Putting a shine on...

Well this time of year last year, Robyn and I were in full construction mode on the kitchen.  The weather had been in the '70's for a month, the table saw and miter saw were running full bore, and we were breaking ground on our new garden.

 

 Not being able to get the saws out has put a bit of a cramp in our ability to move on to the next project, much less till up the garden.

 

But still, the next house project sometimes just shows itself, such as the stairs this weekend.  Since we've progressed far enough on the house, I just can't set up the saws inside anymore... And I'd gotten tired at looking at the stairs which had been a bit rough when we moved in and all the paint I spilled when painting the stairwell hadn't help them much.

 

The previous residents must have had some hungry dogs because nearly ever baseboard corner, plus the bottom corner of the stair, was chewed up.

 

So I hooked our vacuum cleaner up to where the dustbag on my palm sander is usually attached and I go to sanding. 

 

I found that this wasn't the first time the stairs had been refinished.  Whoever who had done it before had used a rotary sander which didn't reach all the way into the corners.  Maybe palm sanders didn't exist back then.

 

 

The swirl marks were visible in the corner. Three hours later and 2 1/2 sheets of 80 grit sandpaper..

 



 

...13 stairs and a landing had been stripped. A pass over with some 220 grits sandpaper, I was ready to lay down some shiny stuff.

 

I had some water-based Varathane combination stain and poly.  I'd bought it a month or so ago to do the crown moulding (which I hadn't been able to get started on because of the weather.)  I'd used the same product, but a different color in the breakfast nook, I figured it would work just as well for the floor.  It was easy to use, dried quickly, and cleaned up easily.  About 5 hours later, I laid down the last of four coats.

 



 

 

The stairss look great, such a big improvement.  However, I might ougtha read the entire label before I started.

 

 

Oh well... it only took 3 hours to sand it down the first time. (and it does look good.)