It’s somewhere in the high 60’s/low 70’s today, and so last night I hand-sanded the entire floor with 00 steel wool to knock the bumps off. This morning at 7 the second coat went down, and it looks more even already. I’m using a satin finish so the gloss won’t be too bright, but the goal is to have one solid, even look across the whole thing. If we can get one more warm day in the next week, I can put the final coat down and be done. Compare and contrast with the shot below (and I realize the lighting on the first day was not as bright, but wow)
And just for kicks:
I almost forgot to post this one: I finally took the plastic off the windows after two and a half years. It completely changes the vibe in the living room.
Here’s the first coat of polyurethane down on the floor in the den, as of 8AM this morning. I made a final push to get the rest of the door trim installed (successful) and then moved everything into the bathroom before sweeping and vacuuming the whole space. After an early cup of coffee, I put a fan in the window and got to work.
I got lousy sleep last night, which means I’m not only tired but grouchy too.
The MDF experiment went well last night; one coat of primer raised the fiber on the routed edges of the boards, but after it dried I hit it with a block sander and it smoothed out immediately. While I was in there, I put some 2″ nails in the molding, caulked the edges, and painted both french doors with high-gloss white so that we can finally pull the plastic off the panes and let some light into the living room.
Attempts to sell my old MacBook Pro on Craigslist have been met with nothing but bullshit PayPal scam attempts and one text spam; I’m going to take it off the table and reconsider what role it might play at our house. I don’t know how else to sell it other than eBay, and I don’t have any selling history there.
Jen emailed me to say our server is making sounds like it’s attempting to take off with a full load of passengers on a very short runway, which means that the “I’ve taken a shit and now you must reboot” screen I woke to this morning repeated itself sometime this afternoon, which is Not Good. So I have a date with Disc Utility and a can of compressed air this evening to see what’s going on.
This evening I’m also going to attempt to bathe my daughter, who refused her nap. Picture a blindfolded man wrestling a rabid badger under a waterfall. After drying the two of us off, strapping her to her bed, and putting out the flames in the server, I’m going to put a test coat of primer on the new woodwork in the den to see how well paint covers MDF. I hope it works well, because I’ll need to donate a kidney to afford real wood for the rest of that space.
By the way, I did get some work done out on the porch this weekend. I’m switching some of the materials over to MDF (pressed sawdust and glue) in order to save money, because I can’t find joined preprimed wood in the sizes I need and premium-quality lumber has skyrocketed in price since the last time I did a roomful of trimwork. So the door trim will mostly be MDF and we’ll see how well it holds up.
Jen and I found ourselves on the couch after a long Sunday of housework and baby-wrangling in front of a show called Holmes on Homes, which is a fascinating HGTV program about a guy who travels around Canada fixing home renovation projects gone wrong. It’s fascinating because of the absolute horror shows they uncover and the lengths they have to go to to make things right, which usually involves several weeks, multiple crews of contractors, and lots of money. On the episode we watched last night, he actually told the homeowners they’d gotten about $150K of work to fix all the problems in their house (a total basement gutting, termite infestation, construction of a new cinderblock wall, and complete plumbing overhaul), which was refreshing and surprising; usually these things are just completed, they do the reveal, homeowners smile and hug, roll credits. While the program is, by design, made to feature the Worst Case Scenario, I like it because the guy is genuinely interested in fixing the problems he finds.
But as I get older, I’m less interested in the rest of the standard HGTV lineup:
- Shows about Manhattan/Los Angeles real estate sales, featuring breathtaking penthouse suites and modern vaulted beachfront palaces
- Shows about “famous” stylists dressing up the houses mentioned above for rich entitled clients
- Shows about annoying stylists with no taste redoing rooms for people with no taste on a budget of $500
- This Old House, which has always catered to people who live in Massachusetts and have no qualms about hiring a building crane to move a 150-year-old oak tree in order to improve their view of the lake while they add a half-million carriage house to the back of their estate
- Shows about rich, entitled real estate agents
- Shows about asshole house flippers and their irritating wives, husbands, and assistants who treat their workers like shit
- Shows about couples who swap renovation projects on their neighbors’ houses
What I’d like to see is a show that deals with normal people in normal houses who have a $5000 project and need some creative ideas on how to get it done. But that probably wouldn’t get any ratings. Instead, I’ll just watch another episode of Hoarders and feel superior while I sip my hot chocolate.
I had a great birthday weekend, starting with a lovely surprise party with cake and family, followed by a sunny Saturday filled with housework and a party at the neighbors’ house. Sunday was carpentry day, which was exactly what I needed after a long week of Photoshop (and three client approvals). This morning I woke early to the sound of thunder, and Finn and I ate a quiet breakfast as rain pattered against the windows. As I walked across the street to the Saturn, her tiny face popped up in the bedroom window to wave, and I blew her goodbye kisses with a heavy heart.
I was all ready to take advantage of the beautiful weather and drive the Scout into work today, but I literally was stalled by wonky battery cables. The PO’s homemade cables have been less than dependable over the last two years, and this morning no amount of love, money, or cleaning would get them to provide enough charge to start. I actually took the time to remove the terminal from the end of the wire and try to brush off as much of the crud as I could, but there was no joy in Mudville. So tonight I’m going to stop at the parts store and see if I can get new terminals and some heatshrink tubing to fit the cable I’ve got. I need to get her on the road for my birthday tomorrow.
Plans to take advantage of the 70° weather tomorrow to polyurethane the floor in the den are also on hold; I still have to clear out the area under the radiator and sand that as smooth as the rest of the floor.
Linda sent these two links along this morning, and they are exactly what I needed to laugh and forget my troubles this morning: What your Favorite Classic Rock Band Says About You, and What your Favorite Classic Rock Band Says About You, Part 2. For the record, I carry two flashlights with me, and use them at least once a day.
Speaking of Rush, they’re playing at the First Mariner Arena here in Baltimore in April. Tickets for anywhere below the troposphere start at $150, plus whatever bullshit handling fee Ticketmaster decides to tack on. So that won’t be happening. I’d rather pay that money to take Finn to the circus.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
First pass over floor repair
Halfway done with 36 grit.
Before and after
The entire floor done with 36 grit, no edging
Final sanding
Final sanding 2. I couldn't grind the discoloration in the hallway out no matter how hard I tried. The boards are flat, though!
Final sanding 3