Last week, we talked about the eyesore that was my front porch. Like so many other things, it was detracting from the charm Isthmus House still had when we bought it and has now. It was bad enough that I specifically asked the inspector about it because I was worried it might be rotten and have future problems.
After ripping off the carpet and scrubbing the wood to within an inch of its proverbial life, we were doing a lot better than where we started (one little project down!).
Better wasn't good enough in this case, though. A few of the boards were in rougher shape and, after the porch dried, it wasn't quite this pretty red color - more like a dusty brown with just a hint of red.
Once again, where old wood needing restoration came in, so did the paint stripper. This time, I used some specifically designed for use with the cleaner and semi-transparent restorative stain I chose from Behr.
This time, I was supposed to pour it directly onto the floor, roll it out with a standard paint roller and use a brush for the corners. In addition to getting more than you think you'll need (I went through about a bottle and a half for multiple layers on a small porch), I would strongly recommend a mask, glasses, chemical gloves, long pants you don't care about and non-slip shoes for this.
The paint stripper that did get on my clothes came out in the wash for me but it splatters quite a bit when you pour (even if you're fairly close to the floor).
After giving the stripper a while to set, I used a putty knife to gently peel off the paint that had separated.
And then did another coat.
And waited.
And washed it off (SO much water to rinse it off!)
Another coat or two and rinse and wash or two later, and we'd gotten all the way to this:
Sanding, re-washing, re-rinsing and re-drying later, we were finally ready for stain!
Because of the wait time (that I never had in one chunk), I vacuumed it one more time before putting down the stain just in case.
Unlike the stripper, the stain needed to be applied with either a brush or a deck pad, not a roller. I cut in with the brush and then worked in strokes as long as possible following the grain so the boards didn't dry looking like I painted half and took a break.
After one coat, I was pretty pleased with how things were turning out...
And after two coats, I thought it looked waaaaay better and left it alone. There are still a few areas to touch up, but, it's come a long way.
We waited 3 days for dry time this time and got lucky with only one slight drizzle Personally, I still think it's a little tacky when you walk on it but, living a block and a half from a late does come with a few, rather manageable consequences.
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