I want to start with: Please keep your prayers going up for the folks in the Pacific Northwest, I am sad to hear about the mother and one-year-old child that were taken by the waters. Also, the folks in the Reno fires they need your prayers, that is a battle with winds and flames. Thank you for keeping them in your heart.
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I want to start with: Please keep your prayers going up for the folks in the Pacific Northwest, I am sad to hear about the mother and one-year-old child that were taken by the waters. Also, the folks in the Reno fires they need your prayers, that is a battle with winds and flames. Thank you for keeping them in your heart.
Back to work: I am ready to coat the stairs in the multi-million-dollar home with the Dura Seal conversion varnish, truth be told, I have NEVER used any finish like this on stairs. I have used it on the floor a few times, but getting it down is easy because it will lay down all by itself. The stairs pose a concern about the finish running or not laying down. We will do the rise going up, then the stairs on the way down; this way if we get a run we can get it on the way down.
The folks that did the stairs years ago finished all the parts in the barn in the backyard. They sprayed the stain, seal coat and topcoats. I cannot spray in the house and cannot give it that look without a ton of hand-work with the stain. We already did a ton of hand-work as far as scraping the stairs:
The stain came from Sherwin Williams; it is a cabinet stain, not a flooring stain. This was a wipe stain: wipe on but not off till it sets up. Here is the point where my knowledge ends, so if a stain/finish company could help and express what makes the cabinet wipe stain different from the stains we use on floors, that would help.
Time to preach at myself one more time: the smell of the stain we are using and the spirits gave me a huge head pain. It was wrong! So even if it does not smell when you open the can, it will in time.
Look at the handprint made in the stain (the photo is not the best, so for that please forgive me):
... then look at the stain after it set and was wiped clean with the spirits:
We had to get the dark red with the hint of black and brown. The rich tone and deep color had to be in right from the start! Recall that I did not work on the skirt or detail work (and for that I am happy), but we had to nail the color.
I took a stain brush and put on the stain, then let that set up overnight. I came in the next day and took spirits with a soft rag and pulled the color into the wood and the extra off. I hope you can see the before and after; it was hard to keep the uniform color with the rags but, like I said, we could not spray in the house. I think we have a full day just working the stain into the step, clean off the rise and getting the look it needs. (Sorry if the photos are poor-I was under the influence of the smell!)
I should have the job done Saturday mid-day and will get you a photo of the finished look. I will take the time to put on the safety this time; I DO NOT want a head pain like that again! It was BC powder and a boatload of fresh air for me; do not do as I do...do as you are told to! I sound like my Daddy, but Daddy is a smart guy when it comes to doing what is right.
I start the heat-treated maple Monday. And oh yes, good news: Clifford is coming back to work with us! He went to work for a remodel guy but that guy started holding funds and telling them that he did not make the money on the job so they had to help make up the lost funds. Let's see, a pay cut because the boss dropped the price to get the job and now he wants to make the crews eat his mistake… yes, that went over like a fart in church. So, Clifford called and asked if I could use him again-oh yeah! He is a good worker and he has the install skills. He does not sand and finish but wants to learn the craft now. I hope to bring him to an NWFA class this year. I enjoyed working with him and hated that he left, but that is okay because at the time we were slow.
On our last five estimates so far we got four of them, and I am going to call the last one and help them pick us. We ARE the highest price on the bid and we ARE the longest out for the timeline. But we ARE the right folks to do the job. It is not my pride or that I think more of our skills; it is knowing that we will work our best for them and their home.
I have got to hit the road and coat the stairs. You all be safe, and see you at the NWFA Expo in Orlando in April! I am looking forward to it.
