Yes, Elena's room is still an on going thing. For the first time I promise Elena I will get her into the room by Christmas. The walls are up, and mostly spacked. I go in to her room armed with sanding sponges and go to work. Several hours later I have a wet arm and very little progress to show. So I go out and purchased some more sanding sponges and some sand paper for the eletric sander. I gave wet sanding a second change and then switch to the eletric sander. About an hour or so later I come out covered in white dust, but the room is mostly sanded. There are some places I should have gone over and replastered, but I leave them alone. I am feelng a momentium and I didn't want to break it.
Last week we go to dinner for Nastia's birthday. On the way home we stop at Home Depot. I'm thinking Elena can grab some paint samples and we can talk about the color of her walls. Elena again complains about not being able to paint all of her walls in the color of her choice. Teri gives in and agrees to lets them all be painted her picked color. She picks out a red. I start to paint and after a full days effort the first coat is on. Now I'm at that age were things I used to do have started to catch up with me. I keep all my tension in my neck and shoulders, So when I use them too much or sleep wrong or do anything that requires me to use my neck muscles too much I wake up with headaches. Well, the next day is no exception. I stay in the living room chair all day long and didn't do the second coat. Which caused a problem because the next week Elena and I started to sand down the floor to stain it back to it's traditional black. An FYI, In old houses the reason only around the edges is
stained is because the price of stain was so expensive they'd stain the edges of the floor then put down a rug. Or maybe they just thought stain under the rug was a waste of money. And the old colors available were black, brown and red. I might have learned that from an old wife (expression: It might be an old wives tale I just told you)
We rent a belt sander from Home Depot and get a quick lesson on staining floors. Armed and dangerous we leave the
store. After a quick stop for lunch at Taco Bell we head home.
Together we set up the sander. I used it first and noticed it pulls me forward. I went a little to fast and left some of the old black stain on the floor. I figure we take our time, go back over it and not put any divits in the floor.
The first time Elena uses it, it pulled her and she immediately gave it back to me. I tell her to continue to try it, she does. Elena ends up doing almost all of the floor. I am very willing to let her sand the floor because it
takes shoulder and arm muscles to work it and I feeling a headache coming on after using it for a while.
When we stopped there is a slight border around the edges of the room and near the closet we couldn't get with the big machine. The next day I spent several hours sanding down those sections, then vacuuming and finally using the air compressor to get all the dust and dirt off the floor and from the spaces between the boards.
Finally it is time to stain the floor. It is late around five at night. I am tired, but I've worked all day to get to this point, so I open the can and pour some stain into the roller tray, dipping the white cotton pad into the black stain they'd directed me to use. I rub it into the wood at the furthest corner of the floor. It soaks in quickly and looks like it won't lighten up. The can is suppose to be enough to cover the floor and then some I guess I miscalculate because I come up short by about a three by four foot space. I open windows and put a fan in the window to blow as much of the VCO's(volatile organic compounds, or just fumes) out the window as possible.
The next day I buy a second can on my way home from work and the following morning I open all the windows in the room, put two fans in the windows and restain the floor. This time coming up short in a different spot. I leave the windows open and the fans blowing until I get home that night. I also buy a third pint can. I buy pint cans because this is the only size they carry at Home Depot.
I open the door to the room and check the floor. it is still sticky, but I have to walk on it to close the windows. I leave dusty foot prints on the floor. A third coat will take care of them, I guess.
It's ten days until Christmas and I have to put a polyurethane coat on the floor, maybe several. I wanted to use varnish, but I purchased polyurethane. The women who advised me said it was better. I just finished reading that polyurethane which is not tradational is better holding up to traffic on the floor. As long as it is not in direct sun light (which might be a problem) it is better than varnish. I'm on a roll with the room, but I still might not get her in it before Christmas. Som much to do with only ten days left. Finish the floor, second coat on the walls, painting the trim and putting it up. I'll do my best. It's been long enough.
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