5/04/2006

Stairway of the Damned

Sounds like a bad carnival ride, doesn't it? Unfortunately, stripping the spindles of the stairway is neither as quick or as fun as a ride at the fair. Because of the odd positions I have to contort myself into to scrape the sides, it's actually the most un-fun project I've done so far. But I only have 8 spindles left to go, and those have only 3 sides of paint left. If I can convince myself to do 5 sides per day, I'll be done in 5 days with a minimum of achiness. Who would have thought that wielding a heat gun and scraper could be so painful?

Once all the paint is off the spindles and railing, I'll be rubbing everything down with denatured alcohol and steel wool. I'm praying that this will remove enough of the stain and shellac that I won't have to sand much at all. It's such a cramped area and the railing itself has so many curves and angles that sanding would probably be an exercise in futility. Either way, I'm very thankful to be almost done.

Speaking of "almost done"... Once the stairway is stripped, we can FINALLY paint. I know I've been saying we're going to paint soon for the past month or so, but work progressed much slower than planned. But now we're really, honestly, truly almost done. The original deadline was Christmas. Then Valentine's Day. Then Easter. If we have the walls painted and the floors refinished by the 4th of July, I'll be ecstatic. If that happens, maybe the trim will be finished by Thanksgiving and we can actually decorate for Christmas. Maybe.

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