You might think that applying four coats of varnish to our front door would make me an expert on the subject , but you ’d be wrong — or so it seemed when it hail time to stain and seal the step and handrail .
The treads and handrail for our step came unspotted and unsanded , leaving those tasks to me to accomplish . Oh dear ! I was able to cross down the normal and a paint troupe that carried the matching trading floor brand in a nearby city , but that was only the tip of the iceberg for this step - stain challenge .
After all the materials were gathered ( stigma , hunky-dory - guts emery paper , sander , brushes , tack cloth , painter ’s tape , et cetera ) , I had to sour around the house ’s and everyone else ’s schedules to start . Why ? Well , you ca n’t take the air on stained tread for at least eight hour after program . With a friend living upstairs , other friends and kin working on various projects that required unceasing ascent and descending , and a determined toddler who realise the tacky tread as the perfect rod for his animals … well , you see where this is going . And so it became the norm to jail my acquaintance on the 2d base for the eventide ( she preferred that to couch surfboarding ) , staining and seal off my way down the stair .
It took two ( and sometimes three ) coats of stain to get close to the hardwood floor color — learn three nights that start at 9 p.m. and stop after midnight . Another three coat of polyurethane were postulate for a seal that would stand up to the ill-usage of foot traffic . Between each coating , we had to sand and wipe the stairs clean , being heedful not to track in anything ( i.e. , no shoe which leave tread bell ringer that will show in the finished mathematical product or desolate feet that depart residual oils — and toe print — for all eternity ) .
Here are some baksheesh that helped me pull this off :
The paint to a smooth smirch ending is the diligence of very thin layer . Poly tends to be very thin and highly prone to running , so take your clip and apply thin layers . As you process , step back periodically to look at the last from dissimilar angles to ensure you ’ve lapped up any runs before they set up . If you miss one , a lilliputian elbow grime and a slenderly heavier gritstone emery paper can often remedy the problem . Just be certain to make adjustment between coats — it gets hard to fix an payoff the further into the projection you choose to address it .
Overall , I ’m reasonably slaked with the dividing line the white riser and banister supply against the varnished tread and banister . I have a bit of touching up to do , but I ’m delighted to see one of the piece of music of my dreaming farmhouse do to fruition .
