2013-09-21 Herne Hill Polo Court Build - Call for volunteers

Excited about the court build in general. Not just the pump sprayer.

I've not used one but have read stories of fence stain ending up all over cars on the driveway. I used a little powered sprayer with emulsion before and getting even coverage was a bit of a pain. I'd stick to rollers, everyone knows how to use them, they're cheap and they won't break.

Watch the direction of the wind and the nozzle of the spray is adjustable which controls how wide the paint is dispersed. Never used sprayers for paint before, the above observation is from spraying herbicide back home. Face mask and goggles should be included in the shopping list too.

What do you think nesbit ?

rollers, and line em up to dry. I dont think this will be a one day paint and build though.

Good call on the rollers... I have very little idea how long it's gonna take, maybe we just get the stuff to HH, paint it, then build it the next day...

I really don't know... I'm aiming for a solution that will take the least time i.e. lots of bodies getting everything done in one go...

TBH Kev, I think spraying is a daft idea... Let's stick to rollers/brushes...

Let's say painting one side of a board takes 5 minutes and both sides and the edges will be 15 minutes?

15 minutes per board for a 9 x 17 lengths of board court is gonna be 13 hours. With enough people on hand it shouldn't be too much work (4 painting teams = 3ish hours work).

Spraying is quick for non-flat surfaces, but seems pointless for flat surfaces? You'll waste tonnes of paint towards the edges?!

In for helping out if I'm in London that weekend, I also have Zip/Street/Van/Car card. I would have thought that a day for transport / painting and a second day for construction would be best?

Nice one Joe.

Adding to experiences: I've used a sprayer once (painting my bedroom as a teenager). It lasted for about 15 minutes before putting it down and swapping to rollers.

I would second the idea of painting the boards pre-build to make sure the edges and bottoms get a protective coating.

If Ryan is worried about space we could rest the painted boards to dry down by the boats.

[edit: I also second rollers]

...... paint it, then build it the next day...

I really don't know... I'm aiming for a solution that will take the least time i.e. lots of bodies getting everything done in one go...

Paint needs time to dry and needs to be done either undercover or on a sunny day. What happens if the build weekend is heavy rain? I reckon get the painting stuff to Ryans and I can run batches of painting when people have time.

If we can get all of the boards painted pre-build we can get all hands on deck irrespective of weather and get the courts built. We can do touch ups at the same time.

Are the boards full 10'x5' sheets? If so zipvan transporters will only hold a couple of sheets. I think a LWB Transit is the smallest thing that comfortably holds a sheet (without having to put them diagonally)

Paint needs time to dry and needs to be done either undercover or on a sunny day. What happens if the build weekend is heavy rain? I reckon get the painting stuff to Ryans and I can run batches of painting when people have time.

If we can get all of the boards painted pre-build we can get all hands on deck irrespective of weather and get the courts built. We can do touch ups at the same time.

That makes the most sense to me. I'd be happy to help paint at some point at Ryan's as well as build.

Me too, if that's OK with Ryan (and everyone at his workshop space) I'm happy to come down and do that before we take it all up to HH...

I'm free the rest of this week and all of next week*...

• unless the phone rings
  

TBH Kev, I think spraying is a daft idea... Let's stick to rollers/brushes...

I'm not sure why you think it's daft, its a much quicker way of spreading paint over large flat surfaces, when you see builders painting wooden hoardings around building sites they're using sprayers, and not rollers or brushes. If we're aiming to be transporting, building, and painting all in one day, surely it's an option to be considered. If you're co-ordinating the build though, whatever you decide in the end is cool with me.

Spraying is quick for non-flat surfaces, but seems pointless for flat surfaces? You'll waste tonnes of paint towards the edges?!

I'm assuming they wouldnt be great for corners and edges, as you'd lose a load of the spray into the air, but they might be useful for blasting the larger surfaces, and then doing the niggly bits by hand with brushes

i.e. just do most of the boards with the sprayer, and then finish off the edges and corners with rollers and brushes.

Drop it, Kev... Rollers and brushes it will be...

Me too, if that's OK with Ryan (and everyone at his workshop space) I'm happy to come down and do that before we take it all up to HH...

I'm free the rest of this week and all of next week*...

• unless the phone rings
  
  

I'll talk to Ryan in a sec. We can do the painting down by the boats if using the yard is an issue. We could play music and drink beer and it might even be fun!

Brilliant... Nice one, Tim... :)

Just so Kev knows where I stand, I second all the above.

But in all seriousness, we should probably use rollers.

It looks like I'll be free for the build day, also up for some painting fun.

OK, we have three options...

1. We can paint the boards and uprights up in Hackney, but there is limited space for painting and drying... Upside is we can get started this week while we have good weather, downside is I don't wanna piss Ryan or any of his neighbours off... I also don't know how long it will take to get so much stuff painted but it strikes me as more ball ache... Space will be an issue, could take ages...

2. We can paint the boards and uprights up in HH this week, loads more space and we can relax a bit more, I'm sure HH would be fine with us doing that but will need to check... Is this possible? could we get the stuff up there in the next coupla days?

Option 3 is what's already been discussed...

Thoughts?

Option 2 seems best if HH are cool with it

I've just emailed HH, they'll probz get back to me tomorrow morning...

In the meantime, please discuss...

Option 2 sounds best. Reckon we would just get in the way at Ryan's

General opinion: Option 1 seems the best, Tim has already offered space in case the courtyard around Ryan's is not accessible. Option 2 is a bit of a push since quite a few players have already committed to play in John H's triple elim tourney. Moving stuff to HH and painting it when there doesn't seem the most efficient way. Van hire, loading etc at a short notice would remove a lot of peeps would otherwise be able to help.

Personal opinion: I say option 1. I would rather get as much done as possible and then move, painting everything on the day is a risk. If we still need painting on the day then it is just status quo as initially proposed, there was already plenty of interest so if people are committed enough they will still do it.

I can do Thursday, Friday and possibly Sunday this week at Ryan's. There's a Tool Station just outside Ryan's place too, haven't checked if they stock they paint of our choice but anywhere within 4 miles of E3 I will pop by and get all the supplies ordered.

Thanks, Ben... I'm not working for the remainder of this week or next week so figured option 2 could work... I'm very happy to schlep down the road to the velodrome and paint the shit out of every single board in my own time with whoever else wants to come down and help...

The cool thing about that is that once the paint is dry (weather looks good for this week) we can actually start the build well before the 21st and it becomes less of a frenzied crowd thing and much easier to accomplish...

We could even be in a position where we can christen the court on the 21st, which would be fucking incredible...

Anyway, let's see what HH say... Horse, cart, etc...