The long, weary chapter about redoing our front porch is just about over, and we couldn’t be more thankful … or sore and stain-splattered.

It takes a lot of time and effort to sand painted wood down to a bare state, and that’s what we were tasked with doing. We were sick of dealing with a chipping, flaking porch every single summer, and it was all our own fault for doing it wrong the first time around.

As I mentioned last time, we had accidentally chosen a very thick, non-sheer stain formula that was basically a paint (Sico’s Autumn Brown in exterior semi-transparent). Even though you would think “semi-transparent” would mean semi-transparent, it was truly like we’d chosen a dark purple-y brown paint … that chipped SO. MUCH.

We spent several grueling weeks removing all those years of dark stain using an orbital sander, a belt sander and a rented power-washer.

Once the boards were fully bare — just like brand-new wood, except drippy with our frustrated tears — it was time to correct our mistake and choose a stain that would stain, not paint.

Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …

Front door colour: “Coral” by Fusion Mineral Paint
Door hardware: Schlage Connect Smart Deadbolt + handleset
New porch stain: Olympic Maximum Stain + Sealant in One in “Russet”

Six years ago, I made what was certainly my biggest home-related blunder.

I dared to fall in love with the notion of a two-toned deck: dark stain paired with crisp white paint. I was enamoured with how it looked (so classic!) and stupidly rushed into a long-term relationship that has caused nothing but pain and frustration.

The honeymoon period was short, and by springtime all I could see were the flaws. Months of shovelling snow off the front steps had scrapped the stain and chipped the paint. It was agonizing because it had taken many, many days of sweat equity to get it off the ground, and now it all had to be worked on again.

You see, not only had I chosen a very dark stain (Sico’s Autumn Brown) — I’d accidentally chosen a very thick, non-sheer formula that was basically paint. The can said “semi-transparent,” but it should have said “Thick, unyielding substance that is not even a little bit transparent and will chip like paint.”

We made it even worse by slapping more coats on each summer to hide the chipped-off areas, mostly because we shuddered at the work that would be involved in sanding it all off.

Four years ago, I wrote this about our two-toned deck: “When it looks good, it looks very, very good. When it looks bad, it looks horrid.” I moaned that “the hassle of maintaining it has taken years off my life.”

We’re finally doing something about it.

Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, MY Handmade Home …