Heading into the weekend of July 4, I decided to give my front porch a makeover. The wood was starting to look a bit too weatherworn for my taste and I figured a fresh coat of paint would cheer it up while also offering some weather protection for the aging wood. I actually believed that I could complete this project over the course of the 3 day weekend but I very quickly recognized that this was a crazy impossible goal. In fact, it turns out that this painting project is so big that I need to complete it in phases. Phase 1 was all about getting the paint onto the…