Patience... and more patience

An interesting and important thing about documenting my creation of Womble Hall is to show, to myself and to others, how much work there is behind every project. In most cases, people see the finished house and at best can admire it. Even with many online tutorials, it looks far too easy. No tutorial will show you the slow process of painting twenty-plus identical windows because it isn't much to look at. But it is unavoidable when you actually do it.

I was quite close in my estimate that it would take me four hours work on each window frame, even before I start glazing and setting them in. There are twenty-eight windows in the house, most of the them on the front, one on the back and four on each side. All with elaborate glazing bars. Most twelve-light (it's a rich house whose owner can pay window tax), some larger, two smaller and five dormer windows. Each has to be primed, sanded and painted. I tried to cheat and skip priming, but, as I should have anticipated, it was a complete failure. Besides, it is much easier to sand after priming, because the pressed sawdust the windows are made of gets hardened. Less risk that it will break.

I haven't timed every session, but it took me most of the morning to prime twelve windows. It's delicate work, and you don't want any paint blobs. I can only do this outdoors because the primer smells, so I hurried this morning while it was sunny.

In the evenings, Staffan and I listen to music. I like to do something with my hands when we listen to music, such as sewing or knitting. Sanding windows is good. So now I know that during an average CD's playing time I can sand four windows.

I have taken a picture of the four stages of a window: unpainted, primed, sanded and painted. It may be hard to see in a picture, but the difference is huge. Wish me patience.