Blue door blues part 2: using oil paint

The new glossy blue door which we painted with oil-based enamel paint

You wouldn't think painting a blue door would give us so much grief... In the quest for the perfectly painted door we realised the water-based enamel paint was not going to cut it, in this instance. Damn shame really because it has so many great advantages...

The painting fubar with the water-based enamel...it dries too quickly. The roller just stripped off a section...

After trying to salvage the door and failing dismally, we decided to strip it right back and start all over again with old school oil enamel. The last straw was when Jason painted the last coat of water-based enamel with a roller. He went over one section which had dried too quickly and ended up stripping off a thin layer of paint...ruining the final finish.

And then it was on. Jason lost his cool quite spectacularly - it was like we were back to days of yore at the Sow's Ear. I could have charged admission for the show and made a fortune!

Fortunately, a can of paint stripper and a new tin of oil paint was enough to quell the tide of anger. It was quite easy to get the first blue paint layer off. It was like peeling the skin off from a sun burnt Smurf, if you require a literary device to imagine the scene...

Peeling off the water-based enamel. 

Stripping back the door revealed its colourful past -  beginning from blue, to mustard, to salmon, to white and back to blue again.

The paint stripper was able to remove most of the other layers. A quick sand and a dust down was preparation for the first coat of oil-based enamel.

The oil-based enamel has a lovelier, glossier, smoother finish

The colour is much richer than the water-based stuff, it also has a smoother and glossier finish. It was exactly the look Jason desired. The major downside (which is also an upside if you have to fix anything) is the lengthy drying time - it's quite a few hours, so don't expect to be shutting your door in a hurry if you use oil based paints.

Jason used a roller specifically for gloss paint to paint the door - it has a finer stipple to minimise the orange skin effect when using a paint roller. He painted one coat and after it dried completely he sanded it down before applying the second coat (this was completed over the space of two weekends, by the way).

Success! It looks a thousand times better. All is well in our small renovating world.

The next door we need to paint is the stable door or dutch door in the laundry...that should be an interesting experience. I'll keep you posted on how we go...

Blue door blues

As part of the restoration of our modernist home, we intend to retain some of the original colours (or as close as possible) used in the home when it was first built in 1963.

We're using an old photograph and also taking DNA colour scrapings from the wall...Ha! The old colours seem to work quite well and it makes painting a little more interesting when using colour as opposed to our usual vivid white.

Snorkel Sea blue front door

We found out the original colour of the front door was a deep blue after we scraped it back. Funnily enough it is not a colour we would have ever contemplated using in this house...but we like it and, more importantly, we think it works well with the exterior.

The front door used to be green on the inside and white on the outside

We love the new door colour - Dulux Snorkel Sea - which was as close to the original blue we could find from our local hardware. Jason used a water-based gloss enamel (he's used water-based enamel in a vivid white to paint around the window architraves to great effect).

The door, however, has not worked out as well as he would like and Jason is quite despairing of the finish. The paint strokes are too visible for his perfectionist streak (I don't really mind too much but he doesn't like it at all)! He's been fiddling with the front door for two weeks now and it is still not quite right.

He plans one more attempt to fix it before abandoning the whole project and using an oil-based enamel. We'll have to go back to square one and strip the whole thing back if we do...yikes!

Anyway, there are three more exterior doors we need to paint blue so we need to get this front door right before we proceed further.

On the weekend Jason painted the front facade white which it was originally from what we could gather...

Deck maintenance and welcome 2014

And so another year rolls on by...I hope everyone had a terrific New Years' and the coming year brings you much good health and happiness.

Lots of faffing around with the outdoor furniture placement since we refurbished the deck. I also refurbished our outdoor table - oil and wax has brought it back to life.

We've had a  busy few day over the Christmas/New Year break to do some much needed maintenance on the deck and stairs. I can't remember how long it's been since we re-oiled the decking boards but things were looking pretty shabby on the deck. You really do need to oil decks at least once a year - we had let it go for much longer between coats.

Washed deck. We use a deck cleaner, a bristle broom brush and elbow grease to get this job done. The boards had started to grey slightly.

We gave the deck and stairs a good old wash and scrub with a deck cleaner, which basically removes all the built-up grime. It's when we clear the deck and wash it, we can attend to any loose or split boards - you tend to notice any problems as you scrub each board. Anyway, it was all in reasonable condition with nothing really needing immediate attention.

After the boards had dried, Jason proceeded to re-coat the deck and stairs. He wanted to try a different product to the traditional oil he previously used. This time he experimented with a water-based finish. Fortunately, we didn't need to sand off the old finish as it had already worn off - a wash was all it needed.

A before and after shot. We only did 2/3 of the deck and did the rest the next day

Jason uses a paint brush to coat the deck. He could used a lamb's wool applicator but prefers a brush - I don't like to question him too much about his choices...at least he gets the job done! He applied two coats of finish and in the areas which are exposed to full sun he gave it three coats. The oil is applied sparingly too - to avoid the boards getting tacky.

The water-based finish worked out well. The clean-up and the wait between each coat was much faster and it has less odour  - always a bonus. The finish is slightly tacky at first but after it has cured for a few days it improves significantly.

After shot of the re-coated deck. We've moved the furniture around a bit and have put the butterfly chairs to the front of the deck.

The visible difference between coated and un-coated deck was huge. It is well worth the effort when you see the results. We've been living out on the deck since it's been done and enjoying the long summer days.

Butterfly chairs are placed to the front to enjoy more of the view we have of the local mountains/forests and suburb

Front garden spring makeover progress

Sponsored by Masters

Our front garden spring makeover has great promise!

A before and after of the garden is a bit premature since we’ve only just planted the garden. It needs time to grow. You can however see some before shots HERE.

It might not look like much at the moment because the plants are fairly small… but, in time, with plenty of water and fertiliser we will have a beautiful screening hedge. Jason and I couldn’t be happier.

The wire fence  on the side is a bit of an eyesore, so it will be great to have a nice green and leafy screen

The plants are quite small but we know we have time on our side

It really is a great time of year to get stuck into the garden before the summer heat really stings us. We’re not looking forward to yet another hot summer - we’re glad we’ve tackled this front garden project while the weather is still relatively mild.

Nice and easy is how we like to do things around here, so shopping online with Masters Home Improvements was just the ticket. The Masters Click and Collect service is quite awesome. After I ordered and paid for all of our gardening requirements online one evening, I received an email the next day to say it was ready to pick up.

Loading all the gardening things into the car

You pretty much just go to the Masters store with your order number and within about 10 minutes everything is wheeled out to you on a trolley. And in our case a very big trolley! In and out within 25 minutes… by the time everything was strategically loaded into the back of the car, of course.

So what did we order?

We ordered 20 Murraya plants (14cm) to create a border up one side of a boundary fence. At $5 a pop, the plants are a nice tidy investment for the garden.

Twenty murrayas squeezed in the back of the Subaru

We also ordered a couple of bags of blood and bone to help condition the soil and help fertilise the plants when it came time to plant the little blighters.

Sugar can mulch from Masters

Bales of sugar cane mulch were another must-have for our garden.  I underestimated how much we would need and had to go back a few days later to get three more bales.  Masters has a ‘three bales for $30’ deal which is not bad compared to other hardware places.

Mulching all of our garden beds has really tidied up the front yard. It will keep the weeds at bay, retain the moisture in the soil and will help our new plants thrive.

A good hose makes a good gardener

We bought a new hose to replace a very badly kinked hose that annoyed me every time I used it. The old hose was thrown away and replaced with a shiny new orange hose.  Good hoses make good gardeners is our theory…let’s hope we can prove it!

We also like using a soaker hose when new plants are being established. The 15 metre soaker hose is just the right length for watering all the new Murrayas along the side fence.

Next month when the plants have settled in, I will start to fertilise them with a soluble fertiliser to give them a boost during the growing season and alternate with either a fish emulsion fertiliser or seaweed-based product.

Now all we need is plenty of rain to help our new garden grow. I hope to show you more photos in the next few months to see how everything has fared over the growing season. Stay tuned.

Bog carpentry

Real craftsmen/women please don't judge us.

Remember, last week when Jason was figuring out how to re-mould the decorative top for the batwing lattice door? Read here to refresh your memory.

Well, he's done it. Have a look in the photograph below and see how he's matched the top bits. For those not in the know, it looks for all the world like there had never been an issue with the doors.

After shot of the batwing lattice doors

Jason's managed to shape and fashion a new decorative top with plain old builder's bog. Yep, a wannabe tradie's best friend...guaranteed to make you the Rodin of the carpentry world.

It's a slightly unorthodox approach to fix the problem but it seemed better than the alternative, which was to get new doors made. The batwing lattice doors are not a standard size - it would probably have cost us the best part of a grand to get new ones custom-made...

So, for about $25 for the bog and hardener set, the doors have been salvaged.

And now Jason's OCD twitch has dissipated substantially and all is right with the world. Amen.

before shot of the batwing doors for the sake of comparison

Repairing the batwing lattice doors

For a few years, Jason has been driven mad by the fact that our external lattice batwing doors on the back deck were slightly mismatched.

It's not hugely noticeable (most people have never noticed it) but for OCD Jason it is like staring at a huge pimple. Yesterday, he could stare at it no longer and set about to fix the doors.

Batwing lattice doors

The problem with the doors was that at some stage they had been trimmed at the top and the bottom when they were hung. It meant the doors were just slightly off when they were closed. 

You can see in the picture below how the decorative top was sliced off one of the doors. Yikes! For OCD people, this type of thing brings on an uncontrollable twitch. 

We could probably just buy another set of doors, but it would seem a shame not to try to salvage the ones we have. Jason's added a strip of timber to the bottom of one of the doors so that the doors are now the same height. He's re-hung the doors so that the hinges were at the same level too. Ha! He's Mr Symmetry.

Jason is also going to attempt to re-mould the decorative curl at the top. I have no idea how he thinks he's going to do that ... but I have a feeling that builder's bog will factor into the equation and more paint!

Anyway, it is the small things that make a house a home and if something like a pair of symmetrical doors ticks the boxes then so be it.

Valance finished

Jason recovered sufficiently from his bout of man-flu to finish the valance painting. It looks fantastic and it is another job we can tick off the list.

Timber battens or valance around the deck

Jason hard at work, painting under the back stairs

I'm keeping this post nice and short because I think I've caught Jason's man-flu. I probably should've been more sympathetic!

We're going to call the valance Holly!

You can tell we have too much time on our hands when we've dubbed the new valance around the deck Holly. Get it? Holly Valance? (Australian TV actress from the early noughties for those not in the know)

So, Holly has come along quite well under Jason and Mr D's capable hands. They finished off the construction phase this morning and now all that is left is some gap filling and a few coats of exterior paint. Jason had primed most of the timber on the public holiday last Wednesday. Next weekend with be set aside for painting.

Arched timber valance or timber battens around the deck

The construction of the arched 'Holly' valance was quite straightforward, but as Jason likes to remind me, "You still need to have your wits about you."

For example, spacing out the palings needed to be planned out beforehand, as leaving a standard space did not always work. Mr D made up a story-rod from a plank of wood, which was effectively used as a template for measuring the distance between each span. The boys had to adjust the measurements accordingly to ensure every batten was evenly spaced.

pencil marks to obtain the curve

To achieve the arched curve, Jason drew it freehand, using the centre board as his starting point. He then measured each corresponding board to ensure they were even, adjusting his markings accordingly before cutting the final shape with a jigsaw.

The timber palings are a mix of hardwood decking boards, iron bark and spotted gum timber, which should weather well over time. They also have a nice smooth finish and will be easier to paint unlike the fencing-grade pine that is usually used for such a job. As it is a decorative element, it should ideally look good. Bling!

Jason is proud of the big nail gun between his legs. As he should be. Apparently, this is quite safe...Still not sure that having such an apparatus in a private and sensitive area is a great idea. As many of my instagram mates noted, lucky we've finished breeding! (Seriously, it's the endless opportunities for innuendo which keeps me blogging)

the valance or timber battens under construction

Anyway, Jason and I are very happy with how it's looking. The deck always appeared too spindly for our liking and the 'Holly' valance gives it more body.

Valance construction mode

The work on the valance has begun. Bright and early on Saturday morning, it was a hive of activity at the Sow's Ear.

Mr D, our builder, is also back. Jason was so happy to get the extra assistance, company and use of  better quality tools. It's never much fun doing this kind of work by yourself with the bare minimum of tools...

Together, the two of them accomplished quite a bit in the morning. All the frame work is up and ready for the palings to be nailed on to it.

If all this nice weather holds up, the valance should be finished by next week. Here are a few photographs from the weekend...

sanding and dressing the timber

The brackets 

Jason painting the primer onto the woodwork.

All the framework is done. We'll get some primer painted on the timber this Wednesday when it is the public holiday

Operation valance

After 15 years of marriage, it has finally dawned on me that Jason is not one to enjoy idleness. The man needs a reno project. Thank goodness we own the Sow's Ear.

For the last few months Jason hasn't sunk his teeth into any major project, and he's not been a happy person. He really is a wannabe tradie and is truly at his happiest when in full-on construction (and destruction) mode.

It was with glee that he ordered the timber to start the frames for the valance or timber battens for under our back deck. It was a project which he started last year, but for one reason or another he lost his motivation to finish it. But with the warmer weather nearing, Jason's got his mojo back. (I can hear his fans cheering and doing the Mexican wave for shirtless Jason...)

This weekend Jason's going to make a start on the valance. It should be a fairly straight forward job and it will make a huge difference to the look of the back end of the Sow's Ear.

The deck really looks like it is perched on a pair of sticks and the valance will give it more body and substance...if you know what I mean. It will also keep poor ol' Jason busy.

shot of the deck from the back yard

You can see the valance that Jason did late last year. The valance under the deck will just be a lengthier version

Sealing and gapping weatherboards on a Queenslander house

Sponsored by Sika Australia

One of the unhappy delights of owning a Queenslander house is the almost continual maintenance that these timber and tin beauties require.

Last year, we removed the asbestos cladding from underneath the Sow’s Ear and replaced it with hardwood weatherboards. It looks so much better than before, with the added benefit of not being asbestos!

Unfortunately, after sealing and painting the weatherboards, the new timber has shrunk over time leaving some ugly gaps between the weatherboards. It’s just one of those things when working with natural materials – timber shrinks and swells depending on how old it is and with the weather. 

Gaps between the timber weatherboards

The unmistakable dark lines of the opened-up gaps look unsightly particularly on our all-white Sow’s Ear exterior!

So it was very fortuitous that the makers of Jason’s favourite sealant, Sika Australia, contacted us about testing their products. I had to laugh as we’ve been using Sika sealant and extolling its virtues for a number of years, ever since our first builder Mr Rooney put us on to it. You can read all about it here and here. Jason’s a convert and there’s nothing more zealot than one of those!

The nice people of Sika kindly sent us a number of Sika Acrylic tubes to helps us seal our gaps. They also sent Jason a new Sika caulking skeleton gun because Jason has never invested in a good quality one after four years of painting and sealing.

Sika Skeleton Sealant Gun

The number of times he’s had to stop what he’s doing mid-gapping stream because of caulking gun malfunction is too many to count… We’ll let you know how long this one lasts, but so far so good.

In the past, we’ve used Sikaflex Pro for filling exterior gaps but apparently the Sika Acrylic is a better and cheaper alternative because it will absorb a little of the paint you use on the outside of the house, giving a more seamless finish and a more consistent colour.

Jason in Sika motion. He even shifted the tube to show off the branding. Classic! I told him to think about sealing the gaps properly and leave the spruiking to me!

Sika Acrylic is easy to caulk and still provides the same level of sealability and is just as waterproof when it is painted, and  suitable for all types of paints including oil based enamels which can be problematic when painting over polyurethanes. The clean-up is also much easier as it is water-based.

No more dark lines

You can use it for sealing low movement joints around brick, concrete, plasterboard, windows, doors, ceramic tiles and filling of cracks prior to painting. It also adheres to most building materials and can be sanded back once it has fully cured.

For Queenslander home owners, it is a great gap filler for VJ (vertical join) walls which are notorious for splitting open during dry weather conditions.  Sika products are available from Bunnings nationally.

Anyway, we can now tick the gapping and sealing the weatherboards job off the list as we prepare the Sow’s Ear for spring. 

Have you been doing any maintenance on your house for the change of season?

p.s Sika has also recently launched a new spray adhesive called Sikabond Sprayfix which I’m dying to try out. I’m currently working out how I can use it for making a new lamp shade and a couple of small art projects that I have planned. So stay tuned. colour. 

Campbell's Soup tins

To say I'm not a huge fan of tinned soup would be an incredible understatement...but it didn't stop me from adding four Campbell's limited edition tomato soup tins to my grocery trolley the other week.

So, I'm a sucker for Warhol and retro packaging!

Campbell's limited edition art tins

We've only eaten one tin. I made the kids eat it one night when I wasn't bothered cooking.

You have to take your hat off to the people who thought to package these tins as limited edition pieces, because there is no way in the world I would've bought them otherwise. I am officially a wanker!

Now, what to do with these colourful tins. Unfortunately, my idea for using them as herb planters was quite flawed. The paper labels won't last the distance, so I will have to rethink  how to use them.

Some people are using them as vases, pencil holders and tea light candle holders... I'm thinking of peeling off the labels and making some sort of art piece. I have a vision of getting my pop art mojo on. I'll show you what I come up with when it is done...after we get through all the soup!

Did you guys buy the tins too. And what are you planning on doing with yours?

Fence repair

As I said last week, it certainly sucks when you have to repair something that was damaged accidentally...

Thank goodness Jason is handy because it would've been a pain (as well as embarrassing) to have someone else repair my dreadful mistake.

As it turned out the damage was not so bad. The post was still rock solid in the ground (Mr D builds them to last) but reversing into the gate while it was closed caused the post to split. Lucky it was something that could be repaired.

With some glue, some nails and Sikaflex, Jason was able to put it all back together again. He's done a terrific job. Mr D was kind enough to drop by to see if he could help when he heard what I had done...(the grapevine is alive and well in our neighbourhood) and was very impressed with Jason's repair job. Mr D may hire him as an apprentice if Jason ever decides to chuck in his day job...

With a bit of paint on the post, no one will ever know...unless you read the blog!

Chalk paint makeover of a milking stool

The good people from Annie Sloan sent me paint and wax* to sample as part of their launch of chalk paint into the Australian market. I had heard about the new paint...however I had only ever seen it used in that distressed antique-style finish...

And as regular readers would know, that's not the sort of finish I normally favour. I wanted to use the paint in a clean, mod-style and had the perfect piece of furniture to rejuvenate.

In 1993, as a young unemployed graduate, I committed crimes against furniture when I decoupaged a perfectly innocent milking stool. Yes, the horror!

DIY decoupaged stool.
Believe it or not, I was so proud of my efforts...clearly as I 've kept it intact since 1993!

But it was the 90s and I had a perm...Decoupaging seemed like a good DIY hobby while trekking between dead-end job interviews and the dole office...

This poor old milking stool is so handy - it's used as a ladder, spare chair, side table and play surface. I set about rectifying the sins of the past and sanded the stool back to its vintage goodness. It deserved another chance at life.

Think belt sander with a very coarse grit to remove the Victorian-era inspired decoupage and then hand-sanding the hard to reach areas around the legs.

The milking stool sanded right back 

I painted the milking stool in graphite chalk paint. I didn't want to paint it entirely in one colour and decided to try my hand at that paint-dipped look which is so fashionable.

J Crew ad with fluoro (neon) paint dipped stools 

All you need is good painter's tape and a ruler to get everything level and at the right height. I didn't primer the stool and just painted straight onto the wood. This particular stool needed three coats of chalk paint.

Going for that paint-dipped look with chalk paint

The Annie Sloan chalk paint dries to a matte finish, which you can then lightly sand with fine sandpaper.  After it is dusted clean, apply a couple of coats of clear wax to make the finish more durable - it has a lovely satin sheen. I applied the wax onto the unpainted legs too.

Chalk paint dipped stool.
It almost has that minimalist designer look 

black dipped stool

It turned out much better than I had expected...but I think anything was going to be an improvement. Ha!

I just hope I won't be recoiling in horror in 20 years time, wondering what possessed me to paint dip the milking stool...Anyway, I like it now, so that just will have to do.

*disclaimer I was given a tin of graphite paint and wax to sample by Annie Sloan