Painting Trusses
22 October 2006
For quite some time now my number one priority has been to get a roof
on the barn. Having everything exposed to the rain and weather is
not a good thing. The last of the framing was completed a couple
weeks ago. The roof trusses are here and the roofing has been
ordered. All I need to do is hire a crane to lift the trusses
into place but I can't schedule a crane until the electric company
moves the power lines. They installed the new utility pole
several weeks ago but still haven't removed the old power lines.
I was hoping to get a chance to paint all the trusses while they're
still sitting on the ground. Normally, painting roof trusses
would be like painting the 2x4's inside the walls, it's just not
necessary, but since the barn will have a clear roof the trusses will
be exposed and should be painted. Not just the trusses but also
all the blocking, purlins, strongbacks, posts, beams, bracing and
railings. I have a $3000 pile of lumber that needs to be
painted. Every side of each piece. Primer plus two top
coats.
Painting all that wood with a brush just isn't feasible. Using a
sprayer will waste a lot of paint when painting the narrow side of the
2x4's. I used a roller for some of the job but when I calculated
the time required to finish the whole job I realized I had at least
another 30 hours ahead of me. I figure a sprayer will waste a
hundred dollars worth of paint but that's still better than spending
all week painting.
I hired some painters but they showed up with a cheap little sprayer
that kept clogging. After an hour and a half they had only
managed to paint one side of one truss. Then it started to rain
and immediately washed all the paint off. That's when I decided
to buy an airless sprayer and do the job myself.
Now all I have to do is wait for it to stop raining. A few days
ago they had flash flood watches for the whole island. It was
sunny here but I figured that the rain would arrive as soon as I
started painting. It stayed sunny all day. Today was
supposed to bright and sunny. It's been cloudy and rainy all
day. It's too bad I don't have a roof so I could find a dry place
where I could paint the roof.
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