Two home improvement questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

I think FQ is the right forum. If not, mods feel free to move.

One: We had our house repainted a couple of years ago and have the leftover paint in our garage. Taking down a post that was next to the house, I saw they didn’t paint behind it. I have no experience painting houses so what is the best way to touch up this area?
Two: In the back, we have a concrete slab patio. Can I build a wood patio a couple inches above it? Is that not recommended? Anything I should know before I do it?

2

You’re really asking for knowledgeable opinions, so I moved to In My Humble Opinion.

On the Wood Patio part, there should be some clearance between the wood patio and the concrete (or ground for that matter). I think the rule of thumb was about 6" clearance. Too close and even on concrete/stone, the patio will rot from underneath. Code appears to vary a lot or not exist. I’ve seen several say 3"-4" so maybe my rule of thumb is overly cautious.

On the Paint, if you can match the paint:

  • Clean the area and partway into the painted area.
  • Cover the unpainted area with a light coat of paint.
  • Let fully dry, see can for time.
  • Apply a second coat, but this time feather the paint at the edges so the transition between old and new paint is minimal.

I’ve had some success with this method.

3

Couple of things to consider:

  1. Your walls have changed colour in the years since you had it done, so what’s in your paint tin and on your walls probably won’t match. When I needed to paint my porch recently, I used paint swatches to match the paint and buy a new colour - if I’d gone with the original white, it would have stuck out like a sore thumb as the walls had mellowed to an off white.
  2. The paint in your original tin may also have changed colour - it doesn’t last. So, see point 1!
    Of course you can always test a small amount on an unobtrusive area to check.
4

Even so, it will look better than the old color showing now and it is on the side of the house. But I will bare that in mind.

5

But will forever bug you!

I agree with What_Exit that you need a few inches gap between the concrete slabs and the wood decking by raising it on a sub frame.

6

Prep work is where it’s at. If there are any raised areas or different textures bordering or on the unpainted part, you’ll definitely want to spend a lot of time remedying that as best you can before you put the paint on, as the actual painting is the easiest and fastest part.

7

Brush or roller?

8

For a small area I would use brush - roller could lift the surrounding paint off the wall and drive you crazy. Learn from my mistakes!

9

How big is the area, a smallish area, much better with a brush, plus the feathering has to be a brush. Roller puts paint on a lot heavier typically.

As you said a “post”, my guess would be all brushwork.

10

4 inches x 48 inches. It was behind a post.

11

Yes, brush it is. Roller will not be a good idea. Just go light on the paint and do 2 coats if not 3.

I keep using the term feathering, in case you don’t know it:

Feathering paint means to gradually blend new paint into existing old paint by applying it lightly and working outward from the touch-up area, creating a smooth transition between the two colors, essentially making the new paint seamlessly match the old paint; this is typically done with a brush, applying minimal paint and slowly fading out towards the edges of the touch-up spot.

12

Yeah, size is really the determinant. That, and maybe texture.

If you really like rollers, or don’t have a decent quality paintbrush (like a Purdy or Wooster), you might look into the 4" and 6" mini rollers. I’ve found they do a pretty good job on moderately sized painting jobs where a brush is kind of a pain, but breaking out the 9" roller and pan is overkill.

13

I built my rear deck over an existing slab in 1987. It is just plain treated lumber - no stain or preservative. It still looks fine. I left about 6" of space from the concrete to the floor joists so it is two steps up to the deck.

14

For the wood, paint etc. umm, paint it. With a brush. It will never really match.

For putting the deck over the concrete slab. Is that needed? It’s gonna be a mess under the decking and over the slab. You will never get leaves, things that fall through the deck and god knows what (it will be there) from under that deck.

What about treating the concreate deck that you are covering? Is it a color issue? perhaps a heat from the concrete issue?

I would shy away from a slightly raised wood deck over concrete, big time. It’s gonna be a mess.

When you don’t get what you want, you get experience.

15

There are gutter-like things that you can put under all the spaces between the deck boards, to carry the water and debris off to one side, and which you could clean if necessary with a hose. I have them under our back deck, which is one story over the patio underneath, because I didn’t want all that stuff falling on our patio furniture.

16

Regarding the concrete patio, how about using decking tiles like this one from IKEA or this one from Home Depot? These are applied directly to the concrete.

17

Interesting. Never saw that. How do you attach them? Could you do it on a deck that is just 6"s off the concrete?

18

Weird. I’ve had wooden decking over concrete for years. Never a problem.

19

Good questions. There are different kinds, but mostly they fit between the joists, assuming your deck would have joists. But as I look at them again, they are intended for 2nd story decks like ours, so that you can put a nice ceiling over your patio (we didn’t do that part). I think it would probably be overkill (in terms of expense) for your application.

20

Yeah, a little different for a second story deck to keep from getting dripped on.

Don’t really understand why the OP wants to put a ‘deck’ right on top of a concrete patio. I think the tile idea above is good though. At least if it’s for aesthetics.