I won't rehash today's momentarily worrisome details of John W's unfortunate dietary addition. Jim did a pretty good job of that. I will add, however, that it is unnerving to hear a human sound like a cat coughing up a hairball.
John W is just about finished with what turned into a huge renovation project to the outside of our house. I'll have many pictures of that soon. Meanwhile, I'll show you what I did after today's ride. It's sort of related.
My paternal grandparents had a porch, and on it were three pieces of metal furniture: two chairs and a cart. They were white and always impeccably clean. I don't remember the timeline, but I ended up with them on the back porch.
Shortly after we moved in, during a visit from my parents, my father lamented the state of the furniture. The paint was peeling and the metal was starting to rust. He offered to take them home and re-paint them. I said no, which offended him. I said I'd do it myself.
That was probably something over ten years ago. During this summer's renovations, the two chairs lived outside. Exposed to the elements, there was now almost as much rust as there was paint. The cart, still inside, had fared better.
Jack wanted just to get rid of all three. I said no. Having just finished spray-painting road arrows for the Ride for McBride, I figured I'd be able to handle spray-painting some furniture. Yesterday I came home with a bag full of RustOleum.
Several miles before John swallowed his insect, I told him of my plans. He suggested a wire brush to remove the flaking paint. I'd been planning to use a scraper. On my way home from the ride (after stopping at Mendoker's for some well-dressed sugar from a family-run bakery), I picked up some wire brushes.
I set up shop inside the porch, out of range of the hordes of tiger mosquitoes occupying our back yard. I put on nitrile gloves to keep myself from scraping my fingers to shreds, and sunglasses to keep myself from scraping my corneas to shreds. I laid down a drop cloth to collect the flakes.
This was the worst of the two chairs:
A little WD40 in the cart's wheels made a huge difference.
I thought three cans of primer would be enough. It was, barely. Here's everything, primed.
Note to self: don't kneel on a spray-painted drop cloth. It turns the shins gray.
Four cans of metallic black paint left me with enough to do touch-ups later.
It's a good thing I sort of like the smell of toluene and xylene. Mixed with the thick layer of insect repellent I was wearing, it made for an interesting assault on my liver.
Acetone smells good, too. I needed that to get the paint off my legs and arms.
Not bad for an amateur, huh? Just don't look too closely when you see these things in person.
3 comments:
Three more chairs, and you'll be able to hire out to re-paint auto bodies. Good money in that - I remember Earl Scheib ads: "I'll paint any car for $39.95". OK, maybe the money's not so good.
I remember that name, vaguely.
That led me to remember, "Aamco. That's A-A (beep beep)-M-C-O."
And there are four more chairs, a table, six cans of primer, and six cans of top coat waiting for a day off the bike.
Ah oh! better get L-L ring ring
Post a Comment