It is a daunting prospect to sand, paint and repair a double-storey wooden house. If we had known some 40 years ago that we would be doing this today, weatherboard would have been the choice, but I think that we were a couple of years too soon for this option. At the time of building the house, interest rates on mortgage bonds in South Africa were around 23% (yes) and in order to get a bond, someone would have to put matching finance into the building society. Hard to believe today. We were lucky to have a good friend who did this, although on reflection and had everyone been a little more savvy, it would have been better to take the loan from the friend! The cost of building at the time meant that a wooden home was also the only option, but I had always fancied that idea, without any notion of the upkeep.
At first it was fairly easy to get up a ladder and slap on some Cellseal every second year, but working life soon lengthened the periods between ladder climbing and somehow the years flew by. Advancing age is not conducive to house painting, particularly upper storeys, but the main problem was always that He Who Can Fix Anything has always refused to let anybody else do the fixing. However, we all know that a plumber always has a dripping tap, and our situation is no exception.
Today we tackled the first side, removing garage doors, setting up scaffolds (which don't reach high enough), unscrewing surrounds and then sanding every plank. After preparation, sealing and painting took place. All under the supervision of a hard taskmaster taking advantage of lockdown.
If anyone is bored during lockdown, thank your lucky stars!
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