I’ve done a few projects this summer, none so interesting or challenging as the Alpha Lodge in Victoria. It was built in the 1890′s and has been fully renovated in the old style, probably a couple of times. The house contains the offices of Vintage Woodworks, and the owners, Bill Murphy and Jim Stiven have an impressive joinery behind the house where they produce a number of custom – milled wood products, including old-style counterweighted windows. This is definitely the place to go if you are fixing up your heritage home.
The house was in terrible shape when I started – the paint was literally falling off the house in great flakes and the siding and trim was terribly cracked and pitted, dessicated and bleached out by the sun. It needed some extra care. So Bill powerwashed most of the flakes off, then I went to work with my brush. It’s easy to see how the house got this way; heavy traffic on Burnside Road bathes the neighbourhood with exhaust particulate, the heavy diesel mechanic next door adds to the pollution damage. And the Southwest exposure gets full sun for most of the day, intensified by the surrounding concrete and asphalt. That’s what we get for revolving our planet around a giant nuclear explosion.
It may sound crazy, but I ended up painting 95% of the shop and house with a simple paintbrush. It was challenging, to say the least. But The condition of the siding was such that the primer and paint really needed to be pushed into the cracks and crevices to ensure the best coverage. It was a lot of work, but the result was worth the effort. And I was amazed just how much ground I could cover with only a big, speedy brush and some favorable weather. The siding went fast, then things slowed down some as I took on the trim. It took me a month all told, but I am now convinced that the brush method, supported with a little backrolling, is the best approach to painting heritage houses and old dried-out siding in general. The Alpha Lodge came out looking great!
