After having the yard cleared out and the new pavers installed, it was quite obvious the house needed painting. While we were intending to paint the house in the not so distant future, the removal of the shrubs necessitated an immediate need for a paint job. The dirt and grime that had previously been hidden by the shrubs was now on full display, and looked rather shabby to say the least.
First we had the gutters installed by Gutter King Orlando, (under partnership with Tru Team). Our sales advisor, Russel, came out to our house on Thursday and gave us a written quote, which was followed by a quick installation the following Monday. The team of two guys worked quickly and efficiently installing the gutters customized on site for our house. The gutters along the roofline are brown and while they can be painted, we opted to leave them that color which complemented the house color later when it was painted.
As far as painting the house is concerned, Steve (DOS) and I had a bit of opposite ideas when it came to choosing the house color. I wanted a green border accent, while he wanted a darker tan similar to what we had. Before deciding on the colors, we went to Sherwan Williams and picked out a few samples via the color chart Carlos had leant us. With the social distancing in effect everywhere, we simply parked in the lot of Sherwan Williams, and the paint was brought out to us.
Once at home, DOS and I tried our hand at painting test squares on the front part of the house and door, trying the different similar, but slightly different shades of paint for comparison.
We ended up with a compromise of Serengeti Green for the accent color and garage (which really looks like a dark tan or light brown), while I got my pick of a bold green front door color. The base color was a light tan, which looked brighter than I had wanted, but would later look great with the finished landscaping.
On Wednesday, the house was painted by another contractor named Carlos, whom our Landscaper had recommended. Carlos’s family team of three also included his wife and grown son and they were wonderful. They did more than just paint the house; they washed, patched, and touched up, and repaired places that needed it, such as this area of the porch roof, which due to the Florida humidity requires patching every three or four years.
Carlos and family worked very quickly, yet efficiently while they were onsite at our house, and finished the exterior painting in a couple days. They did such an outstanding job, that we used them again shortly for a couple other projects that needed completing around the house. Here are some photos of the painting work-in-progress at our house.
At first I thought the colors were a bit too light as there were no longer any bushes or plants in front of the house. DOS assured me it would look better after the landscaping was completed, or worst case we could have it repainted to a darker color if I liked. Fortunately there was no need for that as we would have landscaping done (next post) a week later, and the new painting job really fit in well. Here is the house after the painting was completed.
Carlos even repainted the garage door for us to match the trim, after they had already painted it the base color of the house. I hated to ask them to do that after all the work they had done, but Carlos was glad to do it, and said it will actually look better with a bit of contrast. We agreed, and we’re so glad we had this done.
We also used Carlos and family for some electrical work we needed done, including changing a couple motion-sensor fixtures by the garage, adding some outdoor outlets for additional pool and patio lighting, and best of all for assembling our new Weber grill, which we had delivered from Costco.
Unlike the ordeal I’ve been going thru with Home Depot in getting my new dishwasher delivered, the Weber Genesis Two grill arrived within a week of ordering it. I had been watching videos online of how to assemble it (the package weighed in at 200 pounds when delivered!) but both DOS and I realized we couldn’t assemble this.
One I am still wearing my neck brace and can’t move easily or lift anything heavy, and two even if I could we would be arguing on the best way to assemble it! LOL! No worries, Carlos and family had the grill put together in 3 1/2 hours, instead of the 3 1/2 weeks it would have taken DOS and me. Here is the finished grill, and we can hardly wait to use it!
Next post: some serious yard landscaping!