Sand, Stain, Poly, Repeat…

This week was all about the floors (almost). We ended up keeping the sander for the whole week because there was so much work to do - each floor needed to be sanded with 4 different grits (24, 36, 60 and 100). There were also a lot of gaps and gashes to patch with wood filler before we could do the final sanding.


On Friday evening we stained the master bedroom - we think it looks much better. It's amazing how quickly you realize the size of a room when you have to crawl around on your hands and knees with stain!


There were several black stains on the floor in the medium bedroom and during the week we tried just about everything to get them out: wood bleach (pictured below), hydrogen peroxide, and hair bleach. They all worked a little bit but they weren’t the perfect solution we were looking for. We stained the medium bedroom floor on Saturday afternoon and the stains are barely noticeable.


We did take a little time for non-floor related activities this week. We have been searching for bedroom furniture on Craigslist and Freecycle for awhile and we finally got lucky. We found a really nice bed, dresser/armoire, and two nightstands for $250. We drove up to Baltimore to pick them up Saturday morning. We were going to use these for one of the guest rooms but for now we will use them in the master (at least until we find some nice master bedroom furniture!).



On Sunday, after church, we did a little yard work to try to beat the heat (they are expecting 100 degree weather here this week!). Chris cut down a dead tree and moved the logs to the back of the yard; I moved mulch from the front yard to the back (placed around the base of the trees). The mulch pile I was moving is so big – even after about two dozen wheelbarrow loads there was not even much of a dent.


Sunday evening we started applying polyurethane to the master and medium bedrooms and stained part of the hallway. In the middle of all this we walked to the end of our road to see the fireworks at the lake. One great thing about this neighborhood is its proximity to the lakefront and Merriweather Post Pavilion (most weekends we have been able to go outside and hear some great music from our own backyard).

We also got to meet two new neighbors this weekend. Both of them were telling us how great the house looks – they both commented on how much better it looks without the stupid wall on the porch. One woman said that before they never even noticed this house but now it’s exciting to see the progress. She also said that it will soon be the best looking house in the neighborhood. We seriously doubt this but it’s nice to hear nonetheless!