Claire CJS
20070604 - staining - 3 - IMG_2332 - paintbrushes & used sandpaper
We improvised supplies whenever possible -- The yellow sheet and PowerPuff Girls plastic placemat (from a yardsale, probably $0.25) were randomly noticed as objects that might be useful to our project. Dropclothes cost several dollars, so every bit helps. We also used our [imitation] Soloflex as a work bench, instead of a work-out bench. The center brush is the horse-hair brush, which was required to get the polyurethane thin enough. But you could use the cheaper brushes for the actual staining, provided that you \"process\" the brushes (20+ minutes to get them clean-ish using paint thinner outside) every day. That became Carolyn's job; she would start processing while I would finish up, if I recall correctly.
BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they \"accidentally\" threw away our shelves. Of course, we had a dumpster full of other peoples' trash in our driveway until we called the towing company and told Lopez to get it out or we'll have it towed. Storing other peoples' trash was not part of the contract, but somehow being able to retain our own trash was impossible.
And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the wood to match the pre-existing color. They also refused to build matching doors -- they put the old, stained closet doors onto the new, unstained closet. So we got stuck with months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, and we also had to deal with color-matching (fortunately, we got that right, and the color match is near-perfect!).
STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropclothes, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats, and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had about 250 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions...
LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.
To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.
wood staining.
Soloflex, paintbrush, sandpaper.
PowerPuff Girls.
upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 4, 2007.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.
upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 4, 2007.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
20070604 - staining - 3 - IMG_2332 - paintbrushes & used sandpaper
We improvised supplies whenever possible -- The yellow sheet and PowerPuff Girls plastic placemat (from a yardsale, probably $0.25) were randomly noticed as objects that might be useful to our project. Dropclothes cost several dollars, so every bit helps. We also used our [imitation] Soloflex as a work bench, instead of a work-out bench. The center brush is the horse-hair brush, which was required to get the polyurethane thin enough. But you could use the cheaper brushes for the actual staining, provided that you \"process\" the brushes (20+ minutes to get them clean-ish using paint thinner outside) every day. That became Carolyn's job; she would start processing while I would finish up, if I recall correctly.
BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they \"accidentally\" threw away our shelves. Of course, we had a dumpster full of other peoples' trash in our driveway until we called the towing company and told Lopez to get it out or we'll have it towed. Storing other peoples' trash was not part of the contract, but somehow being able to retain our own trash was impossible.
And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the wood to match the pre-existing color. They also refused to build matching doors -- they put the old, stained closet doors onto the new, unstained closet. So we got stuck with months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, and we also had to deal with color-matching (fortunately, we got that right, and the color match is near-perfect!).
STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropclothes, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats, and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had about 250 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions...
LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.
To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.
wood staining.
Soloflex, paintbrush, sandpaper.
PowerPuff Girls.
upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 4, 2007.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.
upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 4, 2007.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com