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Holy blizzard of projects, Batman. I’m darting all over the place this week. Trying to work on three projects at once can get dizzying, but at least progress is being made!

I know I haven’t shown you much of the others yet, but let’s go back to the exterior paint job for a second. Do you have a similar issue like I do? I caulk, prime, paint (or prime and paint in one like I do – I love skipping steps!), and think all is well until I brush over an area like this:

…and notice that maybe I didn’t do as great of a caulking job as I thought. Ugh. And now I feel like I’ve backtracked. Dammit, I just did that, and now I have to do it again? Not to mention, I start feeling like the grandmother character in Little Red Riding Hood – totally hoodwinked.

Not to worry though, because here’s my little not-as-overly-dramatic-as-that-last-paragraph secret:  I don’t always take the traditional steps when changing dark areas to light ones. I often paint the first coat, then caulk, then paint a second coat after the caulk dries. I do the same exact thing for my interior trim (all of it is oak and I’m changing them all to bright white).

I save myself the trouble (and the risk of walking away in a huff – hey, at least I know myself) and just caulk after the first coat. It’s all white anyway, and you can’t even tell after the final coat goes on. Sure, I suppose there’s a risk that the caulk won’t stick as well, but it’s not like these surfaces are really all that perfect in the first place before they are caulked anyway. With my method, I can at least know I got everything in one swoop as opposed to breaking it into smaller (and easier to abandon) increments.

Got any great tips you’d like to share this week? I’d love to hear ’em.

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2 Comments

  1. Hi Sarah, hey just thought that seems you might be doing a bit of painting i would give you a wee tip.
    Hey i know its a big pain cleaning your paint tray everytime you are finished with it so firstly line your paint tray with aluminium foil, then when you are finished just carefully wrap it up and throw it in the bin.
    What do you think, cool aye.
    Take care,hope this helps,
    Rob

  2. @Rob Grant That's a great tip, Rob! I use aluminum foil or cling wrap to keep the brushes from drying out too. Come to think of it, I have a few of them I've learned over time – thanks for my next post idea!