Weekend update

I got started on the exterior house paint. I'm prepping the stucco with a wire brush and scraper. Where there's smaller cracks I'm using latex caulk which I decorate with sand to simulate the stucco texture. This hasn't provided a 100% camouflage, particularly if there was a previous attempt to patch the crack. This green (below) looks gray compared to actually standing there.

The doors and windows I'm scraping with a carbide edged tool, which is marvelously efficient at getting down to a well-adhered paint layer. It was $15 at Home Depot - a high price relative to the hardened steel scrapers, but it works so well that I think it was worth it. I try to contain the paint flakes on a tarp and throw them out with the trash. Those I miss, I get with the shop vac.

Saturday I've managed to prep and paint the stucco part of one wall, and prep the window that's in that wall. The windows will need some additional prep with sand paper, I think, to feather the edges of the paint. Sunday I tried to continue, but it was too windy and I couldn't paint or prep. The picture below with the cast faces has a green that seems closest to how the green actually appears in person - at least on my monitor. There's a splash of the Country Redwood paint on the wood in each photo because I was verifying that I still like the color. I think it's a bit on the red side both in person and in these photos so I'll try a second coat to improve it. The stucco has a second coat already and it made a big difference.