The Garage Door

The big project for my week off is to repaint the garage door.  Recently, my handyman told me what a great garage door I have. He said it is very solid, and they do not make this kind of door anymore, so if I lost a panel, I would probably have to replace the entire door!  I think the door is original to the house, which was build in 1956.

Since I bought this house in 1992,  the door has been painted twice: once by me, and once by someone who did odd jobs for me.  Neither time did I scrape and/or sand before painting.  The door was white when I purchased the home. 

I am scraping and sanding before I paint this time.  The paint is cracked, and I thought it would peel easily without using a chemical to assist with scraping.  That has not been so, but I have decided not to invest in a chemical:  too many animals around.

As I have been scraping I have noticed that there are multiple layers on the door:  I know of three white layers, the 2 I put on it, and the one before I bought it.  I have also seen cream or ivory, green and country blue.  So, that might explain why the door is so well preserved:  there are 6 coats of paint on it!  Oh my!

I was worried about scraping, because I did not want to scrape wood, and for the most part, have not. I was also concerned about finding some parts of the wood that are rotten or compromised, but that did not happen.  Again, I can attribute that to 6 coats of paint.

I am only planning to paint the outside of the door.  Scraping and sanding has gone better than I expected.  I did choose to buy an electric sander (I thought I had one, but it was a hand sander.) My thought is to work on the inside of the door in the fall, when the weather is cooler, and I will not suffocate in the heat.  The inside will need some additional treatment:  the clothes dryer is in the garage, and I will need to kill mold/fungus and use bleach or Kilz to do so. 

I had planned to only put one coat of paint on the door, but the scraping and sanding has gone so well so far, I might finish sanding on  Wednesday.  Which would allow me to paint two coats: on Thursday and on Friday.  But even if the first coat is painted on Friday, I could do the second coat on Saturday. I see some real advantage to doing two coats, since I have scraped down to wood in many areas on the door. 

This door faces north, and there is a nandina bush just east of the door:  This affords me shade even by midday, so although it has been hot, working in the shade has been manageable.  And, I have so far only worked 2-3 hours a day, because of plans I have had for the afternoon.  I have made a point to rest regularly and stay hydrated. I was afraid the physical activity would disable me, and although I was stiff and sore after doing the work, rest, the TENS unit and analgesics have rehabilitated me enough to minimize the discomfort. 

I napped late Monday afternoon, and slept well Monday night, so that was good. I was stiff and sore when I awoke this morning, but I expected as much, since I used some muscles I have not been used to using recently. I can deal with that. 

I had social plans for this afternoon, and enjoyed them immensely.  I did use an analgesic spray before I went out this afternoon, and an analgesic patch when I got home later this afternoon.  Again, I can deal with that, and have obtained the desired relief from both. 

More sanding tomorrow. Update later this week.