One of my painting projects: Soffit painting

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I didn’t actually add this to my bucket list, but I should have.

Maybe I’ll go ahead and type it in so I can cross it off. 😉

SO SATISFYING.

Anyway. The overhang of our house has plywood soffit underneath, and the paint on it has been in bad shape ever since we moved in.

We haven’t done anything with it since we moved in, and 12 years of nothing-ness hasn’t helped the situation.

The other day when we had some lovely weather, I took Lisey’s bed apart so I could repaint part of it.

And while I was out there with my sander, I thought, ooh, maybe I should just see how hard it’s going to be to remove this peeling paint.

So I did a little. And then some more. And some more.

And I sanded the whole thing.

Then I scrubbed it.

And then I thought, hmm, I wonder if I have some outdoor primer.

As it turned out, I had about a half bucket left from when I painted my kitchen cabinets, and that stuff is indoor/outdoor.

Woo!

It’s oil-based, so it’s mess to work with, but it got the job done, and I didn’t have to buy primer.

So, I went from just kind of testing the waters with this project to sanding, scrubbing, and priming in one afternoon.

I told Mr. FG that apparently, I just need to get started on a project and then boom! It’ll get done.

The next day, I found half a bucket of bright white exterior paint in my stash, so I put several coats of paint on.

I did tape the seam between the trim and the wall, but it’s such a bumpy surface, it’s nigh onto impossible to seal it off.

So, when I peeled the tape off, I had multiple spots where the white paint had leaked through.

Luckily, I still had some of the wall paint, so I used a small paintbrush to touch up all the leaky spots.

I’d actually kind of forgotten how horrible the paint was until I looked at the before pictures just now.

Definitely better now!

Happily, this project cost me nothing but time.

I used my favorite orbital sander, which I already owned and have used SO many times.   Super super worthwhile $60 purchase for me!

I used leftover primer from my cabinet project, I used exterior paint from a previous project (I just had to thin it with water because it was a little thick from sitting unused), and I used brushes and paint trays that I wash and save after painting projects.

And to do the taping, I used up odds and ends from painting tape rolls that were in my painting box.

Oh, and I used my trusty paint roller cover and paintbrush cover too. They are so, so fabulous for keeping the roller and brush wet while you wait for coats of paint to dry.

(RSS and email readers, you’ll have to click over to the post to get links for the supplies I used.)

I’m really happy that this is done because it was a messy project. I got so, so dirty from all the sanding and painting over my head.

(my painting outfit consists of a tank top from my teenage years, shorts from when Joshua was a baby, and a discarded Cubs hat that belonged to Mr. FG. I. Am. Fashion.)

The only bummer is…the soffit in the front of the house also needs to be sanded and painted.

Ha.

BUT! The upside is that because of the grade of our lot, I won’t need a ladder to do that soffit at all. That’ll make the project much, much quicker and easier to do.

Because when you have to use a ladder, every little section requires:

-set the ladder up
-climb up the ladder with paint/sander in hand
-do a little painting/sanding
-climb back down with paint/sander
-move ladder over

Rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

So, the front will be far better than the back. Yay for no ladder!

I think I’m going to take a little break from soffit painting, though.   Maybe in a week or two, I’ll be ready for more.

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