Staining the Fence, Continued
Today, Liz had wanted to go to the first Vintage Garage of the year. But because we didn’t get the fence fully done, she decided to take one for the team, forgoing the event so we could stay home and finish the fence.
Getting things prepped. Today, we were a little faster and a little more familiar with the process. We had just about two gallons to work with to do a final/second pass on our side.
Mixing it up!
Today, we ran into way more clogs than we did yesterday. To the point where we had to switch the sprayer to its “prime” setting (and allow the pressure in the hose to relax, so that I could then clear things).
I’m not sure if this was because we were working with some paint from the day before, or if we didn’t quite have enough paint, or if it was just the machine actiing up.
For whatever reason, every 3 minutes or so… I’d have to walk over and clear out the sprayer, before I could keep working.
In the photo above, I was trying to show just how little paint we had left, before we got finished. We had maybe 1/3 of a gallon left (but a learning for us was that 1/3 isn’t really enough to let the sprayer work well).
For future reference, if a job takes 2 gallons… factor in the sprayer crapping out at around the 0.5 mark. Adding a half gallon buffer to whatever job seems a good rule of thumb, if you want to use the sprayer throughout.
It’s a bit tough to see, given the angle of the sun and the shadow. But our fence is done!
Another view, with all the equipment and blankets removed.
It was tough to tell how well we did, even after we were done. Just tough to see in the light.
I met up with Sylvester (one of our neighbors), who mentioned a few spots on their side that could use a bit more touching up. I headed over with the last bits of paint and a roller, trying to patch up those bare spots.
Honestly, this was one of the best photos of our fence – given the way the sun was situated.
We had plans to head out to Valpo, to help Bob and Julie with their house… but got a call midway in the afternoon, and learned our help would be less necessary today. So we kept on working on the house after the fence was done, with Liz spending a lot of time clearing out the small patch of yard by the garden boxes.
When we did our big backyard work two years ago, our neighbor (who shares our yard) went in on the work with us. But they opted to leave this back patch as it was, and so it’s always been in need of some more work/clearing.
In emails with them, we got permission to go in and do some clearing as we saw fit. We got a lot of knotweed removed, and Liz kept going with clearing this area, pulling out weeds and digging up roots, rocks, and bricks.
Liz, raking the cleared area.
We started around 10AM today, and kept busy for msot of the day until around 5PM. Here, Liz is taking a much-deserved break, after going pretty much nonstop all day.
A view of the fence, near dusk. It’s tough to really capture the real color.
Back outside around 7:30PM, and this looks a little more like how it does in real life. I’m excited to see how this looks with the sun more directly on it.
A closer look at the fence. Not too shabby for just two days.
// Edit: I have to say, I’ve been looking over older blog posts… and it’s just staggering to me, just how much work we’ve done over the last few years.
I mean – I went through all of this, and I’ve forgotten just how crazy the backyard USED to look!
The fence itself was a nice addition to our backyard. But before that, we did a ton of work just in prepping for the fence!
And before that, we had a pretty junk chain-link fence out back. And even before that, we had a pretty significant wilderness situation going on.
This past weekend was a lot of work. And looking after old blog photos, I’m realizing just how much work we’ve put in, in addition to this weekend, to get where we are now.
I’m looking forward to the plants and flowers (and Tippi) coming into bloom, along the fence. I think any color that we get is going to just pop against that dark stain, and the contrast is going to be spectacular.
Related:
Staining the Fence
We Have a New Fence!
Backyard Tree Removal: Before and After Photos
Clearing the Wilderness: Backyard Transformation, Day 1
Beautifying the Backyard
Wow, you have been really busy. The fence looks great! Any coloured flowers will surely shine brightly with this background. And I bet you created some sort of micro climate along the fence, where it will be warmer due to the dark colour. Looking forward to seeing this! :-)
M. (April 24, 2017 at 4:42 am)