Folks, another long project in our saga of refinancing our home through the VA. We are now neck deep in tear out and rebuild of our entire second story master bedroom balcony and shade structure for the patio below. The wood was dry-rotted, I let it go waaay too long. And now I have it all ripped out, and I got a stack full of wonderful Rough Doug Fir for the project.

While I have been performing the structural portion of this project, wife and kids have been painting the boards.

We purchased some 6" mini rollers 3/4 nap.

The problem is the fibers from the roughsawn lumber coat the rollers to the point that they become a hardened mess almost, just imagine a tiny splinters getting entangled in the nap.

We need a thick nap, because the lumber is rough, but at the same time, the nap gets clogged with the fibers.

Any suggestions on a type of roller to use are greatly appreciated. Spraying is out of the question because of our proximity to neighbors and we don't really have anywhere to set up for that. Plus, my wife and kids are having some wonderful "bonding" moments during this project, I'd rather keep them painting as a team.

 

Here is a few images of what I am doing.

The old balcony and deck and shade structure before.

 

Shade structure is gone.

 

Balcony gone.

 

About two thirds of the lumber is sitting here, the rest is in our shop.

 

The painting operation.

 

 

This is a complete removal and replace, nothing will be used over, accept the ledgers against the house, they are in great condition and bolted firmly to the home.

Thanks VA for forcing me off me arse!

Hate to suggest it, but your best alternative may be  brushes.

3/4" nap may be a little long. Did you experiment with something shorter. I've rolled paint on cinder blocks with 3/8".

Edited August 13, 20178 yr by lew

I have used serrated foam rollers before in rough lumber,seemed to work. Didn't find any small ones like you want though mine was 10"X3 1/2" diam.

 

Looks like they did a good job flashing the stucco over the ledger to keep it from rotting out.

That is quite a project you have taken on.

 

You might check the latest code on balcony railings, the ones you demo'ed were out of code. and if you ever sell it will be a bonus ,you won't have to upgrade them. Also here I would have to get a permit w/Engrd stamped plans submitted to rebuild my deck. Too many have collapsed in the past,and they passed regulations to that effect.

Herb

Edited August 13, 20178 yr by Dadio

The foam roller is a great idea Herb, thanks! 

I have tried a 3/8" but it was even worse. 

I think Herb may have the right idea with the foam roller. Thanks!

FASH burn the rough saw w/ a weed burner on low and then scrub it w/ a dry scrub or wire brush...

vacuum before painting...

there was another reason for these in the yesteryear...

 

Edited August 14, 20178 yr by Stick486

2 hours ago, Dadio said:

Also here I would have to get a permit w/Engrd stamped plans submitted to rebuild my deck.

 

the get around the engineer's stamp in many places is do not to attach the deck to the structure...

but you still need to be code compliant...

Edited August 14, 20178 yr by Stick486

8 hours ago, Stick486 said:

FASH burn the rough saw w/ a weed burner on low and then scrub it w/ a dry scrub or wire brush...

vacuum before painting...

there was another reason for these in the yesteryear...

Thanks Stick! Would that kill the rough sawn texture? We want to keep the rough look.

29 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Thanks Stick! Would that kill the rough sawn texture? We want to keep the rough look.

Actually, the more I think about it, the burn would just get rid of the pesky small fibers that are clogging the rollers, but leave behind the rough texture, yep, this would work. Could just use a regular plumbers torch that I have. Just quickly skim the surface before painting, then run a stiff broom over it all?

29 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Thanks Stick! Would that kill the rough sawn texture? We want to keep the rough look.

 

meant to say FLASH burn...

if you cook it it it will remove the rough saw...

a flash burn quickly done only takes care of the loose and fine fibers...

2 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Just quickly skim the surface before painting, then run a stiff broom over it all?

 

yup...

use propane and a spreader tip...

vac before painting...

Just now, Stick486 said:

 

yup...

use propane and a spreader tip...

vac before painting...

Thanks Stick!

@Dadio said: You might check the latest code on balcony railings, the ones you demo'ed were out of code. and if you ever sell it will be a bonus ,you won't have to upgrade them. Also here I would have to get a permit w/Engrd stamped plans submitted to rebuild my deck. Too many have collapsed in the past,and they passed regulations to that effect.

 

Herb, the balusters on the original looks to have had pretty wide spacing.  Is that what you are referring to, or is there another issue there?  Just curious,

Cal

2 hours ago, John Morris said:

Actually, the more I think about it, the burn would just get rid of the pesky small fibers that are clogging the rollers, but leave behind the rough texture, yep, this would work. Could just use a regular plumbers torch that I have. Just quickly skim the surface before painting, then run a stiff broom over it all?

 

Get @Smallpatch to send you a weed torch and you won't even have to bend over.  Rumor has it he has extras.

 

 

Sorry I done took the extras to the Abilene HD even though we ordered them online. The store was kinda puzzled for us bringing them back to them even though we only ordered one and paid for one!!! I said hey, I'm just saving you a little freight!!!!

   I don't see how a torch would do away with the ruff saw marks unless you stand there with your finger up your.... and burn the boards completely up... 

  Would the code okay the design if you installed 4x4's in a few places against the house so it would be a free standing structure that happens to be attached. 

6 hours ago, clhyer said:

@Dadio said: You might check the latest code on balcony railings, the ones you demo'ed were out of code. and if you ever sell it will be a bonus ,you won't have to upgrade them. Also here I would have to get a permit w/Engrd stamped plans submitted to rebuild my deck. Too many have collapsed in the past,and they passed regulations to that effect.

 

Herb, the balusters on the original looks to have had pretty wide spacing.  Is that what you are referring to, or is there another issue there?  Just curious,

Cal

Yes, that is mainly what I was seeing, also I think the supporting beam is over spanned and I am seeing a slight downward deflection , might just be the camera angle,but there are span requirements also for the outboard posts and beams. The code is pretty strict on the supporting structure and railings and stairs these days. It used to be where there was not much attention to details, and a lot of latitude was allowed, but now even the real estate agents pick up on this fast.

I had a deck off the MBR similar to Johns and it had a stair coming off for an emergency exit for the upstairs and when i sold the house after I retired I had to redo the railing on the deck and the stairs before I could list it.

Herb

28 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

 I don't see how a torch would do away with the ruff saw marks

 

it's the loose/fine raised grain splinters and fuzzies he's looking to get under control while still keeping the rough sawn look...

I'm not too worried about code, the VA inspector came and gave the home a good once over, I told them I was going to rebuild it "in-kind" the way it was, and he was pretty happy with it, stated once it's done, take a picture of it, he'll sign it off and the loan will go through, objective achieved.

Thanks for all the wonderful tips and feedback guys!

On 8/13/2017 at 4:28 PM, Dadio said:

You might check the latest code on balcony railings, the ones you demo'ed were out of code.

@Dadio based on your observations, it prompted me to check codes and sure nuff, the old railing was out of code. Code states for a balcony use case the railing needs to be between 38" and 42" high with spindle spacing no greater than 4".

The spindle spacing on the rail was around 6" and the old rail was 36" high.

We went with the max height of 42" and set our spindles at 4" spacing.

I appreciate your prowess and experience and great eye, thanks again Herb, I feel better knowing we are within code.

Glad you checked that ,John, it will save you any head aches in the future. We had a few  neighbors who would call the building dept. everytime they saw you in the backyard with a hammer and saw. And sometimes a knock on the door by a code compliance officer wanting to know if you were building something and handing you forms to fill out in case you were. we were required to submit plans to the Home Owners assoc. any time we changed the appearance of anything on our property.  Even if we had a permit to build it, the HOA could over rule the permit. Numerous cases went into court over that and the HOA always won.

Herb