This story was originally posted on May 9, 2013. There’s an update down below…
At long last, I finally have a new front fence. I could go digging through my photographs to show you its somewhat ugly predecessor — which I built with limited resources in 2010, just to try to keep my rabbits hemmed in—but no, we don’t need ugly temporary hacks here. It never really worked to corral the rabbits anyway.
The kind of fence I wanted was page wire, a wide-grid braided (wrapped, not welded, at the cross-points) wire fence that you find in farm country, with or without barbed wire to keep people out or critters in (some cattle will knock it down if they really want to, but it isn’t a safe fence for horses). However, when I easily found welded-wire fence at the hardware store, I bought it just to commit to the project. I posted it would look something like this when done, except with nice round cedar fence posts from the country, not square city posts.
Everyone loves a red door, so the first year I owned my house, I painted the front door red. (It was a beige matching the trim, very boring when you could do otherwise.) You can even see the red front door in my Squirrel Buster blog post here!
But after a good oh FIFTEEN YEARS, even a fire-engine red door can look a little tired. It was time for a change! All I knew was that I wanted a velvety, flat finish, so I got some advice and picked up my paint chips to test and get approved by the most important constituents: house guests.1 (These house guests were also good friends-from-out-of-town.)
I was tempted by the two darkest greensGo light, or go dark?I think I went with the one in the middle
After choosing the colour, it was simply a matter of applying a primer to go on top of the old Tremclad oil-based paint. Primers can be in latex or in oil, and either one can be used for a latex paint finish — but it’s usually best to use oil-based primer to prep a former-oil-paint surface. (You cannot paint latex on top of oil paint and expect a good result.)
First, one coat of oil-based primer on old oil paintPrimerFirst coat of exterior latexSecond coat of exterior latesDon’t forget the edges!The finished door
How to keep clean while painting
I used a drop cloth under the door to protect the floor in case of an accident (safe!), and I took off the door sweep and the door handle. I didn’t remove the deadbolt (I’m not sure why), so I taped both it and the windows, but not the hinges. A careful hand is a skill worth learning, and much more economical than the time lost by taping. It’s easy to not slop paint on the hinges. If you do, having a damp sponge or wet rag on hand is necessary – and cleans it up quickly. At the end of a job, a Magic Eraser will take care of any faint smears remaining.
Wrap your brush, roller, and paint tray up in a plastic bag (or re-use cling film, such as that which came with a tray of vegetables or mushrooms) between coats to keep them from drying out.
You can get four uses out of a roller in one big job: primer, a coat of white latex (e.g. ceiling), then the first coat of colour, then the second. Obviously, scrape down the roller between each use. It’d be best in this case to have two paint trays, one for the primer/white, and one for the colour.
As with any oil paint, it’s easier to throw out the tools I’d used for the primer (a foam brush and an old mini-roller) than try to clean them. I used clean/new tools for the exterior latex (and you should buy decent tools in the first place, as they’re infinitely reusable). This was a small job, using a 1″ brush and a 4″ mini-roller, so there wasn’t much to clean up.
Wash your tools
When done, clean them thoroughly: first, use a roll scraper to get every bit of paint out of the roller back into the tray. Then use up that paint for the last set of brush strokes you need to do, and/or scrape it back into the can. Use the comb side of the scraper tool to work the last drips out of the brush.
Do not wash the paint tray. That sends more pollution down to the water treatment plant than is necessary (also: don’t dump paint water down a storm sewer! Use the sink, or else dump it in a pile of dirt at the back of your garden). Let the paint tray dry out completely, and reuse it. After you have 3, 4, or 5 coats of paint on a tray, you can soak it in very hot water for 10 minutes, score it, and the paint will then nicely peel out. Toss the peeled paint in the trash; reuse the tray.
Dunk your tools right away in a bucket of water and soak/work the paint out. Rinse your tools in the sink, using a scrub brush and even soap, until the water rinses clean. Form the brush bristles and dry it flat; stand the roller on end. If you look after your tools, your tools will look after you.
I’ll be taking more opportunity to write about bigger painting projects. I’ve been painting a lot since the beginning of the pandemic. For those who are curious, this is an article on how to best handle the remainders from bigger paint jobs: https://ecopainting.ca/eco-painting/environmental-tips/disposing-paint-waste/
…Two years later
There’s one difference between flat paint and gloss paint when it comes to outdoor finishes: glossy paint sheds or hides dirt a bit better than flat does! So this year, after giving it yet another washing, I freshened the paint up. (This time, I also took off the deadbolt so there’d be no over-painting around it.)
First I gave the whole door a light, 240-grit sanding. Then I taped the window panes. Then, I applied a single coat of paint using a foam roller, “misting at” the surface with a plant mister while rolling/brushing/smoothing out the fresh paint.
After it was dry, I removed the tape and put the hardware back. I moved the “No Flyers” sticker to the more-visible side of the door (this is a local thing: if you don’t have this sticker, then you’ll get a weekly delivery of flyers).
Finally, I put up the Autumn Harvest decoration using a magnet. You won’t believe how long it took me to figure that one out – how to hang a decoration on a metal door.
That tiny speck of white you see on the left? That’s actually fluff from a blowing seed. Don’t worry, it’s not embedded!
This is actually true, and one of the reasons why my house is actually nice now (as it actually wasn’t when the only guests I had were friends and family — who are rarely offended if your aesthetic and functional standards aren’t as high as theirs, though they do still notice, and yes, they gossip). I will eventually be writing about having been an AirBnB host. I have things to say (mostly good, though of course some cautionary). ↩︎
It’s been on my to-do list for a few weeks to build a couple of bird houses with the scrap wood I have leftover from other projects, and so finally I did the job just in time for spring migration.
In fact, by May, it’s almost too late — except that some species breed more than once. Those birds who arrived earlier already have young, but those just arriving are getting ready to make a nest. A ready-made niche is often accepted — and that’s what I’m going to provide!
And so can you. Do it this weekend!
“Using Old Wood To Build A Birdhouse” is a into a new kind of post here called a Project or Portfolio post. I decided it this was a nice way to do it with a picture gallery, and I could centralize all the DIY projects that way.
The birdhouse I built for the chickadees
Leave a comment if you do get this project under way / done. I’d love to see the results!
Resource: NestWatch’s All About Birdhouses has everything you need to know about different birdhouses and nest boxes for different types of birds, and also how to set them up with a nest camera!
Acopian Bird Savers are a relatively inconspicuous (visible, but not unsightly) way to prevent bird crashes, guaranteed. They’re a light curtain of strings that wave in the wind, in front of your windows – so birds see the obstruction and don’t mistake the windows for trees or sky.
They have a Build-Your-Own tutorial on their website; if you need a more custom solution or just want the materials done right from the get-go, you can order it from them online.
It’s fairly easy apply decals and UV liquid (remember, these are only useful for some bird species, not all!) by leaning outside, cleaning the windows, and sticking them on, but the real fix — Feather Friendly — requires access and time to apply it properly. Feather Friendly is probably the most effective solution out there, and it’s meant to last. It’s easy to apply when you live on the ground floor, but not so easy at higher floors. But higher floors still need effective protection.
That means many apartment dwellers and homeowners who don’t have access to an extension ladder might find it too much trouble to try to prevent birds from crashing into windows. (Because they aren’t there when the crashes happen, or see what happens next, they doubt they occur, or that they’re serious enough to kill the bird. But…yes it happens and yes, it kills.)
I wrote this to help people who have either casement windows or modern sash-hung windows where you can tip the window inward in order to clean it (or pop the window out of the frame, as many can!). Sliding windows are even easier. You need to be able to access the top of the frame of the window on the outside. This DIY fix is super-affordable, and as it’s not a permanent alteration to the dwelling, you won’t need your landlord’s permission to use them.
This is a long-running “lifestyle” blog about the pleasures of living like a farm kid in an urban context. You’ll find a wide range of topics that pertain to food, crafts, energy efficiency, and DIY. There’s a big focus on ecology and wildlife because this has brought me a lot joy – but this is also the greatest potential we have of restoring some balance to nature where we live.
Given that, I’ve turned my attention to providing more content for people to switch traditional lawns over to native landscaping and green driveways and things that will support climate readiness, drought and flood-prevention, and increased habitat for biodiversity. Comments and questions are welcome!
If you’re in the Montreal region, you can also use my “Rewilding” service to landscape your property using native plants, convert to a green driveway, and prevent your windows from killing birds.
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