Well I got my ididit column in the mail (Ididit 1120650010). I got it on amazon and saved on shipping because I have prime.
It's warm out now in the Pacific Northwest.. and it's fall. This won't last long, so I need to take advantage of it. Painting day!
Because I had to throw out all of my materials during the last move, I had to buy the basics all over again along with a bit of paint. $250.00 later, we can get started.
Ididit recommends using pieces of wood to mount the column in to paint it.. but they give you this amazing box when they ship it to you! soooo why not? ( it worked just fine by the way, tape your ends, keep it a snug fit at both ends of the column and move it around slow when you rotate it).
From bare metal to painted in an afternoon ish. I didn't sand the column, but I did file most of the openings as they were almost sharp; paint doesn't like that and neither do my hands. Used epoxy as a sealer with reducer, let it set for 45 min between coats and did 3 coats. 3 coats of paint, 30 minutes between those, and 30 minutes between each of the 3 coats of clear. I bought flattening agent as they didn't sell flat clear. As it sits in the pics right now, it doesn't look as flat as I'd like (was hoping for more of a semi gloss look), but I'm hoping it flattens a bit more as it dries.
** Pro tip, use a drop cloth when painting this close to the ground.. OOPS!