Deck Follies #4

This was a long, tough weekend, especially Sunday when it got really hot and I had to take a few extra breaks.  I actually do feel kind of ill, so I probably have sunstroke.  Hopefully not sun poisoning.  I think regardless of the weather tomorrow, I should take the train rather than bike in.

This is where I started on Sat.

Here is where I ended -- some progress on the long strips to the right, but still a lot of paint that is not coming up easily.

I'm definitely in damage control mode.  I said that Sunday would be the last day of sanding and scraping, though there are a limited number of spots I will probably still hit.  This is where I ended on Sunday.  While I got lots of bits of paint up, the return on investment is definitely diminishing!

Ideally, I can take care of those last bits and do the final sanding (no scraping) Monday, though I expect it will be Monday into Tuesday.  That would allow me to see if I can put down a coat of stain Wed. and the final stain on Thurs., though this means I can't see Avishai Cohen at the Jazz Fest, which would be unfortunate. 

I hosed down the deck, and this is a preview of what it might look like with the new stain.  I guess this would be acceptable.  It's mostly covered by furniture anyway.

Note that this is only the top part of the deck.  There is a lower deck!  Though that will only need to be sanded once, not scraped.  (On the other hand, if it had also been painted, I would have just painted the whole darn deck, and I probably would have already been done.  Hard to tell.)  I am not going to be a perfectionist since we don't even use that part of the deck that often.  Also I don't feel that the lower deck must be done by Canada Day, though it should be done by the end of the summer.