When ever I've had a bit of time lately, I've been sanding weatherboards. The old paint job is at least 20 years old and showing every year if it so sanding is a big job.
Up until today I've been concentrating on the boards that have been removed from the house (ie the big hole at the back). I've tried a variety of methods to get the job done as efficiently as possible. The best so far seems to be a combo of a small disk sander to do the curves and edges of the weatherboard, and a belt sander or larger disk sander to rip into the flat parts. Given that the paint's in pretty bad shape, it's a fairly slow process. However, the done pile is finally starting to grow a bit.
While I've been grinding through these boards, I've been trying not to look at the vast walls on the house that are yet to be done. Of course, with the removed boards, I have the advantage of bring able to move them about to make the sanding easier for myself. I don't have this luxury on the rest if the house. An industrial solution is in order or otherwise I'd be here sanding the house until 2015.
 |
| Thumping big pressure cleaner |
The solution, it turns out, is water - and a thumping big pump to spay it at very high pressure. We got hold of a high pressure cleaner from a plumber mate if Owens. It's proving to be very useful.
The pressure cleaner is pretty quick at taking off any lose paint. And it's a hell of a lot faster than sanding. I'll still have to go over it with the sander to finish, but the job seems a little more doable now. I've managed to do from the back wall around to the other side of the study in one morning. Mind you, it's not all plain sailing.
 |
| Before (top) and after (below) |
 |
| Drying out - definitely after! |
First off, I realized pretty quickly that my boots weren't going to keep the water out for long. In fact, they lasted about an hour and a half, before I squelched off to the hardware to get a pair of wellies. However, I think what I really news is a pair of waders because by lunch, one leg (the one nearest the spray) was soaked and water was running into my boot. Luckily i have another pair of jeans with me. So it's now off to storage to see if I can find my waterproof overpants before I drown my left foot!
 |
| Picasso checking out the paint I'd blasted off - I don't think he's impressed with my job! |