Progress on the Exterior - Sanding & Scraping

We said it once before - this is the biggest and hardest DIY we've taken on yet.  The past few weekends we've devoted every daylight hour to our exterior paint job project. 
I took our last to do list on this project and combined all the steps so you can see everything all at once.

Back of house - fully scraped

Project List:

• Scrape any old paint that will come off
• New paint colors selected
• Finish the never ending scraping
• Replace any broken shingles
• New flashing above lower window
• New PVC window trim
• Sand all cedar shingles
• Prime everything - 75% complete as of 11/11
• Flash AC unit
• Correct bad flashing job on porch roof (wait until spring when we hire a pro and do a new roof here anyway)
• Final coat of paint (if this can't happen, we'll need to prime again in the spring)
• New fascia boards along eave (waiting until spring)

Dad flashes an exterior window the right way

Luckily we've been getting a bit of help from my Dad.  Between the three of us I've estimated we've logged about 150 man hours of very difficult labor.  

Matt finishing sanding

We also wanted to take this post to share with you the tools we've liked the most while tacking this project.

Scraping Tools:

Huskey bend scraper - Matt's choice 

Huskey 14 in 1 tool - Meg's choice

Safety Glasses - we wear safety glasses alot around here, splurge and get yourself a good pair.  These are Meg's favorite.

Sanding Tools:

DeWalt orbiting sander - best sander for the job!

The Mouse - only used for the hard to reach spots

Dry Brush

Safety Masks - we're using protective respirators rated for harmful dust.

Oh yeah - and though we're trying to forget about it, we are only finishing one of the 4 sides of the house this year...