Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Step Stain

It was a beautiful autumn day yesterday.  The sun was warm and the breeze was just right.  I still needed my jacket, but not a coat.

A very nice, but very talkative, man from the gas company came to turn on the gas in both houses.  Now we can have heat and from the looks of the weather forecast, we are going to need it on Friday and Saturday.  Boo hiss.

The list of things I have to do inside the little house is long.  I have lots of projects started, few finished.  With the weather so nice I did the obvious thing...started another project.

The little house has a front door and side door.  Both have a small set of wooden steps.  Both sets of steps have been neglected. 

 
They aren't dangerous, they are weathered.  I should have brought my power washer to clean first, but I didn't.  A fresh coat of stain will have to do.

And it did.  You can see the before and after on the treads that weren't completed.



The stain on the steps dried to the touch quickly in the evening sun, but needed to cure for several hours. With new kitchen tile and new living room laminate, I didn't want to risk walking on them and tracking stain foot steps inside.

I didn't want a visiting 4-year-old to walk up the wet steps and into the house.

I got a strap out of Walt Kowalski's truck and tied it between the two end posts at a 4-year-old height.  Too high to climb over, too tricky to crawl under.  Perfect.

What I didn't predict was the visiting 14-year-old lifting the 4-year-old over the strap, onto the steps and stepping over the strap, too. 

ARGH!

Luckily I locked the door.  They had to knock before entering onto the new tile.  Shoes were removed and the new floors were safe.

I can live with steps with footprints outside.  They will get a new coat of stain in the spring.

We also turned the corner of the living room, down the hall, with the laminate. 


We have one row left to install.  It requires long, straight, lengthwise cuts to multiple pieces.  That requires fresh, non-tired minds and more daylight.  We had neither. 

Tomorrow is another day.

1 comment :

  1. Stain makes the steps look like new! These houses are lucky to have met you! They are getting a new lease on life.

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