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Zombie

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I guess it wasn't a manic Monday, more like a tricky Tuesday. I did do a little more caulking in the greenhouse on Monday mostly on the first table again but some spots on the other tables too. Other than that, not too much because I had other projects on the plate again. facepalm-gesture.gif

 

Today was pretty nice out again - sunny with a chilly breeze from the East so the temps in the greenhouse were quite balmy. It was rather quiet at work (for once!) which made for a perfect day to apply that red polyurethane on the tables. I started with the right side middle tables. All was going fine until I got halfway done on the far left side of the middle table when I went to check up on the freshly painted tops I noticed some cracks peeking through again. Granted, I didn't prime those areas because they looked good enough (from a distance). Up close though, they were visible. This got me really worried, so I temporarily stopped (plus it was time for lunch). very-hungry.gif

 

So out came the primer again after lunch. I primed all the tables that didn't have red on them again, but instead of painting with/against the grain of the wood, I brushed perpendicular with the grain (and cracks) hoping that extra paint buildup on the cracks would fill them in. See, one side of a crack would be slightly higher than the opposite side, so by brushing across the crack the high side would trap the paint there. After everything was primed again, I touched up some areas that still had visible cracks. Because it was so nice and toasty in the greenhouse, the latex primer dried quick. Out came the red polyurethane again. popcorn.gif

 

Now I was really keeping a close (and weary) eye on the paint to make sure the cracks were not peeking through again. Thankfully, they didn't rear their ugly heads again so the extra primer coat(s) did the trick. On the 2 tables that had red on them already, I couldn't prime them anymore so I ended up piling on another coat of polyurethane. That also seemed to work.

 

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It looks fantastic now. And this is just the first coat which was applied with a brush. There aren't too many apparent brush marks where the primer is peeking through either. That's the mark of an excellent paint. 10.gif

 

The moral of the story is this: if you are having issues with cracks, you can probably get by without caulking them as long as you sock enough primer on it. Heck, if you really are in a rush, you could skip the priming step too as long as you don't mind applying more polyurethane in later steps. However, my recommendation is to go with the good primer because it's cheaper than both caulk (time to apply) and the polyurethane (more expensive coating). angel.gif

 

What's next? Well, do you see those smaller red boards underneath the far middle table? Yup, those need the same treatment as they will be used on top of the tables to create a tiered effect. See those sawhorses? Yup, I'll be doing these smaller boards outside on the sawhorses. Maybe tomorrow? Supposed to be nice out again so hopefully! read.gif The unpainted tables on the other side of the greenhouse are not going to be painted because I'm going to replace the tops after we empty the greenhouse in mid-July. After that, I got the green light to do the rest.

 

- Zombie

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Don't take your eyes off him, ladies and gentlemen, or you'll bat an eyelash only to discover having been restored yourselves! tongue.png

 

Meh, I think Zombie is too smart to try to restore ME! It would be a clean cut, a change for a newer model. :D

 

Z, damn good job, as usual! I can almost see my own reflection! Only the angle is preventing it. ;)

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I don't know about you, SV, but seeing the aged and cracked become gleaming anew has a kind of simultaneous restorative effect on me. teehee.gif

 

Oh, man, Zombie, look at those sexy things - they're the flashy classic sports car of the table world right now! :oh:

 

giphy.gif

 

You can still see the wood grain and they yet exhibit some little quirks but that's all down to sheer personality.

 

So, by all means, do keep on cruising! cool.png

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The weather this past week was rather unsettled - one day clear and sunny, the next day cloudy etc, and the low temps were just above freezing at night too so I ended up working on those smaller boards inside the greenhouse instead of outside like I originally planned. Not a problem, I just had to clear some space on those unfinished tables and set up some sawhorses to arrange things. Basically, it was kinda the same steps I used for the bigger tables: caulk first, prime, reprime & topcoat. However, I did change things up a little due to continuing developments and paint issues. Suppose I should elaborate on that a bit. wink.png

 

Obviously the caulking went fine. I used up the rest of the opened tube but didn't have any other tubes open so I ended up opening another tube of grey (a different brand though). This caulk was a little bit thinner and because the temps were pretty low at night it took a while to cure properly. Otherwise nothing I can't work around. smile.png

 

I ran into some issues with the priming steps though. First, I used up the remainder of the grey latex primer and still had one board left to go. Luckily I still had a small reserve of the primer in white on hand to finish the job. The next day I went to the paint store to get another gallon. When I opened up the can to stir it up, the paint was really thin - the consistency of a milkshake not like ice cream which I was used to. Dunno what happened there, but I applied it anyway and it seemed to work the same. In the meantime, my boss was going to throw some old (circa 2002-ish) decent indoor paint away at the shop, but I sequestered them. Glad I did, I decided I'd use the pinkish color as a second coat primer for those boards. Even though it's an indoor paint, I'm going over it with polyurethane anyway. The stuff worked great as a primer filling in those cracks in one coat. ok.gif

 

Instead of plopping a bunch of photos down I just made a collage of each board type - the new which are the cutoffs from the middle tables, and the old which is the cutoffs from the left side. The biggest difference between them is that I stained and put a clear coat on the newer boards a couple years ago while the older boards nothing was done to them at all. I also couldn't fit all four of the old boards on the set of sawhorses so the worst one of the bunch is in with the newer boards - I think you'll be able to see which one it is. Oh, and the final primer pic is with the pinkish paint - I assure you it's pink, even though it looks white in the photos. grin.gif

 

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Again, they look fantastic with just a single coat. This time I was a little more careful in the application process making sure to use a loaded brush with very long brush stokes with little downward pressure to minimize brush marks. The only lighter spots are those where the grain of the wood is higher and that will disappear with a second coat anyway. angel.gif

 

Done? Hell no! With everything having one coat of polyurethane now, I figured I should do something with our park bench which was looking a little drab.

 

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First step was the longest step. I emptied nearly an entire tube of caulk into the thing until I was happy.

 

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And that's as far as I got with the pictures. What's not shown is that I "primed" the top of the table and benches with that pinkish paint again on Saturday. Today I was at work and slapped a coat of red polyurethane on the underside of the two benches in between projects. These were not primed. Really I should have, but these are the undersides and they don't get any wear and you don't see much of the bottom with it being so close to the ground. Now for the table itself I might have to prime the underside of that. I'll try to take some pics of that tomorrow. sarcastic.gif

 

- Zombie

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giphy.gif

 

Pink, he says. Assuredly, he says. One could really be fooled... tongue.png

 

What I can easily believe is you sequestering paint at any opportunity, Zombie. wink.png

 

At any rate, the boards are looking good regardless of their specific paint mix. I'm a little surprised you bothered spending that much caulk on that park bench though, as the wood planks appear to be a bit overly uneven in places (before the caulking). Well, I suppose it will at least prevent it from aging as badly from now on, so there's that.

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giphy.gif

 

Pink, he says. Assuredly, he says. One could really be fooled... tongue.png

 

What I can easily believe is you sequestering paint at any opportunity, Zombie. wink.png

 

I guess it isn't a Pink Panther pink, this is lighter than that. In fact, the color on the outside of the can is much more pink than the color of the paint inside. When I first opened the can to stir it up the liquid at the top actually had green in it (painters sometimes use green pigment to "tone down" red) so it's possible that this can was a mistint by the paint store which was then remodified with green to make a light pink. Not sure on that, but it's possible.

 

I'm a little surprised you bothered spending that much caulk on that park bench though, as the wood planks appear to be a bit overly uneven in places (before the caulking). Well, I suppose it will at least prevent it from aging as badly from now on, so there's that.

 

There is one board on the park bench top which is a little shorter and not quite as tall as the other boards in the top. Here's the deal with that: about 15 years ago the park bench was starting to show it's age. I repaired the benches with screws (instead of nails) which helped to hold it together. But there was one board on the table top which was rotten and needed to be replaced. The top is constructed of "old" dimensional lumber - in this case 2 inches thick, 6 inches wide by however long it is. Now a days, dimensional lumber is 1 1/2 inches thick. The only board I could find at the shop at that time to replace the bad one was a newer dimensional lumber piece. So it's sitting below the plane of the other boards and it's not quite as wide. On top of this, the piece was a little short. So yeah, it's not perfect and it never will be. At least it's in better shape than the other boards in the top (besides the deep crack I didn't do much caulking on it at all on the board). ;)

 

As promised, here's a current pic of the park bench:

 

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I unfortunately couldn't get to any painting today due to being busy with other projects and it was cold and raining out which meant high humidity so the paint wouldn't dry very good anyway. I'll probably be able to get to it tomorrow assuming the rain stays away. sarcastic.gif

 

Here's a good story about the table tops in the greenhouse. Today I was working on setting up some displays outside between the rain drops so I was walking along the side of the greenhouse a bunch. All of a sudden, I heard the door to the greenhouse open and close, and then I heard a spray paint can being used. I immediately poked my head inside to find one of the female employees spraying a "MOM" piece of foamboard in fuchsia pink. It was on a piece of cardboard on the first table to the left of the door. facepalm.gif I know spray paint, there's always a ton of unintentional overspray unless you are really careful covering things up. So I had to really scold this lady. dope-slap.gif She later apologized saying she stopped spraying on the table top and instead put the cardboard and mom sign on the ground and sprayed there. But the damage had already been done:

 

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Son-of-a... I was hoping to get by with a single coat of paint on the tables until July when I replace the 4 tables to the right, but now it looks like I'll need to do a little scrubbing with lacquer thinner to get that pink off. That will dull the glossy finish of the paint so I'll have to touch that table up again. Female employees are the worst. At home they probably would have started out spraying that sign on the ground because they didn't want to mess something up. But get them into a job environment and they act oblivious to messes if they don't have to clean it up. secret.gif

 

- Zombie

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"Pinkish" it is, Zombie. Seems to serve its purpose just fine in this case anyway. :)

 

As for the park bench, I've now officially grown accustomed to being spoilt rotten by your completionism on the job and this latest picture with the lavish coat of paint on the underside of it just reinforces the notion that elevating your paygrade right about now is most definitely in order. :D

 

And about that pink saboteur - I'd put that panther on a leash! rolleyes.gif

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As for the park bench, I've now officially grown accustomed to being spoilt rotten by your completionism on the job and this latest picture with the lavish coat of paint on the underside of it just reinforces the notion that elevating your paygrade right about now is most definitely in order. grin.gif

 

It's actually "spoiled rotten", but I get it no matter how it's put. ;)

 

This past week was "rotten" weather-wise: cloudy, rain every other day, cold and humid. Not optimum for painting by any stretch. Every day I was hoping I'd have one partially decent day, but no. Luckily Friday turned out ok. Yes, it was still cold, but at least the sun was out and that makes all the difference when painting inside the greenhouse. I waited a little for the sun to heat things up a bit, and when I put my hand on the table tops they were warm to the touch. Perfect!

 

So the plan was to roll the second coat of paint on those table tops and boards. I didn't have a lot of paint left in the first can so I opened up another can, poured what I thought would be enough into a roller pan and stirred in a little oil paint conditioner and a splash of paint thinner. The conditioner was mainly to help with the stickiness of the polyurethane and to allow the bubbles from rolling to "pop" and the thinner was to make rolling easier and to facilitate drying. Once I started rolling the job really didn't take long and best of all I used up all the paint in the tray.

 

After taking a break for lunch, I cleaned out the roller pan, roller and brush with paint thinner, then took those washings and dumped that in to the first can of polyurethane which was only about 1/8 full. After stirring that in I applied the thinned paint to the park benches and table top. That's a good way of getting rid of those paint thinner washings and besides, the paint was a little too thick (because it was old, it probably settled out quicker than normal).

 

When I checked up on the paint job in the late afternoon everything was dry (except for the park bench) so I decided to set things up. Here's what it looks like sorta complete (for the time being at least).

 

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I was happy with how it turned out and so was bossman so it's a win-win. :D

 

- Zombie

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I stand corrected, and spoiled all the same. wink.png

 

As is evident at this stage, Zombie, you do right by management, letting very little go to spoil. Reusing the paint thinner washings after first having employed it to clean your material - note taken. smile.png

 

The end results look quite pleasing. Not a shade of pink in sight either... tongue.png

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So I don't know if any of you remember that at the end of October last year I bleached/cleaned off some boards and was going to put some wood preservative on them... but never did obviously. Might as well refer you to post 82 and 83 of this topic for the particulars and pictures. Well, the other day I decided to put some preservative on them because they are going to be used for a display soon. Out they came, back on the sawhorses. I put two coats on the wide sides and one coat on the smaller edges/ends yesterday - this is what they looked like this morning:

 

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In a perfect world, I'd slap another coat or two on them, but they should be fine for one season. Maybe I'll put on another couple coats next year. With that done, I had to stack those boards on the side and move the sawhorses off to their normal spot because we got in a big load of plants and I needed the room in the greenhouse. Took me almost all day to get everything sorted out and arranged properly so I thought I should take a pic of the greenhouse when it's "loaded":

 

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Quite a big difference from the pic this morning. Most of those pots on the ground will be coming out of the greenhouse tomorrow when it warms up. I just chucked them in because it's supposed to be a little chilly tonight (4C). Probably the same deal with the hanging baskets. The park bench didn't get any more coats on it, but it should be fine for the time being. It's going to have to sit idle till next week probably due to outdoor plants/flowers and mother's day on Sunday (me = busy guy this week). wink.png

 

- Zombie

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I didn't have much opportunity to work on the park bench as it's still being used for plants and such. Plus it's been chilly and raining every other day it seems so some painting projects will have to wait. And of course I'm busy doing other things. In between the raindrops and whenever I had a spare minute or two I started to fix up all the tools I use (annual project).

 

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From left to right: ice scraper/chopper, coal shovel, spade, pitch fork, camp shovel, narrow trowel and wide trowel. All were sanded with 120 grit sandpaper, any bare metal spots touched up with a quick drying primer and about 3 coats of gloss black spray paint were applied. Obviously the ice scraper isn't going to be used anytime soon, but it's nice that it's ready to go. I really only use the coal shovel during the winter for knocking down snow piles - I think I might still cut off that rounded piece on the left side to make it even again... sometime. I use the rest of the tools for planting at the cemetery. The spade to create a nice clean line between the ground and grass & pitch fork to loosen up the dirt from around the root balls of grass or weeds and for mixing in peat moss+fertilizer. I use the camp shovel a lot as I can easily shovel holes while kneeling down (it's light too because of the fiberglass). The narrow trowel I've been using for 30 years and it's my favorite tool for planting those "cells" from a pack, while the wide trowel is used for planting the larger pots (it's just as old as the narrow trowel and both are still going strong). They don't make them like they used to. read.gif

 

And what the hey, might as well put a coat on one of our other rolling carts and washtubs too.

 

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Same gray polyurethane I've been using for a multitude of painting projects. The cart's metal frame was pretty rusty, so instead of sanding it I emptied almost an entire can of rusty metal primer into it (no flaking rust, just a light coating and it's inside mostly so no sense in going crazy). sarcastic.gif And I didn't have a chance to paint the frame with polyurethane (again, it's inside so it isn't going to get wet right now). The handle wasn't painted either as I was afraid it wouldn't dry enough in case we use it tomorrow. It's a good start though and makes it look a lot better. thumbsup.gif

 

- Zombie

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There's something to be said about always having the right tool for the job, and that certainly seems to be your case there, Zombie. miner.gif

 

They look pretty sturdy too (say, those are some thick teeth on that pitch fork), which, coupled with your regular care, makes it no wonder they've lasted as long as they have.

 

The rolling cart can definitely benefit from your further loving attention, though, as it's rather showing its age/handling in some spots.

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They look pretty sturdy too (say, those are some thick teeth on that pitch fork), which, coupled with your regular care, makes it no wonder they've lasted as long as they have.

 

True, it's important to do a little maintenance on tools if you want them to last. I think that helps to prevent bigger problems (like rust) from getting out of hand. The other big thing is to never put a tool away dirty. Dirt holds moisture and prevents you from seeing what is going on beneath.

 

The pitchfork tines are thick for a reason. Normal pitchfork tines are thin and that's fine and dandy if all you are using it for is to move hay around. My pitchfork is made for digging into stuff where a spade fails... hard clay, gravel, stones, heavy root balls, etc. Once you loosen things up with a pitchfork, using a spade afterwards is easy.

 

The rolling cart can definitely benefit from your further loving attention, though, as it's rather showing its age/handling in some spots.

 

Yup, it was an old second hand cart - not sure where we got it from so there is some denting and dings and scratches from the previous owner and ourselves. And to be honest, I used to treat it like trash letting it sit outside for long periods in the rain/snow. But for the past few years I've been coddling it by keeping it inside and at the very least priming the top ever so often. The darn thing is so noisy and rattles like heck when you roll it around but I intend to fix that eventually. happy.png

 

- Zombie

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Do you expect the tool coating to last for several years? In my experience any colour on any of the tools was... well, sanded away pretty quickly by the... sand! ;)

 

Actually I'm more annoyed by the colour particles making its way into the soil than I am by the degradation of the tools. Especially the wheelbarrow that had a thick layer of green colour and it is dropping off in flakes. I hate to see the chemicals in the compost, ending up in the salad garden.

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@SV: I guess the question is then - how do you like your greens? tongue.png

 

I suspect you know what should be done to prevent such gradual 'poisoning by wheelbarrow' from happening; you take the pro-active stance and sand it thoroughly, then paint it over with several layers of whatever brand of quality paint you favour.

 

Or, you can do what I eventually did some three years ago and get one of these instead. wink.png

 

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[Official site]

 

It's far lighter than your usual wheelbarrow, no painting required, for all intents and purposes rust-free and just about nothing adheres to it as its surface has a treatment that makes it very easy to clean after use. Even has ergonomic grips for extra comfort. Sturdy too, as I've hauled large rocks with it with no problem. smile.png

 

 

@Zombie: pitchfork + spade one-two punch for best effect understood!

 

I can see you've changed your ways with regards to the poor, battered old cart. It can't help squeaking a little in protest and disbelief of its newfound good fortune, but you'll bring it some contentment and fully earn back its trust soon enough. yes.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...
Do you expect the tool coating to last for several years? In my experience any colour on any of the tools was... well, sanded away pretty quickly by the... sand! wink.png

 

It depends how much you use a tool and what you are digging into. For what I do, I maybe get 2 years worth out of the paint job before reapplying. You gotta realize that planting in cemeteries is really taxing on tools. Big time. And it's for the simple reason that backfill over graves and under gravestones is usually gravel which tears the crap out of any paint job. Also, the "top soil" is usually not so much soil as it is clay, sand and whatever else is leftover from opening the ground up. It sometimes takes years to get the soil to a proper consistency by incorporating peat moss and other amendments to loosen it up. Of course, once it's loosened up you'll get lots of weeds because they'll get an easier foothold. Tradeoff, the saving grace is that it's easier to remove the weeds too. happy.png

 

If you use a decent paint, it shouldn't come off much if used in sand occasionally. All the time? Well, then I probably would opt not to paint as the sand will clean the tool as you use it. blush.png

 

Actually I'm more annoyed by the colour particles making its way into the soil than I am by the degradation of the tools. Especially the wheelbarrow that had a thick layer of green colour and it is dropping off in flakes. I hate to see the chemicals in the compost, ending up in the salad garden.

 

Again, I'm normally using the tools in the cemetery where it doesn't matter if a chip of paint flakes off. The amount of chemicals coming off those small chips is probably less than the chemicals found in the soil where you are planting your salad greens. whistling.gif If you worry about it, then there are other methods.

  1. Don't paint the tools, let them be and just sand off any rust at the end of the year.
  2. Use plastic tools, though I'd worry more about the chemicals in the plastic than metal. And breakage.
  3. Use aluminum tools. Might be more expensive and probably less sturdy than it's steel counterparts and they will wear quicker.

So there will be tradeoffs here as well. The thing with painting is that once you start, you have to continue to reapply. But as long as you remove the loose stuff, prime and then apply a few good top coats it'll last fairly long. The only part that needs to be touched up is the digging edge (for obvious reasons). sarcastic.gif

 

- Zombie

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been working on pulling the small garage together at work the last few days (at least, when I have some time between projects). It's been raining here, and there are a couple leaks in the roof which I need to fix yet, but I figured I should put some things away to aid in that effort. (Btw, pro tip: if you know where a leak is from the inside but can't find it outside, simply pound a nail up through the roof. Then when you get on the roof you can look for the nail poking out, pound it back down and fix the issue. Sure beats taking a bunch of measurements and translating that when you are on the roof). happy.png

 

Anyhow, I needed to put some boards away from the garage into the greenhouse, but I really didn't want to do that without sweeping it out and cleaning off the red table tops I painted earlier. (They had dirt and dried, caked on flower petals plus water stains and who knows what else). The first step was just to get things wet and loosen the crud up - not just water, soapy water... in this case I used some el-cheapo window cleaner. After I brushed that in and let it soak for a little bit I sprayed some industrial disinfectant right over it, scrubbed that in, let it sit for a little bit again, then repeat. By this point there wasn't anything sticking to the table tops anymore so I rinsed them off with the hose. Any spots you may see are wet areas that didn't dry yet.

 

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All in all, they came out nearly as perfect as I left them. There are only a few spots which need some touch up, mostly it was high spots where the paint was scrubbed off by dragging plastic flats over them. The nice thing is that because I used a grey or white primer underneath it's easy to see where I need to hit it again with a little paint. No big deal. No job is complete without scrubbing off those smaller shelves and the park bench too. As an added benefit, I can lean them up against the building outside to bask in the sun and dry. lightbulb.gif

 

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Any spots you may see are water spots. I noticed them while scrubbing but didn't bother with more aggressive solutions until I could see how bad they were after they were rinsed off. I can probably get them off with vinegar or some dilute muriatic acid (or Hydrochloric Acid - HCl). Anything that's left I can touch up with paint. Besides, I need to paint the bottom of those boards and put another coat on the park bench yet.

 

All that just to put away boards from the garage. facepalm.gif On the plus side, I'm ahead of the game by getting the greenhouse cleaned out this early. And trust me, I'll need the time as I have some tuck pointing to do, a leaky roof to fix, a park bench and boards to paint, and eventually, new table tops for the workstations to build and paint. Busy! sarcastic.gif

 

- Zombie

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The results speak for themselves, Zombie, as is customary with your top notch handiwork. :)

 

The seeming downside, of course, is that there's no rest for the wicked and you're a bit of a perfectionist too. ;)

 

I do see those water spots, but you better tell yourself you have bigger fish to fry, because you do. :P

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  • 4 weeks later...

Nearly a month with no updates? I must be slacking. Or busy. Or both. happy.png

 

I managed to patch up the roof of the small garage. Hotter than hates on the roof that day, but I couldn't help it, it needed to be done. wink.png It poured a few times since and no leaks in the places I previously identified and fixed. There are a couple tiny leaks in two spots I need to address yet. They were not there before so I think the reason I'm seeing them now is because it got really warm which caused the roof to expand.

 

Instead of using muriatic acid or vinegar to remove the water stains on the smaller boards I just brushed on a light coat of paint. It seemed like the fastest and easiest way considering I had the brush wet with paint already.

 

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You can really see what I touched up when the sun is shining on the boards, but in the shade it's completely unnoticeable. Ok, so why did I have a wet brush? Because I used up the rest of the first gallon of polyurethane which only had a little bit of paint left at the bottom (thinned down a little to get as much pigment off the walls of the pail). Yup, the park bench got one coat, then I did the boards, and after that I opened up the second gallon and applied another full coat on the park bench.

 

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It needs another coat though, some of the primer is still peeking through, and hey, the bottom needs another coat as well. In the background of the pic is a gray cart I use almost everyday for chores with a fresh coat of paint on it (used spray paint because I wanted to use up the can and get a fresh one). ok.gif

 

More pics on the way. Dropbox is being a little temperamental lately. surrender.gif

 

- Zombie

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Plugging holes and covering stains, even when nobody complains! wink.png

 

Alright, Zombie, I suppose one could get past the little touch-ups on those boards, fast and loose remediation job as it was, and your everyday cart got the last remnants of a spray paint as a makeover real quick...

 

By contrast, what really takes the cake here is how adoringly cared for the park bench now is and still stands to be, as stated in your plans for extra coating top and bottom.

 

Something is going on - is that a picnic with the ladies I sense in the air? Well, if so, more power to ya! grin.gif

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Something is going on - is that a picnic with the ladies I sense in the air? Well, if so, more power to ya! grin.gif

 

Nope, I almost always eat alone. Less yapping = quicker to finish and relax the rest of my lunch break. It's too warm to eat at the park bench anyway - I have a nice shady spot with decent circulation in the small garage... plus I can listen to the radio. smile.png

 

So I finally got a chance to put a couple coats of gray polyurethane on the threshold I fixed earlier in the year.

 

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There are still a couple small cracks in the surface which haven't quite filled in yet so I'll need to apply a couple more coats just to ensure everything is sealed properly. And as usual, while I had the paint out, I put another coat on that noisy+neglected cart.

 

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You'll see I addressed the handle too. The only thing I didn't paint on the cart yet is the frame on the bottom. I'll take some pics of that when I get motivated. ;) In the foreground of the pic is a board I use frequently for various things, the bottom already has two coats, this is the top with one very heavy coat. Needs more coats to fill in the cracks though.

 

The paintbrush was still wet, so might as well apply another coat on the long table in the backroom (the one with the boombox on it).

 

DSC09676JPG.jpg

 

Much, much better. I pre-primed some scratches, stains and spots with a gray spray paint primer first (obviously). I believe it was the remnants of a can of automotive primer from Rust Oleum if any of you are curious. So that table should be set for a while now, probably will not be able to replace the top this year unless the boss gets me the new plywood.

 

We also have a flower cutter (or more accurately a stem guillotine) to cut multiple bunches of flowers at a time which needed some help. (Btw: I'm very proficient cutting multiple bunches with a knife as we didn't always have a cutter to rely upon, so I can manage without the use of the cutter, it just makes the process a little easier). The wood handle was in rough shape so I sanded it with three grades of sandpaper, applied a coat of linseed oil and sprayed two or three clear coat on top of that. Would be stupid to have a nice handle while the frame looked like crap, so I applied some polyurethane on that too.

 

DSC09675JPG.jpg

 

Again, much better. I actually constructed the base myself many years ago. The big square hole in the middle is for the stems to fall through into a garbage can, and the wedges underneath each foot of the cutter is to aid with cutting the stems on an angle. It had paint on it already, but was starting to wear thin in places due to heavy use.

 

So more projects completed, a couple still on-going and I just started another project while the weather is warm and sunny. Stay tuned for that. blush.png

 

- Zombie

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Spreading the joy of fresh paint for there to be no blemish or taint. Beyond mere good taste, quality, uniformity - you really let naught go to waste, Zombie. wink.png

 

Nice job on the stem guillotine. It sure looks sturdy and fit for the task.

 

Further note to self: no silly puns are to be made while you're handling a knife. tongue.png

 

Will stay on the listening post for news of new project reveals. smile.png

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