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I just wanna say -- the random comments thread

stracci2000 said:
Last time after staining, I used polyurethane, which cleans up with mineral spirits. I really hate the clean up, though.
Do you recommend water based finish?
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The plus with a water base finish is the easy cleanup. You can also walk on it a lot sooner. I prefer the oil base for floors.. It gives you a hard, durable finish. You do need to let it cure though. I can’t remember how long before we were able to walk on the floor with socks. I also kept the rugs off the floors for a few months. You’re just doing it on the stairs, right? You wouldn’t have to worry about that..I felt the oil was worth it because they stayed beautiful a long time. I used water base poly for tables..I loved the easy cleanup. I also lightly sanded in between each coat so I could do multiple layers to keep the table protected. Oak has grain with little holes that suck in the finish so I would make sure they were filled so any liquid on the table didn’t soak in. Floors just got two coats of oil. I didn’t do that myself though..
Are you going to keep the color natural?
 
MamaBee said:
The plus with a water base finish is the easy cleanup. You can also walk on it a lot sooner. I prefer the oil base for floors.. It gives you a hard, durable finish. You do need to let it cure though. I can’t remember how long before we were able to walk on the floor with socks. I also kept the rugs off the floors for a few months. You’re just doing it on the stairs, right? You wouldn’t have to worry about that..I felt the oil was worth it because they stayed beautiful a long time. I used water base poly for tables..I loved the easy cleanup. I also lightly sanded in between each coat so I could do multiple layers to keep the table protected. Oak has grain with little holes that suck in the finish so I would make sure they were filled so any liquid on the table didn’t soak in. Floors just got two coats of oil. I didn’t do that myself though..
Are you going to keep the color natural?
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Good information, @MamaBee.
Yes, this is only the stairs.
I am going to stain the treads to match the flooring we installed in the upper rooms, since the steps come up into the living room. It's a split level house, so I have 6 steps up to the living room, and 6 steps down to the family room separated by a ceramic tile landing at the front door.
There are so many nail and staple holes! I will be bent over patching holes for an entire day!
 
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stracci2000 said:
Good information, @MamaBee.
Yes, this is only the stairs.
I am going to stain the treads to match the flooring we installed in the upper rooms, since the steps come up into the living room. It's a split level house, so I have 6 steps up to the living room, and 6 steps down to the family room separated by a ceramic tile landing at the front door.
There are so many nail and staple holes! I will be bent over patching holes for an entire day!
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I can’t wait to see them finished! My best tool for filling in the little holes was my finger! :lol:
 
stracci2000 said:
I'm tearing 50 year old tack strips off the steps. Apparently the tack strips were reused when we had new carpet installed in 2004.
Surprise! Oak treads!
I pulled off and disposed of the yukky worn out carpet and padding which was 17 years old. There were a thousand staples in the old padding, all had to be pulled out.
I will sand, stain and apply polyurethane in the near future.
I told DH to stand back......this is my project!
IMG_20220812_141930552.jpg
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I finally finished the steps.
Tore up the carpet and padding, removed tack strips, removed a zillion staples, filled in holes, sanded, stained, applied 3 coats of water based polyurethane, primed and painted risers.
It took about 6 days altogether. DH helped me remove the staples, but I did everything else myself.
It's a split level house, so two sets of stairs.
Some of the dark splotches are water damage that wouldn't sand off. But it's ok, a bit of rustic charm is good! The house is 60 years old, after all. I do love my little bitty square tiles on the landing.

IMG_20220820_170851626.jpg

IMG_20220820_170407165~2.jpg
 
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stracci2000 said:
I finally finished the steps.
Tore up the carpet and padding, removed tack strips, removed a zillion staples, filled in holes, sanded, stained, applied 3 coats of water based polyurethane, primed and painted risers.
It took about 6 days altogether. DH helped me remove the staples, but I did everything else myself.
It's a split level house, so two sets of stairs.
Some of the dark splotches are water damage that wouldn't sand off. But it's ok, a bit of rustic charm is good! The house is 60 years old, after all. I do love my little bitty square tiles on the landing.
View attachment 900978



IMG_20220820_170407165~2.jpg
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It looks great!!!! I miss doing that stuff!
 
stracci2000 said:
And how about this fun mid-century iron railing?
IMG_20220820_171803897.jpg
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My aunt had a split level house with the same railing! I also love the little tiles! She had her stairs going downstairs on the left..My grandmother lived downstairs. She had a full kitchen, living room and bedroom down there. She also had an outside entrance through the kitchen. I loved that house. I still remember the kitchen too! You’re restoring a charm!
 
stracci2000 said:
I enjoy the DIY stuff. And thanks to DH, we have all the tools and supplies.
The water based polyurethane was a dream to use! So easy!
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I love water base poly. It’s also easy to touch unlike oil..You did a great job!
 
The stairs and railing look beautiful @stracci2000. You did a wonderful job! Thank you for posting the picture.

Your home looks like the house my in laws lived in when I met my DH. Even the railing looks identical. The picture of your home brought back lots of happy memories. My MIL and I spent hours going thru wallpaper books looking for the perfect wallpaper for her kitchen. Happy memories laughing with my FIL in that kitchen. It was where we were when we told my in laws we were getting married. Some houses you just love.

LOL. I just read @Mamabee’s post.
 
Ah, but you are doing such a great job, maybe take a little break before you start the next part!

We really need to rip the carpet out of our older son’s room, it is the worst color and it’s been there for 20-25 years. I just can’t find the time or energy though @stracci2000
 
Calliecake said:
The stairs and railing look beautiful @stracci2000. You did a wonderful job! Thank you for posting the picture.

Your home looks like the house my in laws lived in when I met my DH. Even the railing looks identical. The picture of your home brought back lots of happy memories. My MIL and I spent hours going thru wallpaper books looking for the perfect wallpaper for her kitchen. Happy memories laughing with my FIL in that kitchen. It was where we were when we told my in laws we were getting married. Some houses you just love.

LOL. I just read @Mamabee’s post.
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We removed 1980s wallpaper and linoleum when we moved in! It's interesting how styles change.
 
YadaYadaYada said:
Ah, but you are doing such a great job, maybe take a little break before you start the next part!

We really need to rip the carpet out of our older son’s room, it is the worst color and it’s been there for 20-25 years. I just can’t find the time or energy though @stracci2000
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I find that the carpet traps dust and pet hair.
And I really HATE to vacuum, so I wasn't doing it often enough.
I'm happy to use the Swiffer now!
 
stracci2000 said:
I find that the carpet traps dust and pet hair.
And I really HATE to vacuum, so I wasn't doing it often enough.
I'm happy to use the Swiffer now!
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It really does. The hard floors with pets especially are so much better, easier to clean and you don’t have to worry about what hiding in the carpet!
 
YadaYadaYada said:
It really does. The hard floors with pets especially are so much better, easier to clean and you don’t have to worry about what hiding in the carpet!
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And cleaning up cat barf is a breeze now that I have the floating floor:lol-2:
 
stracci2000 said:
I finally finished the steps.
Tore up the carpet and padding, removed tack strips, removed a zillion staples, filled in holes, sanded, stained, applied 3 coats of water based polyurethane, primed and painted risers.
It took about 6 days altogether. DH helped me remove the staples, but I did everything else myself.
It's a split level house, so two sets of stairs.
Some of the dark splotches are water damage that wouldn't sand off. But it's ok, a bit of rustic charm is good! The house is 60 years old, after all. I do love my little bitty square tiles on the landing.

IMG_20220820_170851626.jpg

IMG_20220820_170407165~2.jpg
Click to expand...

@stracci2000, the stairs look fantastic!! You did an amazing job. You have such a pretty home.
 
EFB7BA67-C030-4294-9531-F8F6F2899DB0.jpeg
 
I took this pic today, at a red light on my way to work.
This pan handler has a sense of humor!IMG_20220824_085936270_HDR~3.jpg
 
Beautiful people, beautiful jewelry - Bvlgari event in China. I don't speak Mandarin (or any Chinese for that matter) but there's a video in the comments so you can see even more jewelry and fashion. I think Yang Yang has a sapphire under his bowtie :kiss2: And Zhao Lusi looks amazing awash in jewels (some still pics in link):

Bvlgari event reddit thread
 
I'm a fan of neither of these two, but this song has been on repeat all day and I hope to heaven that I get tired of it soon... but not too soon.

Bubble Gum Pop anthem of the year:
 
alexah said:
Beautiful people, beautiful jewelry - Bvlgari event in China. I don't speak Mandarin (or any Chinese for that matter) but there's a video in the comments so you can see even more jewelry and fashion. I think Yang Yang has a sapphire under his bowtie :kiss2: And Zhao Lusi looks amazing awash in jewels (some still pics in link):

Bvlgari event reddit thread
Click to expand...

If anyone's interested he's a short video Bvlgari released - it's like a beautiful commercial with gems, gowns, classical music, ballerinas, acrobats, celebs... You name it, it's here :lol:

Bvlgari short vid
 
Back to school .... Mixed feelings... My last child had her first day today (in France mandatory school 8.30- 4.30 from 3 y/o)


Summer was extremely eventful ( had very good and very traumatizing events). I'm drained
 
MaisOuiMadame said:
Back to school .... Mixed feelings... My last child had her first day today (in France mandatory school 8.30- 4.30 from 3 y/o)


Summer was extremely eventful ( had very good and very traumatizing events). I'm drained
Click to expand...

I remember how I felt on the first day of school after summer with three children. Drained is a good word. We love them but they took a lot of energy!
 
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