A Clothes Line Between Stupid and Clever
Learning that I’m not the only naïve home renovator out there who thought they’d save money by purchasing cedar shingles and staining the suckers themselves—instead of opting for the more expensive, ‘factory-finished’ ones—comes as a great relief. I see I’m in good company (no offense intended, M&C).
Reading M&C’s post made me laugh because I’ve been there. Actually, I’m still there—with only a gazillion shingles left to stain.
Like my houseblogger comrades, I figured I could purchase better quality shingles and stain them myself with the same brand used for the pre-finished shingles. Well, two summers and several snapped clothes lines later, it seems my calculations were a bit off. Or at least I was when I hatched this plan.
What you see in the photo (taken last year, I might add) is just a tinted primer coat—applied with a brush on all sides, as the consistency of this solid stain makes for truly wasteful dipping. We’re using Cabot Solid Color stain, which is a premium product used by many wood siding manufacturers like Maibec, and there’s no way I’ll be letting so much as a drop hit the ground. The colour I’ve chosen is Spanish Moss, which is quite dark and will require two coats for coverage (after the primer).
I’m on intimate terms with my shingles now, having spent so much quality time with them, but we’re having serious relationship problems.
My shingles are kind of like that boyfriend who moved into your place without you actually realizing what was happening—until it suddenly dawned on you that every time you turned around, you were tripping over a smelly sports equipment bag or tacky piece of rock memorabilia…or meeting the bottom of your toilet bowl quite unexpectedly in the middle of the night.
But now you were in too deep—he was firmly rooted in your place, and not going anywhere anytime soon.
Just like the boxes of shingles in my garage are not going anywhere soon…until I get motivated to complete what has been the most mind-numbingly dull job I’ve tackled recently.
It’s like, how much more boring could this be?
And the answer is none. None more boring.
technorati tags: houseblog, home+renovation, house+exterior, spinal+tap
Oh, no offense taken. There is such a high level of delusion going on with our entire project that this is but a drop in the bucket. In fact, the scope of what we are trying to do is so ridiculous that shingle-dipping looks downright logical.
Comment by Cherie — April 25, 2006 @ 8:37 pm
Now that’s a creative solution for drying shingles!
Comment by Amy — June 8, 2006 @ 5:41 am