Friday, November 16, 2018

The Restoration



There they are, three family heirlooms sitting in the back yard of your compound, rusting. And you look at the metal chairs which belonged to your Great Great Grandmother and think, it's high time these relics of a better age were brought back to life, restored.


Walmart

The next thing you know you're at Walmart, getting a haircut, taking care of business at the 1st Inconvenience Bank and buying sandpaper, primer and white enamel Rustoleum spray paint. Then what?


Sanded

Sand the chairs. I used 100 grit paper and a couple of sanding sponges, and wish I'd bought more; they're efficient. When the grit's gone, deploy them as blocks and that works too.


The Watcher

A hour or so later congratulate yourself, well done, you've finished sanding. Stand back and behold the improvement, a promise of things to come.

Apocalyptic reverie over, wash the beasts down with some kind of spirit and spray. Three coats took around two cans per chair and I think they looked sharp, but the third chair needed special treatment. 


Filthy

That's because it'd managed to get itself especially filthy and had to be cleaned before sanding. An old abrasive kitchen sponge did the trick and neatly removed flaking paint to boot. Result.


Clean

Chair #3 gets a sanding and spray tomorrow. In the meanwhile, #1 and #2 rest on the porch, looking good and ready for action. They'll be joined by a swing and #3 as time moves inexorably on towards its end.


Blue Eschaton

We'll watch that play out, on the porch.

God bless,

LSP

11 comments:

Adrienne said...

Those are beautiful chairs, LSP. Good job.

Next?

How about new blind? I got mine at Blinds.com (2 1/2" faux wood) and I love them. Super price and super service. I didn't do all my windows at one time. Did living room and master bedroom and later did the other three bedrooms.

LL said...

The painted compound is almost unrecognizable and the chairs look very nice there on the porch. But will you live there when you become the next Bishop of Fort Worth?

Fredd said...

In my gig, I do things a bit differently: a client wanted his dad's 1931 Ford Model A restored. It had been sitting in a pole barn for 40 years. Maybe more. It had rusted. And bird, uh, detritus was everywhere.

Sand paper? Sand sponges? Elbow grease? Nah. I paid a guy to 'dustless blast' it once I removed the body from the frame. $1500. Shortly, I haul it to the paint guys, who will hit me up for another $6 large to make it purty. Or more.

That's how Fredd does it. But maybe that's just me.

Adrienne said...

OMGosh, LL - LSP as next bishop?? That would be wonderful! Let's all pray for that.

LindaG said...

Lovely chairs. Never seen anything like them.
What Adrienne said. Is Bishop in the future?
God bless all.

LSP said...

Adrienne, the chairs are 1940s, at least and maybe a bit older. About time they were fixed up as opposed to rusting to pieces in the back. And I know what you mean about blinds, tempted.

LSP said...

The EPISCOPATE will reign gloriously from the COMPOUND, LL.

But no, they wouldn't touch me with a bargepole and I wouldn't blame them. Also, I'm on the nominating committee and I wouldn't pass myself. So.

LSP said...

Fredd, I like your method and wanted to emulate it. Get the chairs blasted, sprayed and boom, done.But, the person who would've laid that on got arrested, cuffed and Tahoed in the car park of the local supermarket.

So I had to do it myself.

Needs must.

LSP said...

Adrienne! Please don't... what an awful thing to have to do...

LSP said...

Glad you like the chairs, Linda. I'd let them rust for far too long and paid the price in restoration, now they look good.

But no. There's no pointed hat in the future, thank God...

Adrienne said...

Okay - no prayers for bishop-hood.

Good grief - the chairs are older than me. Not too many things are.