “escape hatch” from the loft onto the addition’s roof?
And, hard to tell, but it looks like the concrete piers extend beyond the structure, instead of being completely under it. Could rain collect on top of the exposed piers and contribute to rotting of the wood the piers support? If so, the simplest fix might be a rain shield of flashing to deflect water and prevent it collecting on the pier top.
Kentucky, I’m definitely painting the top of the building. Right now that light green stands out like a golden pyramid in a jungle, and I’ve always disliked it. I also dislike swinging paint poles around while balancing on a high ladder, but that’s a momentary thing. I’ve get over it as soon as I finish, climb down and get my heart back out of my throat.
Norman, the piers do extend from the building a bit. But most of them are under an overhang, and anyway this isn’t the Pacific Northwest. I’m not worried about rotten timbers.
Hey, I originally suggested desert camo . . .
And it’s true, the part that will mostly stick out is those straight lines. There’s a certain temptation to try an actual camo job. But I’ve never seen a camo-painted building that didn’t just say, “Look at me, I’m a really conspicuous camo-painted building.” Maybe if it were done right it would work, but I could never pull it off.
Now that the thought’s in my head I might try it on the woodshed, just because. It would be the work of minutes to paint it green again when the camo job turned out too silly.