Our first project to do after our fall business trip of eight weeks, was to finish the poplar board walls and the red oak window trim with two coats of satin polyurethane, sanding between coats. We chose to leave the walls natural. The polyurethane brought out the natural colors beautifully. We stained and finished the gas fireplace in my sewing room/office, the mantle in the living room, and the shaker shelf in the entry.
In between jobs in the house, Jon planed the oak boards for the stairway and landings, and ran them through the drum sander. The pile of shavings in the photos below are the shavings from the eighty pine boards for the floors that Jon planed, while I worked in the house. This was the largest pile of shavings for a single job of plaining. The photo reflects how Jon felt after the eighty boards were done.
In planning the location of our new house, we knew we would have to cut down a huge white oak tree that was thirty-five inches in diameter at the base. The boards from that tree were used for the stairway and landings.
Jon worked from the top down, removing the temporary treads one at a time. I assisted by standing on the boards, while he nailed them into place. When the stairs were in place, I filled the nail holes, sanded and stained them.
