The DIY from Hell - part 1

Does anyone remember why it was that i decided to do the Deck Over* last week?

It seemed like such an easy project.  Quick, even.  I watched the You Tube videos, read the brochure, looked the pictures on the web site.  Did my research.  Four easy days:

Day 1 - strip and clean the deck

Day 2 - let it dry thoroughly

Day 3 - paint the first coat

Day 4 - paint the second coat

Done. Easy, peasy.

Well, it didn't work out quite that way. 

 The real reason that I jumped into this was that when i looked at the deck i realized that the remaining finish was in much worse shape than i had thought - peeling, bare spots  - a real mess.  

But i am impatient.  In the beginning, i was not waiting long enough for it to work properly.

My actual progress was more like this:

Day 1 - strip

Day 2 - strip

Day 3 - strip

Day 4 - strip

Day 5 - wash

Day 6 - let it dry

Day 7 - pre-spot the cracks and nail holes

Day 8 - first coat on half the deck

Day 9 - second coat on half the deck, and first coat on 25% more

Day 10 - second coat on 25%, and first coat on last 25%

Day 11 - second coat on final 25%

Let me be clear ... none of this was Behr's fault.  The products worked exactly as advertised, but Operator Error ran rampant!

And, then there was the weather.  It should be averaging 85 here right now.  But for the last 10 days, it has been averaging 93 degrees!  And, the humidity has been around 50% every day.  It meant that it was too hot to work after 9 or 9:30 a.m. and i had to be vigilant that the stripper did not dry out, so it took me way longer than i had planned. 

I was lucky with rain, tho.  I needed it to stay dry thru the entire 11 days, and the dry weather held for 9 days.  It did rain hard late in the afternoon, but by morning had dried out, and only that last 25% of the wood was "naked".  A hot and dry day took care of that by noon, so that i could finish up. 

And, we are thrilled with the final product.  The color matches the side porch beautifully.  It feels good underfoot, and seems to have covered very well.  Only time will tell how well it wears, but we are very hopeful. 

Part 2 will be done in the fall.  I plan to paint the railings white to match the other two porches, but it's too hot to even start on that now.

This retirement stuff is fun!

*Behr didn't pay me for any endorsement, altho i would happily do so.  I really like their products and they worked well.