DIY: To paint or not to paint

By Tammy Malgesini

Staff Writer

Published on April 12, 2016 12:01AM

Enthusiastic first-time homeowners back in the early 1990s, my husband and I decided we wanted to paint our house.

I say “we” rather loosely — John is a teacher, so he was off for the summer and the bulk of the job was left to him and our friends Dave and Chris Alteneder.

We wanted to put our personal fingerprint on the house by choosing new colors. John envisioned a black house with red trim. Dave suggested black may not be the best color, so we went with gray.

The Alteneders, friends we met back in our college days, traveled from Newberg to help us. Dave, who also was an educator, supplemented the family income by painting houses during the summer months, so he had spraying gear and other supplies.

We discovered that the tiny paint strips that show the color doesn’t always translate the same once it’s up on the siding or trim. Unfortunately, we learned this too late. Geranium, the trim color, was hot pink rather than a deeper red. I guess we could have re-painted it, but by that time everyone was pretty much spent on the project.

Fast forward 15 years later when John thought the house needed to be painted again. He suggested we forgo our regular summer vacation plans and use the time and money to paint the house. I quickly put the brakes on that silly talk — I look forward to our summer trips together and wasn’t up for painting in the sweltering heat.

Because of the way vacation accrued when I started at the East Oregonian in April 2006, I wasn’t eligible to take time off for an entire year. That meant no summer vacation that year — so I revived John’s idea about painting the house that summer. Well, that didn’t happen — instead, John packed up and hit the road without me.

As the years went on, it became clear the house needed a new coat. In 2013, I became motivated to take action after a crew knocked on the door and asked if we wanted an estimate to have our house painted.

I figured we would save money if we just did it ourselves. So, I pitched the idea to John and off to the store we went to get paint. We chose “deep space,” which is pretty close to black, for the main part of the house. In addition, we got gray for the trim and red (NOT pink this time) for the shutters and doors.

We started the project in late July and I finished the front door on August 31. Yup, the hottest time of year in Hermiston and we were out there painting. I’m not a morning person, so I truly was painting in the heat of the day. I sported a “Karate Kid” headband that I kept dipping in water. In addition, I finally talked John into a little pool. Those two things probably saved me from heatstroke.

Although, John used a sprayer when climbing on scaffolding to get the highest part of the split-level, we used brushes and paint pads for most of the project.

In retrospect, I wish I had said yes when the paint crew asked if I wanted an estimate.

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Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.