A DIY project -- Front Railing

New front railing was installed as a purchase condition when we bought our house in 2006. Since then it has taken a beating from the weather and started to show signs of rusting in places.

Time to re-paint!

Wednesday the weather was sooooooo hot (as in 90 F in the shade, hot), but it was time to get this project underway.  Son #2 felt motivated to help because he wanted to earn some extra money.

He was in charge of sanding away all the rust and grime as well as placing paper and tape down to catch the paint drips.  Mom was not interested in cleaning up paint spills on the concrete a second time this year, so drop cloths were a must.  The mosquitos were out in force, so we had to spray ourselves before starting work.  Mom took care of trimming away the bushes which were poking through each vertical slat of the railing on the left of the stairs.

using a wire brush to scrape away the rust

breathing apparatus to protect from the particles

protecting the concrete stoop

tape, tape and more tape

adding the first coat of primer

first coat of primer done on this side

second coat

mom was dying of heat as soon as the sun made its
way over the top of the house, so son #1 helped by
priming the other side 

At this point, we had to stop because it was too hot to work in the front anymore.  The heat index was 96F due to the humidity.  AND, rain was heading in our direction.
Oh, by the way, did I mention that our A/C decided to ice over and stop working this day?  Mom headed indoors to wait for the HVAC repair man to come take a look.  With fans running in the house (A/C shut off to thaw) the mid-level was 76F, the basement was 72F and the upper level ... the one with the bedrooms ... was 83F.

Work on the bannister resumed the next day, Thursday, after son #2's morning swim lesson.  The A/C had been fixed and the outside temp was much more comfortable as well, after the overnight storm passed through our area.

the next day!!
first coat of black Rust-Oleum paint goes on

After two coats of black paint on each side and several touch-ups, the project was finished.  As the railing was drying, I noticed these crazy little birds that kept landing on the fresh paint.  Silly birds!!!

I caught one here as I quickly snapped a pic through our front windows with my iPhone.

I'm not sure why these birds wanted to sit there ... Rust-Oleum has a pretty strong smell when it's wet.  At one point I looked over at the front stairs and I saw 4-5 little birds all hopping around.  ????  Wonder what they were attracted to?  Weird.