Last summer, you might recall, we painted the exterior of the house. We ran out of summer before we could finish some of the details, like painting our garage (if an entire building can be considered a detail). So naturally, we waited until we were pressing up against rainy season 2017 to start this painting project. But, look at this little bitty garage! It’s only Model T size, so it can’t take long to throw a coat of paint on it, now, can it? Let’s see how many side projects can derail our progress.
Our Model T garage
1. Power wash.
Washing is really just a starting point for any paint job, not a side project, but it takes time and effort, so it’s on this list. Bonus—it’s always fun to play with water when the weather’s hot. Eric attacked the alley side first, which was caked with years of dust.
Playing with water on a hot day
After pressure washing. The corner shingles have been crunched, probably hit by the garbage truck.
2. Hack back the Japanese garden.
Meanwhile, things were out of control on the garden side of the garage. We needed to be able to throw a tarp over the plants to protect them from paint spray, but first we had to be able to get to the plants. We didn’t do much garden maintenance this summer, and it shows. I’ll use my tweaky back as my excuse, and—oh yeah—the un-Seattle-like hot weather. It’s no fun gardening in 90+ degree sun. Yep, old war horse excuses trotted out one more time.
An overgrown mess.
Checkers says, “Don’t mess with my secret sleeping spot!”
Garden side before paint
As I trimmed and weeded my way down the narrow garden path, I discovered that Digger O’Dell* (as my mom would have called Duke) had extended his excavation hobby to the Japanese garden, which I had feared was inevitable. I found a pit at the corner of the fence, and a trough all along the side of the garage foundation. Eighty-three-pound Duke, with his dig-or-be-damned determination, managed to wedge himself behind the spikey blue Atlas cedar and the bushy spirea, a tight fit even for a cat. Look what he did to my black mondo grass!
I’m trying to save some of it in water until I can replant.
3. Install a drain pipe along the alley.
Eric plans to bury a drain pipe next to the garage to handle winter runoff from the alley. While digging the trench, he dug up hundreds of day lily bulbs, which we gave away to neighbors. I don’t know why he didn’t subcontract with Duke to do this work.
Looking down the alley side of the garage where the drain pipe will go.
Day lilies, anyone?
4. Renovate the greenhouse.
Then, there’s our little greenhouse, which was built 20 years ago from salvaged windows. It was desperate for attention. The window glazing was falling out, the shingle siding was rotting, and the fiberglass wiggle board roof was oxidized, brittle, and leaking. We couldn’t very well paint the garage without upgrading the greenhouse! That’s where this project really exploded: Eric is applying narrow T-1-11 plywood siding … nothing fancy, but it’ll keep the wasps and rain out. Also, it’s getting a new roof of UV-resistant polycarbonate panels, which we saw on the catio tour this summer. I’ll reglaze the windows and we’ll paint the greenhouse to match the house. This will be the old windows’ first experience with paint. They’re due.
Sad!
Such potential!
Crispy roof.
Blue tarp. Yep, we’re those people.
Before he could begin installing the new greenhouse roof, Eric painted the garage gable, which would be inaccessible once the new roof went on. Our weather was still summer-hot.
Painting the gable.
5. Straighten up the saggy garage door.
Yes, the garage leans a little. So will you when you are 104 years old. The left door, in particular, is sagging. (We don’t park in the garage. We use it as storage for … stuff.)
A little crooked, but cute as ever.
Eric filled screw holes and moved the top hinge on the left door back up to its original position so it could get a better bite. This helped raise the door a tiny bit, but not enough. Eric has other methods up his sleeve for later.
I kept running into green paint on the garage. The house would have turned green in the 1940s or 50s when the asbestos siding was applied (as did the house next door, which remained green into the mid-90s), because the asbestos tiles were originally green. The garage didn’t get the asbestos siding treatment and has always been sided in the original shingles.
Underneath–green?
How did we do?
We’re still working on it! We’re not finished (with anything), but we’ve made lots of progress, and the autumn rain has held off—so far—no guarantees about tomorrow. Here are some before-and-afters.
Painting the garage doors was my project. It seemed to take forever, and it’s still not quite finished. The center strip needs replacing.
Before
After
The greenhouse roof. Nearly finished, but it still needs blocking between the rafters, trimming, and a gutter.
Before.
After. The new roof even makes the sun shine!
Greenhouse siding. Since the “after” shot, I’ve primed and pre-painted the siding panels, and they’re ready to be installed. Next will be trim and reglazing those windows. We haven’t started the door end yet.
Before.
Much has been done since this shot, but Duke looks too cute not to include it!
The garden side of the garage. Both the garden and the garage look better. I really like how the plants look against the new color.
Before
After
I got on a roll and weeded and trimmed up the whole garden.
The alley side of the garage. So much better!
Before.
After.
Wait—what’s that, just past the greenhouse? My next post, that’s what! Stay tuned …
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*Digger O’Dell was the “friendly undertaker” in the 1940s radio show, The Life of Riley.
Our Bungalow's 2nd Century 