[From Craig] In response to all of the "we want to hear about your getting your house ready for sale" comments to Merikay's last post, I've volunteered to do some of that.
Long-time readers may recall a post last Halloween, in which Merikay noted that our house has 516 pickets in its deck railing, each of which had to be sanded and then stained before we could put the house up for sale. We stopped work on that project when the weather turned. Today we finished sanding and staining the last 71 of the 516. Here are some of them:
Which is not to say our deck sanding and staining are done. We still have 2 1/2 flights of stairs plus two areas of deck boards before our deck work is done.
Between Merikay and I, we will try to keep our home preparation fans in touch with our progress. It's just that we're getting close enough that we want to be careful that our blogging doesn't affect our coming home sale in any way...
I have pretty well run out of projects that I can do on my own around here. Some of the things I could be doing have to wait until Craig does other work first, or are Craig's projects and I am just a helper. Much of the time I'm not even that, and I get restless wishing I could do something to make the house ready for the market.
I guess I could be doing more housekeeping, but the large clouds of dust and dirt that go with renovations are very discouraging. Particularly to someone who hates housework as much as I do!
I could be getting rid of stuff, but I want Craig to be involved. He is busy with the repairs and not ready to start going thru things yet. He assures me it will not be a problem, it's just not time yet.
Most of this summer I kept wishing there was a project that I could be working on that would contribute significantly to the improvement of the house.
I guess I got my wish. Sanding and staining the deck railings is very much MY project.
Craig will, and has, helped with some of the sanding. He is using his new belt sander for the top surface of the rails, but I am doing the picky stuff. We found that the staining works best when we do it together. Craig on one side and I on the other. That way we can catch the drips and missed places. We work well together.
We finished the first section of fifty-five uprights today. The color will fade to a more golden color with time.
I have also gotten part of the next fifty-plus partially sanded. I'm using two small hand sanders. It's slow, but not difficult. These are among the easier sections because I can get at both sides in comfort. I used the eight foot step ladder for one side of the first section, but it was easy to move, and I'm quite used to step ladders. I just can't go up high on the extension ladder. Craig will have to do some of the outsides of the upper deck rail.
I try not to think about the whole job. I'm working on one upright at a time, one section at a time.
This is how they look before I sand. They have been power washed and need the oil staining to protect them from the sun and rain.
In my last post, I mentioned I thought the rain we were getting was the end of the wild fire season. I was quite wrong. That rain did very little to dampen the grasses and brush.
The weather has been wonderfully warm all week, but last night we started getting some pretty gusty winds. That increases the fire danger.
As much as I love the warm temperatures, and want to get on with my project, rain will be most welcome.
I do so envy all you houseless people out there. Especially those without decks!
Someday ...
