This morning it was time to tackle the balustrade surrounding the pool, this has caused a great deal of frustration. When we first had it installed we spent ages painting it, and it looked lovely, but at with all things painted and especially white, in time, it looked grubby.
I have painted the handrail twice in the last year and both times it has started flaking, almost as soon as it dried, so I have been doing a lot of research into this, before tackling it again.
This morning I set to with the scraper
it certainly wasn\’t a quick job, it was also obvious that scraping alone was not going to be enough, so once that was finished, I searched in the depths of the workshop, and found a bottle of acid, we had used for brick cleaning. Rubber gloves and a sponge, and I was away, but it was soon obvious I was going to have a problem, and before it became one, I tied up both dogs, well away from the scene. Pepe is fine, he is happy sat looking out onto the road, but Tito insists on sitting at or near my feet.
That problem resolved, I gave the whole handrail of the balustrade an acid wash, and then hosed it down, not letting the dogs loose, until I was sure it had all been well diluted.
It now looks quite clean, but before I paint it, I will go over it with the sander, to ensure the new paint will key to the old. Then we will see if the hard work has been worth all the effort.
The next job after that, will be repairing the path around the pool, which has cracked, again, with mountain movement.
An Englishman in Colombia 