Crafty Carolinagirl

Deck Project - Step 5

So, it turns out that there is no Step 5 for my deck project, Yeah!!! I thought I would have to seal the deck after painting it, but the paint I bought had a sealer in it. It does pay to spend a little more money on good paint!

Instead of forgetting completely about Step 5, I thought I would give a recap and a break down of what it cost me to redo my deck. You can keep this in mind if you decide to work on your own deck.

 

Step 1 - Cleaning the Deck

• $16.00  (deck cleaner)
• $4.00  (Clorox bleach) 
• $13.00 (deck sprayer)

Total $33.00 

Step 2 - Spackling the Deck

• $5.00 (putty knife)  
• $11.00 (wood putty) 

Total $16.00 

 

Step 3 - Sanding the Deck

• $7.00 (sanding blocks)
• $33.00 (handheld sander) 
• $6.00 (sanding squares) 

Total $46.00

Step 4 - Painting the Deck

• $87.00 (Sherwin Williams paint)
• $13.00 (paint rollers and tray) 
• $15.00 (paint roller extender) 

Total $115.00 

Deck project total: $210.00

I can't tell you how happy I am to have this project finished, especially now that it is 105 degrees! I hope my project journal helped you, and if you decide to redo your deck please let me know. I'd love to hear how your deck turns out.

DIY Deck Project - Step 4

Over this Memorial Day holiday weekend I did the unthinkable, I finished Step 4 of my deck project! It was not fun, actually it was awful, but it is completely done! Boy am I relieved.

So to refresh your memory, here is how the deck looked last week after Step 3 (you can read about Step 3 here)

 

Now onto Step 4 - Painting the Deck!

1. Buy your supplies Can you believe it? I did not buy any supplies for Step 4 at Lowes. No worries though, I will be buying my Step 5 supplies there this weekend.

Here is what I bought: 2 gallons of Sherwin Williams Rookwood Red Porch and Floor Enamel paint, an 11 piece painting set (rollers, tray, paintbrush, etc.), and a paint roller extender (both bought at WalMart).

The amount of paint you will need will be determined by the size of your deck. My deck is actually larger than I thought (after painting the whole thing), and I used the entire 2 gallons of paint. I would buy more than less. You don't want to get halfway done and realize you don't have enough paint. I thought that was gong to happen to me, and believe me, it is not a good feeling.

2. Paint the deck Take all of your supplies outside, put on your radio, take a deep breath, and start to paint. The entire process took me 19 hours divided into three days. 

The first day, Saturday, I did all of the railings (8 hours). That was a big chunk of the deck, so I was feeling pretty good when I called it a day on Saturday. 

The second day, Sunday, I did the trellis (6 hours), floorboards (1 hour), and stairs (1 hour - total 8 hours). If you don't have a trellis, be very thankful. It was, by far, the worst part of the project. Not only did I have to paint with a paintbrush inside all of the holes, I was constantly attacked by wasps and yellow jackets. I am happy to report I did not get stung, but I did come to realize that there must be some sort of nest under the deck. I think the bug man will be making a trip to my newly painted deck very soon!

The last day, Monday, was the touch up day (3 hours). I repainted the spots that hadn't gotten enough paint, mostly the floorboards. I think I was getting too tired on Sunday after doing the stupid trellis that I didn't put enough force on the brush. 

So, after 19 hours of pain, sweat, and sunburn, here is my newly painted deck:

I took this picture this morning from inside the house, since the deck is still a little sticky. You can see my blue painter's tape on the steps. That is so no golfers or neighbors take a seat on the wet paint (my little next door neighbor likes to sit on my steps while she watches the birds in the tree).

Whew! We are down to the wire now. Only one step to go until this project is complete. I hope to be able to finish this up this weekend. We'll see if the weather will cooperate!

DIY Deck Project - Step 3

Okay, we are now moving onto Step 3. Can you tell how sick and tired I am of this deck? Pretty sick of it. The good news is it is now halfway done!

Again, to refresh your memory, here is what the deck looked like after the last step (you can read about Step 2).

Now onto Step 3 - Sanding the Deck!

1. Buy your supplies I am sure you are sick of me saying I got everything at Lowes, so I'm gonna change it up a little. I actually got my supplies at WalMart, okay and Lowes!

Here is what I bought: a hand sander with extra sand paper and two sanding blocks, medium coarse.



You will also need a hammer, but I already had that, a really cool Steelers hammer! It works really well, but it is pretty heavy.

Anyway, the amount of sandpaper and sanding blocks will again be determined by how big your deck is. I used all of my supplies, and probably could have used another sanding block, but I made due with only two.

2. Check nails Look over your entire deck and see if any nails are sticking up. I had several that were. Hammer them all the way down so they are flush with the boards. Keep an eye on the wood while you are hammering it in. If the wood looks like it is starting to split, stop hammering. I also noticed a piece of wood that was starting to pull up. I used a few long nails to set it back down.

3. Sand the deck I won't lie to you, this sucked! I will tell you that having an electric sander of any kind will help immensely. It will take the pressure off of your arm and hand. But even with the sander, it was pretty rough. Two words of advice: 1) Make sure the deck is completely dry. You don't want to electrocute yourself with the electric sander. 2) Wear sunblock! I got a pretty nasty sunburn on my neck. I think it was from bending my head down while sanding.

Just like Step 2, I started with the railings and then onto the floorboards and steps. Again, I did not do the trellis. I think it would be best if you spaced it out over several days. I did the railings and steps one day and the floorboards the other.

Here is the sanded deck!

Doesn't look too different from the spackled deck, except that it is missing more paint and is now a lighter color.

The next step requires no rain, at all, so we'll have to see how the weather wants to cooperate. I can only do Step 4 over the weekend, so hopefully I will be able to work on it over Memorial Day weekend. I'll post it as soon as I can.

DIY Deck Project - Step 2

We are now onto Step 2 of the dreaded deck project. Though this step sounded simple when I wrote down my 5 steps, it has actually turned into quite a chore.

To refresh your memory, here is what the deck looked like after the last step (you can read about Step 1 here):

Now, onto Step 2 - Spackling the Deck!

1. Buy your supplies Again I went to Lowes, but I am sure you can find these supplies anywhere.

Here is what I bought: Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler and a spackle tool, 1 1/2 in. I actually bought two large tubs of the wood filler, so I wouldn't have to go back and buy more. I only used one tub. I guess it all depends on how big your deck is and how badly split your wood is.



I would make sure you buy wood filler that you can paint and sand. That is very important for future steps. I also found out that you can buy wood filler in different colors of wood, who knew! I just bought mine in this color. You can see on the spackle tool that it is kind of a tan color. It looks really awful on my red deck, but it really doesn't matter since it will be painted over later on.

2. Spackle the deck Sounds easy enough, right? Think back to dorm living. It is just like spackling your picture holes before moving out, just on a bigger scale.

I looked for any splitting wood boards and stuck the wood filler in the holes. Since the wood is set horizontally, I applied the filler vertically and then scraped the tool horizontally to remove the excess filler. I hope that makes sense. You can do it any way you like, just as long as the wood filler fills the split wood.

I pretty much worked the same way as I did with the deck cleaner: railings, floor boards, and steps (I skipped the trellis). Some spots didn't need any filler, but others needed a lot. I figured it would take me an hour or two to do it, but it actually took me several days. It wasn't the job that was time consuming, it was the pain it caused my body. Back aches, hand cramps, and a stiff neck all occurred, so it is probably best if you divide your deck into sections, or better yet, invite your friends over to help!

Here is how my deck looks now with all of the spackle on it:

Pretty ugly, huh? I am sure my neighbors are loving the look too!

Next week we tackle Step 3.

DIY Deck Project - Step 1

Yes, I actually have started my deck project, which is why I have been slacking on my blog posts. This project is very high priority and must be finished before the summer, so everything else is being put on the back burner until it is finished.

I did promise to document my project in case someone else is thinking about tackling this job. So, here we go! Step 1 of my deck project.

My dirty deck! (If you look closely you will see the outline of my "Beware of Cat" mat.) I never realized how dirty a deck can get. When I bought this house a year ago, I really loved the big, red deck. Unfortunately, it has turned into such an eye sore. I hope I can bring it back to its glorious red color again!

I have done quite a bit of research on repainting a deck. This is what I have learned is the quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to do it.

1. Buy your supplies I bought all of my supplies at Lowes, because I am there pretty much every weekend. I love Lowes! But, you could go to Home Depot and maybe even Kmart or Walmart for this stuff too.

Here is what I bought: Clorox, Jomax (deck cleaner), and a garden pump sprayer.

2. Mix the ingredients Make sure you read the directions completely before mixing your supply ingredients. If you buy Jomax, you will need to mix water and Clorox with it. It was kind of a pain, but it worked really well. Also, read the directions to the pump. I had a really hard time figuring that out! Once I got it, I was good to go.

3. Clean deck I got up at the crack of dawn (6:00 am) and started working on my deck. Getting up that early really wasn't my idea, but we were still on water restrictions and that was the time I could use my hose.

I started with the railings first and then worked my way to the floor boards, steps, and finally the trellis. My deck took about three mixtures of ingredients, and I still have half a bottle left. One of these days I want to do the front porch too.

4. Completely wash deck with water After letting the spray sit for 15-20 minutes, you need to wash the sprayed portion of the deck, completely. When you wash it off, the mixture will bubble like soap suds so you know when it is all off the deck. Some of the really dirty, moldy sections I sprayed several times. It was definitely worth it.

One word of advise. . . if you value your plants or grass, cover them with plastic bags. I killed all of my grass next to the deck. The good thing is it killed my weeds too:)

Here is the finished product:

What a clean deck! The cleaner and the hose took off some of the paint, but that is a good thing. It makes Step 3 a little easier!

We'll tackle Step 2 next week!

Weekend Projects

I had a very productive weekend. I finished Step 1 of my deck project (I'll be posting Step 1 later this week) and worked on some new items for my Etsy stores. My new store, Material Girl 80s, opens in a few months and I want to have at least 10 items to post on opening day. The items in the store are going to be very different from Crafts by Alice, so it is a challenge, but a fun one.

In the meantime, here are some puffy hearts I finished up this weekend:

More organizing

I figured since I organized my thread, why not my buttons too. . .

These little handy containers came from my local AC Moore. They came in a pack of four, just like the thread containers, and, again, I bought two sets. These will be going on a hanging shelf just as soon as I find one :)

Just an organizing fool

I think I got bit by the "spring cleaning" bug. I have been cleaning and organizing all week. For me, that is a very good thing, because I hate being unorganized!

During another marathon of NCIS, gotta love USA Network, I finally organized my embroidery thread. Do you remember this?

Yeah, that was my old thread bin. Well, take a look at it now. . .

SOOOO much better! I got these little plastic containers at Target. They came in a set of four and a lid. I bought two sets, so I now have an extra lid. Oh well. It is so great to have such an easy and light container to carry around. Plus, you can snap off the colors you need and leave the rest behind.

DIY Home Repair Projects

Now that the weather is starting to get a little warmer, I will be taking care of a few DIY projects around my house that I have been putting off. Unfortunately, none of these projects will be easy or fun, but I figure they will be a whole lot less expensive if I tackle them myself than if I hire someone to do them.

Why am I telling you this? I thought I would share with all of you my experiences as I tackle these chores. Plus, I'd like to keep a little project journal for myself to see how everything turns out. I'll post before, during, and after photos, tell you what items I used, how I did the project, and how difficult it was. I don't want to call them tutorials, but maybe helpful guides for you to follow in case you find yourself needing to tackle any of these projects.

So, over the next several months these are the projects I will be tackling:

• Painting outside light fixtures (front & back)
• Spray paint dining room table and chairs
• Clean front porch & steps of mold stains

And the biggest project and the first that I will tackle. . . cleaning, repairing, and painting my deck.

This project is the one that gives me nightmares at night, and is also the one that must be completed ASAP. I fear it might be beyond repair if I wait any longer. So, starting next week (as long as the weather cooperates) I will begin my first spring project, the deck! I'll post a few before pictures and give you the list of items I bought to begin this ordeal, and, hopefully, will be able to post a few in progress pictures as well.

Please, say a little prayer for me :)

Easy crochet hook holder

I was doing some spring cleaning this past weekend and came across a travel jewelry case that I got last Christmas. I used to travel a lot when I worked in book sales, but now I barely travel at all.

   

Just as this little travel case was going to be put in the "cute, but will never use it" pile, something clicked. I realized that it was the perfect size to hold all of my crochet hooks! I must confess that I am constantly, and I mean constantly running up and down the stairs to grab one hook or another. I am thrilled to have them all put in one container, and one that is so cute!

I have my bigger hooks in the top zipper, my smaller ones in the middle, and my crochet & knitting stitch markers in the bottom one. This is a bad picture, but can you see my cute knitting stitch markers? My '80s swap partner made me some Mike, Carol, and Ben ones for my favorite '80s TV show, Growing Pains.

I still have yet to figure out what to do with the ring holder. Does anyone have any suggestions? I thought my stitch markers would fit around it, but it turned out to be too fat. Maybe I can keep an embroidery needle or two. I am always running around looking for them too :)