I have spent the last 6-8 weeks working on the outside of my shop. It's finally painted, and I'm really tired of working on it.
I had to stop working on it for about 5-days. I was working in the eave and stepped off the ladder onto a board with a rusty nail sticking up. The nail went through my shoe and into my foot. Hurt like hell. Went inside, washed my foot, and then put peroxide on it, and then lost my balance, grabbed my towel holder, and almost pulled one end completely out of the wall. So, after I was able to actually stand on my foot again (it was swelled and sore for several days), the first thing I did was fix the towel holder. I'm really thankful that I didn't end up with an infection or tetanus.
Anyway, I was trying to get the building painted before the temps got over 90 degrees. I finished painting it last week with temps in the high 80's. This week we're in a 100-degree heat wave, so I just barely made it. Today I finished trimming around the man door on the side. I also repainted that door with the paint sprayer.
I had to replace a few areas of facia and eave that were rotted.
The previous owner had allowed vines to grow up the backside of the building and they actually found gaps in the eave and made it to the attic. I removed all the old dead vines, and then sanded the areas where they attached themselves to the wood. When I was done, I went around and caulked the eave and facia so there's no more gaps and future homes to unwanted pests.
I primed the bare wood before painting it black.
I replaced the old eave vents with new ones. The new ones are twice as wide, but I could only find them in white. You can't paint them because the have a screen in them to keep bugs out, and they'll get plugged up from the paint.
I pressure washed the building before fixing cracks and places that were missing mortar.
I had a gap on the backside of the building where the addition had been put on.
and filled it in with mortar.
I got some paint color matched to match the house and painted the top 3 courses of block with a brush, and from there down with a sprayer. I didn't want overspray on my eves freshly painted eaves.
I went to Harbor Freight and got this
Avanti paint and stain sprayer:
.
I was pretty pleased with how well it works.
Finally got rid of the artwork the previous owner's grandson left a decade ago.
I didn't paint the plywood square because I plan to reinstall an air conditioner in that opening.
Goodbye pink paint!
I finally got the whole thing trimmed and painted. I repainted the black trim around the doors and the front window.
It's actually a decent looking building now. Next spring I'll landscape around it.
I removed the old air conditioner and closed the opening until zi can get a new one. I just need to make the old one go away.
That pipe next to it is for a propane furnace mounted along the inside wall. I'm getting rid of the old furnace but haven't decided if I'm going to put anything in it's place.
I want to pour some concrete aprons in front of the doors on this side.
I repainted this door and repainted all of the handles and deadbolts black. This door has a combination lock.
I have to build a step here. I'll probably build one out of cement and block later this year.
I don't have any electric in the shop yet, so I found a pair of these
solar powered motion sensor security lights on Amazon for $36 and mounted one over this side door, and one over the barn doors on the other side. I'm surprised at how bright they are and how well they work.