I was still part way through welding on the cleats and I had not even treated the surfaces.

First thing I needed to complete about 12 welds for the cleats.

After this, I carted the beams out in to the open and applied rust converter.

Linda and I headed in to Midland to see if Rudds was open (it wasn't and opening times not shown on their website) and also to drop in to Inspirations to ask a question about the best paints to use on the steel.

We also dropped in to Bunnings where I purchased some pulleys and rope - I have this idea of hoisting a large tarpaulin over the work site to protect me from the summer heat.

Back home I washed off the excess rust converter and scrubbed down the galvanised beams.

After everything had dried off in the sun I moved it all back under the veranda and started applying the zinc primer.

This required 3 painting sessions spaced several hours apart.

On Sunday I hope to apply all of the enamel coat over the course of the day.

I also really need to head out to site and knock down all the weeds before the building site becomes the talk of the town.

Sunday

I ended up helping Linda prepare for some guests who are arriving today - so didn't get out to site to clean up.

However, I managed to apply the enamel coat to the steel.