Paint the Fence...err...Deck

It's too bad that Mr. Miyagi wasn't the one in charge of our deck painting experience. Things probably would have gone a lot smoother...but alas, I have good news to report. Mow Cow actually showed up the morning and this time they brought both the paint AND the rollers - HOORAY!


I have to say, I felt kind of bad for the 2 guys that were tasked with this project. It is about 95 degrees today with a heat index of over 100 so the conditions to be outside all day were not ideal. It took a good 7 hours to get 1 coat of paint on the entire deck and I have to say, they did a good job.


Because the previous owners chose to use an opaque stain on the deck, we were very limited with the paint colors we could choose. We have rather used a semi-transparent stain, but we would have had to sand the entire deck to get every speck of old stain off which was a close to impossible task. So we chose to go with a Cedar opaque stain color and I have to say that it ain't half bad.


We have to wait 24 hours for it to dry and then will probably have to do some touch up work, but after that we will FINALLY have a completed back yard that we can enjoy this summer. It kind of feels like when Danielson kicks Johnny's butt at the big tournament and wins the big trophy. Thinks of us as Danielson and Mow Cow as Johnny!

Oh My Sod!

Progress! Progress! Progress! I am happy to report that our back yard FINALLY looks like a real yard rather than a gravel pit in a quarry. That's right...the lovely people of Mow Cow showed up unexpectedly this morning and graced us with the green stuff. It only took a few hours to install and I have to say it makes the place look 100% better. It's amazing what a little grass can do.

Before...

...during...

...half way there...


...Lucy checking on things...


...almost done...

...watering...


...and after!

The yard finally feels like a place that we want to spend time. And with the addition of an adorable bistro set and pillows, some fun lanterns and 2 hanging ferns, it is a regular oasis!


I must say, we have been very skeptical about the work we hired Mow Cow to do. I don't want to bash anyone, but they are not the easiest company to work with. We actually had convinced ourselves to cancel the remainder of the job over the weekend because of all the frustration, but after spending WAY too many hours outside sanding the deck (more on that later), we decided to give them one last chance to redeem themselves. Their showing up this morning made way for a check mark in the "Pro" column.

There is one last job in the backyard and it is a doozie. We have hired them to fix some broken floor boards, replace the top railings and stain the sucker. Over the weekend we had the task of choosing the stain color and while you may think that sounds easy, it is not. There aren't a ton of colors to choose from...that is not the problem. The problem is that our deck was once stained using a solid color resembling paint. We were told that after a good power-wash, all that color would come off and we could use a semi-transparent stain.

Not so much.

The power washing did take a lot of paint off, but there was still a ton left which would have made a semi-transparent stain look awful. We actually bought some stain and did a test run. Results = not so good. We were so annoyed that we didn't even snap a photo so you will just have to take our word for it.

We then thought...hmm, why don't we try to sand the paint off the deck which lead to many hours of this...


...and this...


...and this...


In the end, we threw in the towel and picked the solid stain color known as Cedar. It's not ideal, but we know it will look good. We just want it done already!

We are told they are coming this Thursday to do the work so everyone please keep your fingers crossed that they actually show up. If they don't, I can't be responsible for what might come out of my husband's mouth. God love an Italian from New York ~ these people down here won't know what hit 'em!