DIY Disaster - Beam & Post

Ever have an idea gnawing at you for years and years? I did, and it was stripping all of the paint off of the beam & post holding up the front of my house. I decided to take the plunge on this long-form idea without any planning, which is always a recipe for disaster.

Although I consider this a DIY Disaster, it was a great learning experience in the following ways:

1) A heat gun is an effective but slow way to remove paint.

2) It's worth it to take the time to properly prepare your workspace for steady ladder/scaffolding placement.

3) Removing lead-based paint is a massive pain, and I now understand why it's so expensive to have it done professionally.

5) An orbital sander is not powerful enough to remove large, deep imperfections. A flap disc on an angle grinder is a better option, albeit a little unpredictable.

6) Make sure to paint or stain exterior wood regularly. The beam looked fully painted to the naked eye, but the bit extending beyond the roof-line was considerably weather damaged.

7) Don't allocate a timeline to an unfamiliar project until you've gained a little experience. For example - I've never tried to remove lead-based paint on a large scale, and it took way more time than I ever would have imagined. I was stressed about the entire project because it took so much longer than I had thought.

Hope this helps with your future DIY projects! 🤪🛠🪚