Painting prep starts.

Location, Home, CA

Friday I bought several samples of the paint we would like to use on the house. I painted swatches in several places to see the effect in sunlight and shade. They are all shades of tan with an off-white trim. We will only use two colors but paint the front door a contrasting color, maybe red!

The house color will be the first swatch on the left while the trim will be the fourth from the left.

I moved everything away from the house so we can pressure wash it. That is the best way to get all the dirt off. Clyda has been trimming the plants back that are close to the house. There aren’t many but it needs to be done.

Saturday I bought one more sample to try but the tan looks like muddy water so that one is out. The samples come in small jars which cost about $3.00. So much better than buying several quarts to get the same effect.

Saturday afternoon we attended a birthday party for a friend who turned 70. What a great house and yard they have! A nice pool with covered patios for shade and plants everywhere. A DJ supplied music and a local pizza parlor supplied the food. Not pizza but tri-tip and chicken. All very good!

On Sunday after church I started to pressure wash the front of the house. I immediately flushed out a lot of termite droppings around the window. Not good news. It was worse back of the garage as the first starter board had lots of termite damage. I guess after 43 years I can’t complain.

This morning Craig’s friend showed up ready to work so we removed the rain gutter at the back of the garage and pried up the first starter board so we could cut off the nails with a sawzall. Then it was just a matter of pulling the board out while lifting the drip edge and shingles. Simple!

Old starter board out.

New starter board in.

I bought new starter boards, primed them and we had them installed by afternoon. Meanwhile Craig’s friend marked and cut the front fascia board to remove the “Swiss scallop” which came with the house. It was the last remaining added feature on the front of the house. It now looks modern.

Front fascia before.


The front of the house and the north side were presure washed. There is a little termite damage but nothing as extensive as the back of the garage.