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The new house needs very little in the way of remodeling, but with five years’ home-improvement experience behind us I guess we’re just not comfortable without having something be taped up or torn down or, at least, cluttered with replacement parts still wrapped in plastic packaging.

So, we decided to paint the decks. There are 600 square feet of redwood decking on the east and south sides of the house. All of it was due for some sort of treatment, because the old stain had faded, leaving bare patches and uneven coloration. Winter rains are coming, and although no wood deck will last forever, a fresh coat of sealer ought to buy us a few extra years before the decks peel away from the house and collapse into the orchard. (Untreated redwood should last for at least 17 years, which is how old our deck is. Because it was treated for part of its life, it looks like it has a few years left in it — and we’re interested in extending those years as long as possible. See this informative PDF: Comparative Durability of Untreated Wood in Use Above Ground (208k)).

Normally we don’t do a lot of home improvement work ourselves, because over the years we’ve learned that the projects we do ourselves take longer, cost more, and turn out less nicely than the ones we contract out. There are exceptions, for things that we have some experience with: remodeling closets with wire shelving, painting, … and actually that’s all I can think of. I am not a handyman.

The paint salesman at the local home-improvement emporium suggested a 3-coat “paint system” from Olympic: one coat of oil-based sealer followed by two coats of latex solid-color stain. Rather than hire our ultra-reliable painting contractor for this project, we figured we could quickly slop some paint on the decks ourselves. There would be little need for masking or other tedious prep work, which is the part we like the least. At the time it sounded like a fun weekend project.

Twelve hours of work later, I’d managed to paint 100 square feet of deck. I can do this math even without a calculator — I’d need 60 more hours to finish the job. Finding 60 hours of time, mid-day, when the sun is out and the ambient temperature is above 60°, in Northern California in November, would take me approximately 18 months. Which means I’d sort of miss this first winter, and the next one too, and my half-painted decks would be lying in the orchard after all.

Having painted ourselves into a metaphorical corner, we called our painting contractor for an estimate, and learned that he has a secret weapon: a spray rig. He and his assistant can prime and paint the remaining decks in 1.5 days. He can even put a third coat of color on the small deck I painted (which, despite my 12 hours’ attention, still shows bare patches and uneven coloration, because this ridiculous paint system uses a bright white primer and a wimpy thin topcoat that just doesn’t cover). And he’ll charge me a heck of a lot less than I’d charge someone for 1.5 days of work (much less 1.5 weeks). And so, I again learn the lesson: I can pay in money, or I can pay in time, and if I do it myself I’ll pay in both.

Just as I was contemplating my apparent obtuseness, the tree surgeon came to collect his $520 check. He’d cut down four dead madrone trees and chopped the wood into 16'' rounds — probably three hours of work at the outside. As I handed him the money, I thought, “Damn, for this much money I could have bought a chainsaw and done the work myself!”

Sigh.