The Wife and Kid are Gone--Hurry Work on the House

They took off for a couple days, to the Sierras, with my brother-in-law.

Some guys would probably spread out on the sofa, watch steel cage matches with an order of ribs. Or two orders of ribs. Stag time, right?!

Instead, I set up a couple of saw horses, and popped the front door off.

The interior finish had been bothering me, the stain was murky, the top coat a bit too glossy; moreover, the bottom third wasn't stained at all. Inexplicably, it was painted a mahogany color. Out came the masterstrip, steel wool, rubber gloves, Fein sander and vac.

Top photo is stripped and sanded, the beginnings of a coat of Benjamin Moore stain.

Second photo is a close-up of some screamin' quarter-sawn grain, after two coats of stain, and two coats of varnish.

It's the kind of project that's hard to do with others around, the front door off for eight hours. The animals have to be sequestered. You've got to able to work late, under bright lights, plus marine varnishes have a long drying time.

How rewarding. Now the next time they go away I will get some ribs, only there's some work I want to do in my den......