Staircase wood finishing

This post should really be called, "how I gained ugly hands," on account of the nail biting, hand wringing, slivers and stains.

I used to love re-finishing furniture. I loved starting with something ugly and turning it into something I considered pretty. A couple of decades and having KIDS have kind of screwed with my patience, though, and now I just want to buy it and have it be done. Man do I wish I had the budget to do that on this house some days.

My inspiration for the stairs came from my fabulous friend Kris' home in Dallas. While I was visiting Kris last summer I took pictures of her staircase from every angle because it was exactly what I wanted. Having no experience with stairs before, I thought we could benefit from having a good example to follow. What I liked about Kris' staircase: it had stained wood newels and handrail and painted white balusters (the small spindles). Instead of being a long angled run, each step was cut back individually. The steps were carpeted, but the balusters were mounted on a painted wood edge that was trimmed out beautifully. To me, it looks casual but refined and I thought it would be a perfect fit for our cape cod.

I knew that I wanted box newels and something other than oak. We shopped around all over (and online) but settled on Menards because they had the best selection in stock. We showed the newell posts to the girls and asked them which they liked, and I'll admit I was doing this more to make them feel a part of the process than actually intending to take their opinions into account. I knew what I wanted. But when my nine-year-old said she thought the turned posts were better because they matched the posts on the porch I paused and thought about that.

Pretty good observation. One thing I have had in the back of my mind is that I need to stay consistent with the cape cod architecture of the home. Maybe square newells are a little more craftsman? Add to that the fact that to get anything other than oak in a square newel would have required ordering and I started to warm up to the idea of turned posts.

I had a choice of Oak, Hemlock, or Pine if I wanted stock materials. I chose Hemlock because the price was right, it wasn't oak (don't have anything against oak, I've just had oak cabinets way to long and want a change), and it was clearer than the pine. Next stop, finishing products.

I was looking for a stain that would be close to the Vintage Hickory flooring we'd already bought. There was no hickory stain, and everything seemed to be too yellow or orange. There was a rosewood that might have worked, but I was afraid that it would turn the hemlock pink. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd never worked with hemlock before, maybe I should google it. And that is how I bit down the first couple nails, in the stain aisle, scrolling through web page after web page of horror stories about staining hemlock.

I didn't know what to do. Put it all back? Go home and research more? Dive in and try a pre-stain conditioner? Ugh. I was in over my head. I did decide to take a chance on a black walnut danish oil, only because it seemed to be the closest finish to the flooring.

I had bought a small turned spindle to use as my sample piece, but even before attempting that I put a little bit of the danish oil on a piece of the handrail fillet since it could be flipped over and no harm done. 

My heart sunk. It was so blotchy it looked like a spotted leopard. Back to my friend google. By this time all fingernails were gone and the hand wringing had fully commenced. 

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my pile of wood wasn't going anywhere. I put this picture on Instagram- #fromwhereIstand - that's a lot of wood to finish.

My surfing struck a speck of gold when I read a few recommendations for a pre-color treatment by Charles Neil Woodworking. It seemed to be a home brew recipe that some pretty experienced woodworkers were raving about so I watched the you tube video, was still quite skeptical, but decided I didn't discover any better options so I'd take a chance. It required two coats with a light sanding after each coat. I didn't actually sand it, I used the scrubby side of a kitchen scrub sponge and it seemed to work really well.

This picture shows how the wood handrails took the stain after 2 coats of the blotch control in comparison to my sample piece (on top of the second handrail). So much better! My hands probably would have started recovering if it weren't for the splinters. Good lord the bottoms on those handrails tore me up, three really deep slivers claimed a whack load of skin from my left hand.

This picture shows the difference between the natural wood and the wood treated with the danish oil. I will say, danish oil is very easy to work with. Wipes or brushes on, wipes off easy, and really enhances the grain and once the blotch control had been used, was very uniform in color.

The bigger test was on turned wood, because I knew the grain would take the color a little different than on the straight handrails. I also wanted to compare the color with the flooring. 

Ta da! This is my sample turning and the back side of the original blotchy fillet laid on top of a couple pieces of flooring. Once the stained wood has a finish coat I think it will look really nice.

Today I finished the newell posts and they turned out pretty good. The color isn't quite as uniform as the handrails, but I suspected that. I was very happy I'd put a third coat of blotch control on the tops and on the rough edges of the turned areas, but I think now a third coat over the whole thing might have been a good idea. This hemlock seems to be very thirsty. I actually used all the blotch control I ordered, however, and I was too impatient to order another container. I think it looks fine, but it could have been nearly perfect.

Only 45 spindles to stain... and 2-3 coats of clear semi-gloss to finish. This is not a weekend project.

Speaking of gloss, I ran into an issue when it came time to decide on a product to finish this wood. I could build up layers of danish oil, but I don't want the wood to be that dark. I like this color and want to put a clear coat on it as it is. I have never had luck with most mainstream varnishes or polys (hate Minwax, hate it!). My go-to product in the past was Carver Tripp's Safe and Simple Poly. It was a milky watery liquid that went on light but in 3 coats gave a beautiful, durable finish. Easy clean up, little odor. Can't say enough positive stuff about it. Unfortunately, it is no longer available as Carver Tripp is no more. 

Just when my nails were starting to recover, it was time for another nail-biting google session. I settled on Vermont Natural Coatings Poly-whey natural furniture finish in semi-gloss. It arrived today, so I'll update once I've had a chance to use it. 

Top all this staining action off with a sinus infection and pink eye and you have my lovely existence right now. Thank heaven for z paks, eye drops, and paraffin manicures!

Renovation ADD

We are scattered all over the place right now! Hard to give you a concise post instead of the blah blah ramble but since we really have so much going on all over the place I don't know how to do that. So here's just a brief update:

Studio is painted, wall cabinets hung. Can't do any more until the demo is done on the master bath because we are going to steal space from the Studio's huge closet for the shower in the master bath. It has now become my wood staining/finishing spot since it is the most dust-free room on the main floor.

Master bedroom is painted, all the crown molding is installed but still needs to be caulked and a finish coat of white semi-gloss over that. Looks really good! It is now a storage space until we're ready to do the flooring.

The flooring has been purchased and we got it for a steal. Had to travel to two different stores to get enough since it was a closeout for $2/sf, but it is a very pretty engineered hardwood in Vintage Hickory. I was looking at flooring that would be darker, more gray, but this has the main criteria (NO yellow or orange) and the price couldn't be beat.

Demolition on the master bath has begun! Yippee! This deserves it's own post however the quick version is the tub is outta there. Oh how I love the sound of smashing ceramic tiles...

The staircase woodwork has been purchased and as you can tell from the top picture, I'm in the process of staining and finishing it now.

We have a good start on the board and batten wall treatment going up the stairs. The kids even got in the action to help paint the wall.

The thing about child labor though...

Sometimes they color outside the lines.

Isn't it starting to shape up nice?

The rest of the hallway downstairs is painted.

The basement has been painted with a waterproofing paint. We haven't had any problems in recent years, but right after the house was built there were a couple times that water came into the basement. We are certain it is from the road runoff at the top of the hill behind the house, and it isn't likely to happen again since Scott created a dam to divert the flow from the culvert. He has hauled all our leaves and grass clippings into the woods to create a berm which has been really effective. Can't be too cautious, though, since we are going to finish off the basement to be our main tv area and entertaining space. It is just a dull boring gray color, no pics there.

We've drawn up the kitchen and are still stumped on a way to make it better. We do need to have a plan before we get too involved on the basement remodel, though, so we can plan for moving water lines, gas, power, etc. The time to do that is before we install a ceiling in the basement.

We're also playing around with layouts for the basement itself. We need to pack a lot into the space. Even though it is a big area, there are lots of odd things in the way here or there and it makes it hard to fit in a tv area, game area, wet bar, bathroom, possible bedroom and utility room. What I do know is that I want it to have a music theme, kind of a refined rock sensibility. So I'm looking at some non-traditional ideas for finishing the space.

All these projects make our focus pretty scattered. We need to finish the wood stair parts to complete the staircase but we need the flooring up to finish the stair parts. To pull up the old flooring we need to gut the kitchen and there is no place to store everything there until the utility room in the basement has been framed and drywalled. Do you see how this can make for a lot of mental fatigue? Half the time it feels like we are following a rabbit trail only to have to back track and follow another.

I'd hoped to be moved in by spring break, but I don't know... that might be asking a lot for a couple middle-aged weekend warriors who are still trying to balance family life with school-aged kids. Can we do it? Stay tuned to find out!

Staircase part 4- puzzling it together

Finally! Time to start building something pretty!

We decided we wanted to have each step treated individually instead of a long angled run. That might only make sense if you've been looking at stairs- trust me, I've been looking at a LOT of stairs. Most of the staircase drew inspiration from my friend Kris' home in Texas. I love her house and she probably thought I was nuts taking pictures of trim and flooring and stairs on my last visit. But hey, I am not above copying a look that I like (more on how I copied Kris later).

Each stair required a notched board that would cover the 2x4's. We chose MDF for this because it is smooth, priced right, and takes paint well. After cutting each of the boards, my husband routed the edges to give it a more polished appearance. Then I got the pieces over on the paint bench for 3 coats of semi-gloss. They will get a final coat or two once everything is installed to cover nails and and caulking we need to do, but having them painted first will make finishing them much easier.

This is a better shot of the edges. As you can tell, this was before I painted them.

After I'd painted the wall to match the upper walls in the stairway (Glidden's Mature Spanish Chestnut), Scott nailed the boards into place. Then he cut and routed the pieces that cover the verticle sections of the staircase, and those got the semigloss spa treatment.

Of course, to finish this off, each step requires a decorative trim as well. Yes, that power miter box is getting quite the workout with this project.

Isn't it pretty? Of course, the nail holes need to be filled and the final painting done, but the stairs are basically ready for the balusters, newel posts, and hand rail.

Oh, and the front door has not been painted. I know it is almost the same color of the stairs, but actually the door was that color from the factory 9 years ago. I had planned to paint it a dark peacock blue, but now I'm not sure, maybe it should match the stairs. Input? What do you think- play it safe and serene with the beige or liven it up with peacock blue?

Staircase part 3- standing on a prayer

The holidays pretty much took over and I forgot where I left off. I think the last time I posted about the staircase, we'd just finished putting primer on. The primer was pretty easy to slap on with a broom handle screwed onto the end of the paint roller so we could reach. putting the paint on required a little more finesse, and a precarious bit of homespun scaffolding.

Scott happens to be very tall, which comes in handy during times like this.

Folks, don't attempt this at home. The ceiling is all of 14' tall over the stairs, so he was pretty limited with the ladder. He needed a surface to walk on to be able to do a nice job painting with a smooth finish and no drips. MacGyver that he is, he rummaged up a plank out in the garage.

One look and I said there is no way in hell you are standing on that and painting. It had a foot-long split in the wood at the end he'd be standing on. No, no, and NO.

Another rummage session in the garage and he came back with a couple boards to reinforce it around the crack. I was dubious. It was one of the times (and I confessed there have indeed been a handful) where I have pulled out my cell phone, dialed 91- to speed up the process of contacting emergency services when it all goes horribly wrong. What I probably should have is AFV on speed dial and the camera rolling. Fortunately, none of these exploits has ever ended in catastrophe.

To make my long rambling a little shorter, he managed to paint the area without a hitch. It was slow going, him passing the roller down to me to fill and then stretch to pass back up as he inched across the wall. But in the end, the entire area was covered in Glidden's Mature Spanish Chestnut. On the sample, this is a warm beige. On our walls, it is a little lighter and looks a little yellow. But it was a bear and a half to do and I don't hate it so it will stay until I can pay someone to do it in a few years.

Staircase part 1- deconstruction

Remember this? The view from the top of the stairs? The blue that promotes feelings of intense rage within me? It is gone.

So is the half wall that ran up the side of the staircase.

Before- looking up stairs from front door.

Before- looking down hall toward laundry closet.

The tool of choice.

Any last words, nasty blue wall?

The Sawz-All slices through like butter. 

Note- there was no power run to these walls. 

Don't try this unless your wall is also "unplugged."

No wall up here. Cool.

Lower wall, now it is your turn. We can take it slow or just rip the bandaid off quickly. Your choice.

Ha, ha, that was fun!

Hey dude! Think you can throw me a cold one? 

It sure is exhausting watching you work. 

Whew!