Monday 23 January 2012

Sand Dunes

Hi friends!  I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, don't they just fly by way too quickly??

I had a nice weekend, it was unexpectedly productive actually, and I may or may not have got my hands on a bit of a big project...




















Do you have a part of your house that you constantly apologize about when guests come over?  Our stair case is that for me.  The grunge and grime (a lot of surface mess was from our demo, but I also know how they were before the demo and they were not much prettier then) is enough to make my mum tiptoe up the stairs to the washroom, just barely touching the railing with her finger tips - I see you mum!  Since the minute we walked around this house I could envision refinishing these stairs with beautiful white risers and a darker stain on the treads and it just brightening and opening up the entire entryway.  And something just got into me this weekend and I jumped in with both feet!

At some point someone had carpeted over these gorgeous (maybe not yet, but I know they will be!) stairs.  Darryl's doll of a sister came over on both Saturday and Sunday and we started ripping out all the nails and staples that were left in after the carpet had been removed, and using nail punches to sink some in that had loosened up over the years...

Eeeeeewwwaaaaa!

So after a good 10 hours of work, a ridiculous amount of sawdust, and blisters developing as proof of our hard work, let's take another peak at how it's looking...



This is only after the first run with 60 grit sandpaper (fyi, using a 40 grit may have sped the process up but I had a bunch of donated sandpaper and was nervous to try the 40).  So I have to go over it all again with a mid-grade paper and then again with a fine finish. 

And I definitely haven't even tackled the spindles and entire side part of the stairs!

(Thoughts on whether we should stain the side panel or paint it white?  It's got such beautiful grain, but it is really heavy/dark in our tiny entryway...)

So this is only the beginning but I can't even wait to see how it all turns out!  These stairs will gross me out no more!

Total Cost so far: $28 for sandpaper

Did you get in over your boots on a project this weekend?  Have you refinished your own stairs....any tips???


1 comment:

  1. HUGE project lady - but it will be so worth it! Can't wait to see what you do! Our stairs are next on our list after the bathroom is done. We will be ripping up the carpet on the landing outside of the bathroom/bedrooms and down the stairs and in part of the living room... the work never, ever ends! ;)

    ReplyDelete