Paint Job

The barn needed paint.

The barn painted

The house painted

The boom we rented was a lifesaver.

I helped paint a barn and a farm house last week.  We started on Tuesday morning an finished by Thursday afternoon.  We started on the barn thinking we could learn how to use the sprayer on the barn so we could do a better job spraying the house.  Both buildings had very little paint left on them.  We had to do a lot of scraping.  With the right equipment (a boom and a sprayer) and the right team work, we got the job done.  We finished the white paint on the barn and one side of the house the first day.  We thought we might get done with the boom by the second day and save ourselves a little money but the house was a lot more tedious and particular than a barn.  Previously both buildings were all white.  We added black trim to the windows and whatever those black support beams are under the roof.  We called them gables but I don't think they are gables.  Can you see them in the lower picture?  There are five black "gables" up near the roof.  I thought they were cool architectural features and should be emphasized.  The windows had thick trick around them and each was topped with a mantle like board so we painted those black too so they would stick out.  I painted standing, on tiptoes, kneeling, sitting, crouching, lying prone, lying on my back, left-handed and right-handed.  We had four workers the first two days and five workers the third day.  We worked hard but we also had tons of fun.  Why was this huge chore fun?  One was the team work.  When one person's feet got tired standing on a ladder, we switched to riding in the boom for a while.  When another person got tired of running the sprayer and wearing paint riddled safety glasses, we switched to painting form a ladder or the roof of a porch.  We all got along. We all offered suggestions and encouraged each other.  Every once in a while someone would yell, "Hello" or "Fabulous" and the others would echo the word.  We gave each other sincere compliments.  We played the radio and sang along and sometimes danced along to the music. The camaraderie made it fun.  And the golf cart made it fun.  Need an extension cord and it's over by the barn?  It's a fun chore to go and fetch it when you can ride the golf cart.  Being up in the boom was a little scary.  As I faced the peak of the barn with the sprayer in my hand, I dared not look down or around.  As long as I face my work and concentrate on the paint, I wasn't afraid.  Adding the black accent meant some precision was necessary.  I would load up my brush just perfect and prepare to paint a straight line across a window frame when the wind of movement of my partner would shift the boom and my brush did not end up when I had it pointed.  But we did pretty well.  I never got so tired that my work was imprecise.  And in the evening after cleaning up the equipment and putting everything away, I still had enough energy to throw the kayak in the car and paddle around the lake for a while.  This is the second house and first barn I have ever painted.  I think we did a good job.  I hope it weathers well.