Cliff May Restovation

I do, and its name is Wagner Paint Crew.

My parents were kind enough to give me one of these for Christmas.

I don't know if you're at all like me, but I have one of those friends that's a cynic. Whatever it is, new easy way of doing something, good deal on a car, someone else's success story, this guy's got a negative opinion. It won't work; it's too good to be true; you'll be sorry. And so was his reaction when I told him I got a paint sprayer: it will clog all the time, you'll have tons of overspray, 2 coats will be required. I will admit, I was a bit intimidated and it took me a month and a half before I got together the mental wherewithal to try it out. Some of you are aware of my front facade fence painting:

BEFORE:

The fence section of the right is really more of a termite graveyard than a fence. It's a POS for sure so I've been hesitant to paint it, using the logic, "why spend good time on the bad fence?" But that all changed with the sprayer. It's funny that they call it a "sprayer" since it doesn't so much spray the paint as conjures paint up on the object you want paint. Literally, it took less than 10 minutes to get to this...

AFTER:

The paint job is awesome on it. One coat, great coverage, very little overspray. Now, those of you with particular keen senses of observation have probably already noted that this photo is taken just before sunset. While it only took 10 minutes to paint the fence, it took 1.5 hours ("cynic friend" let out a grunt of satisfaction when I told him this) to clean up the sprayer. Though, I think I learned a few very important lessons and I bet I can get it down to 45 minutes next time. Overall, I'm very happy with the sprayer; if you do any painting at all I think it's a worthwhile investment. Because it was so easy, I'm now thinking of changing my house color. With the masking done I bet I could do it in a summer weekend.

Cool Pics:

One of my friends says she thinks my house looks really neat lit up at night. Also, some of you have asked why I spend so much time ripping out plants, sweeping up leaves, and painting fences instead of more "glamorous" interior work. Fortunately, the interior of my house is a lot farther along than the exterior so right now it's the wheel that squeaks the least. But here are some pics:

I really need a wider angle lens, but oh well. I think the full-size image is better: Click Me

Full-size here.

One thing I've always liked about the Cliff Mays, Eichlers, and many other MCM homes is the ability to see through windows to another part of the house. It's a level of transparancy and self-awareness missing from today's stucco boxes. Full-size here.