The Stairs on the $3 Million House

So here we go… I have been offline for a time-we have been dealing with a few family matters and year-end jobs that had to be done. My mother-in-law passed away just before Christmas. That was not fun around the time of year when being with family should be enjoyable.

I got behind on a few small jobs during the time away; once we got home it was work, work and work to get ready for New Year's plans we had with family. My sister, brother, nephew and his lady friend all came for the new year hunt and to welcome in 2012. They were with us for the week, so I had to take time to be with them, but that got me behind on the stair job (the one at the $3 million house where the horse dented the wood floor).

I am working on them now and wow, to say they are a ton of work is putting it mildly. They were the worst set I have done in a long time. The large dogs had them eat up like a soup sandwich-there are deep cuts, the nosing is no longer round and the steps were walnut per everyone, but they are not! They are oak with a dark red/brown stain to make them look "rich." Getting the color matched was a job-I went to Sherwin Williams four times to add a little red, a little black, a little brown and a ton of luck. Mrs. Diane there was a huge help with getting this right. We did it all from a photo off my cellular phone and my eye, and I am colorblind as anyone can be. Thank you, Mrs. Diane, for taking so much time with me. The reason for the color match? Because I am not sanding the skirt, just the stairs and very glad of it. Here are some pics from the job:

I did pick up a 1,600-foot install, sand & finish job with thermo-treated maple that looks awesome. I have never sanded thermo flooring before, so it was time to call in the big gun. My friend Daniel Boone is going to come work with me on this job if we can work out the timeline. Most of you know that we are the best of friends and when we get together, stuff gets done. The trouble is that between stuff getting done we have more fun pulling jokes on each other. Now, it has been some time since my boots were nailed to the subfloor, so who knows what will happen next.