Balcony Trim (Part 1)

I woke up on Wednesday expecting to go into work (Tuesday the power was off at the office from a Hydro station getting flooded on Monday evening). I even checked online and the map said the area had power! So I went all the way into work only to discover that no, my office did NOT have power. So I turned around and came home (No AC in the office with no power!). Then I was facing a second unexpected day off! Plus, my email was down at work randomly too so I was completely off the grid.

I decided to spend it out here:

I love this view from my bed! The new floor is amazing! And yes, those buildings (plus one you can't see) in the background are the only high rises near me- my balcony is quite private for the city.

Except today I wasn't lounging (much), I was working! I decided to stop being lazy and get around to painting the trim I bought for the balcony, you know, in May.

First things first, I had to secure down the few tiny triangle pieces that weren't properly attached to the base of the flooring. See in the photo how they sit all crooked? That is because they are free-floating! Also, I don't have some random dark stripe on my floor- would you believe that at that hour the railing shadow lines up so perfectly with the tiles??

I was going to use krazy glue, but my bottle had dried up, so I used my hot glue gun. I think this was my first time using the outdoor plug and I am happy to report it works! Anyway I only had a couple to do and it was quick. The trim will mostly cover these spots, but I wanted everything to be secure underneath.

Then I laid out my trim and measured where to cut. Do you see how my balcony has a gentle curve to it? I never noticed it before! No wonder cutting those angled tiles was so hard! I only need to cut two pieces down to size and then cut a bit of an angle in one end for the turn in direction of the wall in the corner. I just used a handsaw, and lemme tell you- cutting an angle with a handsaw is hard! It ain't pretty, but I am going to cover the cracks anyway to make everything look smooth.

Then I brought all my pieces in to paint! Black was the winning colour in my blog-poll, so that is what I went with. I laid out all the pieces on a drop sheet (it was the world's most giant drop sheet so I ended up cutting it down to use for other projects). Because of the angled bottoms, I could easily paint the top and sides in one go, which was nice!

You can really see how small my living room is in this shot!

Here is where I ran into a bit of trouble. See, I wanted to buy charcoal/black paint vs true jet black, because the existing metal trim isn't pure jet black. So I picked out out and got the lady to mix it up.

And it was blue.

She told me it dries black so I remained hopeful and took it home. Put on the first coat.

BLUEEEEEEE

But I kept at it and I am happy to note that by the third coat it is definitely black. Phew! I guess it goes to show that you cannot trust a black paint at first swipe!

Oh, and for the record, I bought Premier flat outdoor pant (made for siding) in Black Mica. I wanted a glossier paint, but they only had flat or high gloss and I didn't want high gloss. The trim won't really get stepped on, so I'm sure the flat will hold up. Plus they only sell outdoor paint in quarts, no sample sizes, so I have a whole lot to touch up with. I decided to get the more expensive outdoor paint because the balcony floor actually does get a beating with weather and I want the trim to survive long term!

Anyway, I am sorry I do not have a finished photo to show you today! It is so humid out and therefore the paint will need a bit longer to really get dry (don't want it getting wet and washing off on my balcony floor!).

Power is back on at work (got the call late this afternoon), so hopefully I will have time to install Thursday evening and give you and update on Friday!