I like to run, but I hate running on treadmills. If I’m going to exert as much energy as it takes to run, I at least want to cover some ground and go somewhere. I will never encounter black bears or see baby snakes or come across ripe blackberries while running in-place on a treadmill.

Maybe that’s why I sometimes find this house maintenance stuff discouraging. When you scrape and prime and paint something for the third time in less than seven years, the joy of accomplishment tends to fade. It becomes tantamount to running on a treadmill.

I’m beginning to feel that way about the rear deck. I went through great pains, only about three years ago, to prepare and prime and paint the fancy wood sections between the deck posts. At the time, the wood was in good condition.

Last week, I  noticed a bit of peeling paint, so out came one of the many scrapers piled up in the basement. As is usually the case with this situation, that small bit of loose paint turned out to be the tip of an iceberg.

Of Wood and Water

By the time I was finished, I found that large sections of my relatively new paint job had let loose. Even more upsetting was the fact that moisture had done a number on the quarter-round moldings. They literally crumbled when touched by the scraper.

What I’d neglected to do three years ago was seal with caulk the horizontal seam where those quarter-rounds met the vertical scrollwork sections. Water entered the unsealed crack and couldn’t escape. The constant dampness rotted the moldings and also caused the adjacent paint to let loose.

So, instead of going for a run on the next nice day, I’ll probably be climbing on the treadmill I call “fixing the deck.” It’s a form of redundant activity that uses few calories but does tend to burn through a lot of money.