Almost Ready To Go

Minus scraping out the edges and corners so the sander doesn't tear up the baseboards and pulling a cluster of staples compliments of the previous owners, this floor is ready to sand after a couple heady hours of toxic fume inhalation.

Learning to Love My Heat Gun

So, I started in on the floors again. After eleven months of inactivity, it started again. Who can say why exactly? Fear? Loathing? Voodoo? Boredom? Hell, does it matter?

First, as the tumbleweed photo below indicated, I had to do a thorough cleaning to find the bloody floor. And move furniture. And this was just to finish the dining room floor, which is supposed to be finished for Thanksgiving. 2007. Just saying.

Really, I'm embarrassed at how quickly this went. I mean, I could have had this finished last year.

Here is the before picture of the unfinished portion of the dining room floor.


I finally put the old pine plugs Gary sent to good use. Thank you Gary!

Here is a gripping photo of a round plug in a round hole!

And a puttied round plug in a round hole!

And here is the money shot: the dining room floor with all of its sanding prep completed.

Of course, I missed a few spots. Details.

Since things were moving along, I decided to start on the living room floor. The wood putty I use is filled with all the marvels of modern science: carcinogens, toxic solvent, and other sixteen syllable compounds. I quickly deduced that mystery finish on the living room floor was shellac. The acetone and ethanol alcohol in the wood putty quickly reactivated it. Shellac is a lot better than lead based paint. Since I knew that it was shellac that I was dealing with, I could benefit from everyone else's houseblogging experiences. For once, I knew what to do. I dragged out my heat gun, near virginal in condition, and went to work on the shellac. Sure, I could have used the drum sander on it, but I'd be changing the paper every minute or two as the shellac gummed it up. At a dollar a roll for the sand paper, this will add up quick. I guestimate that stripping the shellac may not save me time in the long-run, but it's probably saving me $20-$30.

The shellac came right up. There appears to be three coats of it. The first is a light cherry color, the next layer is darker with an amber hue, and the final coat is a fugly poo-brown that is so dark that I originally thought it may have been paint. One wonderful thing is that they didn't shellac under the rugs, they just did the rooms perimeter. I guess they had different sized rugs over the years. The rugs seem to have gotten larger over time. This is how I can see all the different layers. Here is a picture.

Here is the next problem area. This corner is going to suck. Even after I strip the shellac, most of this section will have to be hand sanded since this corner is too small for a drum sander. Feel the pain.

Anyhow, more to come.

A Quick Patch - Part 3

Here is my patch after 4 coats of paint.  I think I may give it one more and call it finished.

A Quick Patch, Part 2

Here is Part Two.

I found a piece of scrap wood that was about 3/4" thick and 1 3/4 wide and cut a length that would span the hole plus 2-3" to each side of the hole. The total length was about 6-7 inches.

I drove two screws into the wall, one on each side of the hole. Since I don't have a counter-sink bits for my drill, I sank the screw in as far as they would go and then removed them. I used a knife to deepen the holes the screw heads had made. Then, I sank the screws in until their tips had just cleared the back side of the wallboards.

I took the stub of wood and partly sunk a screw in the middle of it. This would serve as my "handle" so I could insert it into the hole and hold it flush with the back of the wallboards. Once it was in place, I sank the two screws in all the way. Here is a picture.

I then removed the central screw and inserted the patch I'd cut in part 1. It fit pretty well, so I sank one screw into the center of it using the same method as above. Then, I shot several 1 1/8 brads into it to help hold it in place.

Now that the patch was secure, I caulked it. After the fact, it occurred to me that I could have also used wood putty or epoxy for this as well. Both would have produced a smoother finish, but, with walls this rough, it would be more effort than it's worth.

Here is the patch after a single coat of paint. Not bad minus the fact that it could use 3-4 more coats.

I've put on three more coats since this picture was taken. I'll have a picture of the finished product in Part 3 and a review of the EZ Clean Paint Brush (about 7 months after the fact).

A Quick Patch, Part 1

Okay, here is a quick post. Would you believe I've actually done more on the Devil Queen than I have time to write about? When was the last time that happened?
Here is the hole in our living room wall. As you might guess based on the three switch panel above the hole, this where the original living room light switch was located. I don't know why the electricians didn't expand this hole instead of cutting a new one.

First, check to see if there are any wires behind the hole. You don't want to cut or nick them latter in the process. Fortunately, all the wiring drops down from the attic, so we are safe from electrocution. Snakes, rats, or other wildlife are another story.

Whoever did this cut did a sorry job. I laid a piece of paper over the hole and made an etching using a graphite art pencil I had laying around. Here's the etching.

I taped the etching to a block of scrap wood of the same thickness as the wallboards (3/4"). Ideally, I would have used a jigsaw for this, but I still haven't replaced the one that was stolen a couple years back. Instead I used our miter saw and just tried to get it as close as I could to all the funky curves.

Not that this is a terribly involved process, but I will have to post the rest later. I know, what a gripping life I lead.

Some Interior Scenes

The main hall looking out down the back porch.

The living room as seen from the main hall.

The dining room as seen from the living room.

The dining room and living room as seen from the kitchen.

At the End of the Day

A very busy weekend to be sure. Easter was . . . let's just say that I've decided to call it "colorful." Why? Well, the location of the Easter Egg Hunt was determined by the conditions on someone's parole. Really, something about crossing county lines or something. Gotta love the in-laws that your in-laws don't really want to see.

But the weekend was colorful in other ways too.

Okay, sure. Most of that is white primer, so that isn't exactly colorful. But, it will be soon I hope. And, did I mention that I finished scraping down the living room and hall ceiling?

So much to do, so little time . . .

The Living Room Ceiling Part I

I made a good go of it, but I'm disappointed with my progress. This will definitely be a three evening job, not the two evening one to which I aspired.

Anyhow, here is the before photo.

Here is the ceiling after one hour of scraping.

And here is the ceiling after two and a half hours of scraping.

At that point, my arms gave out and it was time for bed anyhow.

Chris, I've got a dry-scraping post with tips in the works for you. Hopefully, I'll get it up by Friday.

Night of Ill Humors

Last night I just didn't quite feel well. I wasn't sick per se, I just didn't feel good either. Tired, stomach ache, wane, and aching muscles and joints. I got a late start last evening and didn't accomplish too much. A cat-nap, drugs, and half a pot of coffee helped quite a bit though.

Anyhow, this is what I did manage to do. First, I "tented" the living room in preparation for scraping down the ceiling.

Here is what the ceiling looks like now.

Here is the close up.

This stuff is really loose. Some of it pealed away with a dirty look. I originally thought this ceiling would be a three or four day project, but now I'm wondering if I could knock it out in two.

Here is how it should look when I'm finished. This is the foyer ceiling in case you care.

And, here is what I did with the rest of my time, striped and shellacked door hardware (sorry, not the complete set here).

Sorry, I can't find the picture of the door. It will close off the laundry room.

I love how the floor flows seamlessly from room to room, well worth the effort.

Tonight, without further ado, I shall assault and vanquish the living room ceiling.