Sparkling Clean

Okay, so it's not exactly "sparkling".

Have you ever worked on a outdoor home improvement project and thought,

"I wish I could do this to the inside as well!"

No? Just me?

Well I started to think about that when we were power washing our deck, sidewalk and porch this past weekend. I thought about how "nice" it would be if I could just power wash the inside of the house too. That is if water soaked floors, wet dry wall, peeling paint, warped cabinets, and ruined furniture weren't a problem.

Someone needs to invent a type of protective sheeting or cover for everyday items. I would love the person who could come up with an item like that to peel off of my car or *hello* toilets. No I'm not talking about the squeaky clear plastic covers that we've all seen on a couch or two.

[shudder]

Something is dirty? No problem, just peel the coating off and there's a new clean layer. Wow, that would be too easy.

All I know is that whenever we move into a new house, I'm going to have a cleaning company come out and scrub inside the house right before we move in. I don't really like having to clean up after other people, especially in the bathroom or kitchen. Yuck!

Our weekend of power washing was hot and exhausting, but very rewarding. It was obvious how dirty our deck had become, and it was already at that "gray" stage when we moved in (if I remember correctly). That didn't bother us since we didn't know how good it could look. Now that we can see the deck in a state of "glory" I wonder why we had not cleaned it earlier.

Oh yes, that's because we don't own a power washer. We actually borrowed our landlord's which he so graciously is allowing us to use. We plan on finishing up the rest of the sidewalk in front of the house, and the driveway as well when we have the time and ability.

We will actually be going to J's brother and sister-in-law's house for our niece's 5th birthday this Saturday. Does that make you feel old? Because it does me. [grin]

The deck before: a lovely shade of gray.

J and I have come to an agreement that if we ever install a deck at another house, we will fork. up. the. big. bucks. and use a composite material that won't stain, fade, or rot. Yes sirree bob! Although, we're not in any hurry to do that. We could always put down some pavers and be happy with that.

Look at the difference. Can you believe it?

Honestly, I think the drastic change in color made it "fun" to clean. It seemed like we were painting in a way. I wouldn't bother asking us to come power wash your deck though. We've had enough of it to last a while.

[wink]

Ick. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is the path in our side yard. It extends from the cement sidewalk at the front of our house, from the porch and back to the deck.

Watch out when you power wash anything. Especially a path or something that has grass and dirt next to it. You. will. get. dirty. Extremely dirty. Pieces of grass, soil, and so on spattering your feet, legs and even hitting your face at times. *Eye protection suggested.

Here is the end result of the hard work on our deck. Sure, it's in the shade now, but when we worked on it all afternoon it was in the sun. You should have seen the iced tea we went through, and the sweat on our faces.

It was hard work, but the results are worth it!

The next task might be our fence. We'd have to tell both our neighbors that we're doing it though. Could you imagine water spraying through your fence and into the yard? I might need to make some cookies to take over afterward, just as a peace offering. [It's a thought.]

What home improvement challenges have you worked on? Would you ever do them again, or would you hire to have someone do it for you?

In other news:

Our air conditioner is finally working. Woo hoo! [knocks on wood so it's not jinxed] Let me just say that we're thankful the issue was figured out - it was a bad compressor. *duh* The compressor was what had been kicking off and not coming back on. It was just a matter of pinpointing the exact problem, and then getting the manufacturer to replace it (since we were still under warranty).