I admit it — I am not an expert on applying water sealant, but now I do have one notch in my belt. Do you remember the Little Red Hen who couldn’t get anyone to help her? Well, she did it herself! And that’s what I did. I got doggone tired of waiting for the Handyman to come by and apply water sealant to the wooden ramp leading to my front door. It was a beautiful Fall day with lots of sun. That’s what you need–Sun–to dry the sealant. Why use water sealant? To protect the wood from getting discolored. Why was I in such a hurry? My two cats have to walk on that wood to get out of the house–that’s why. And the postman had to walk on that wood to deliver the mail–that’s why. So there I sat in my chair fretting about this whole scenario. Cold weather and rain are coming and then the sealant will never dry fast enough. So I got out of my chair and went to the hardware store. There I purchased a can of sealant, a tray and a roller. Yes, a roller with a long stick attached to it works great on the part that you walk on. However . . . sealant does not adhere very well to a roller and it drips all over the place. It is not thick like paint, and so the side rails are more difficult. After one hour of work, I took a two hour nap. I was exhausted and I wasn’t even finished yet. Later that afternoon, I went outside and finished up the ramp leading to the front door. Then to the back porch and finished that up.
The next day, with a gleeful spirit, I called the Handyman who charges $40 per hour and I said, “You don’t need to bother to come out after all. I put the sealant on myself.” He was disappointed, but I got my revenge. As the Little Ren Hen would say, “I baked the bread myself without any help from anyone, and so now I am going to eat it by myself.”
