A lot of the complexity is in the paint needing to overlap the putty slightly, and make contact with the glass. This ensures a proper seal, but is also incredibly tricky in that it’s paint on glass (and has a tendency to run and not remain in a straight line).
Woke up early this morning, for a trek out to Reuse Depot. Liz was looking for some wavy glass to use, for her window resoration project – and the best option was to find some older windows, and to cut the pieces she needed from them.
Liz, continuing her work on restoring the hall windows. Because all the previous glass panes had a lot of scratches… she cut new window panes by hand, and applied the putty to set each pane into the window.
The first one took some time, but it looked like she found her rhythm.
Liz is a very careful painter. When she explained things to me, I learned that this task especially, requires a very steady and precise hand.
Well, this was a long time coming… and very, very overdue. Liz and I finally got around to painting the main hall area today. After an embarrassingly long hiatus of nothing.
Liz has been working to clean up the main hall windows. Tonight, I got to see an interesting side by side between two of them.
Liz did a lot of cutting, while I did a bit of sanding in the closet area. I then switched over to priming the vestibule while she continued to cut all the corners/edges along the rest of the hall.
Lately, Liz and I have gone in different directions on house-related work. I’ve been doing more planning and documentation, and she’s started to suit up again after hours, heading in to the basement.
We’re on the lookout for new newel posts. And in the meanwhile, we’re looking to get rid of these. I’m sure someone would take them for free, but I’m also thinking we could get some small bit of money for them.
Craigslist seems too… specific? A salvage/restoration place seems more appropriate. I may break down and give Facebook marketplace a whirl.
Spent today working in the main hall – sanding down spots that Liz patched, identifying newer spots that need more patching, then cleaning and wiping everything down with a damp sponge.
A huge point that both Bob and Nick made to us: tape the paper to the paper, not to the floor. The chemicals from the tape will seep into the wood, and when you go to remove the tape… you’ll remove some of the stain as well. And while it can be repaired, you’ll always be able to tell something happened.
Tape the paper to the paper, tape the Masonite to the Masonite. No tape to the floor, ever.
It’s a challenge with these images, as we only end up coming downstairs well into the evening (we need to wait around 90+ minutes after Nick’s done to walk on the floor). We don’t really get to see the floor much in daylight, as it’s dark when we actually can walk around.
Nick and Milton came by today, to have another pass at the floor. After their normal, full day… they stopped by around 4PM to put down the first layer of varnish.
Similar to the stain, once the varnish is down… we need to stay off of the floor for a set amount of time (about an hour to an hour and a half, until it dries).
We’re being really careful to watch gingerly along the floor. And I can’t help but feel like every step I take is going to somehow irreparably damage all the work that’s been done. It’s like the floor is some kind of delicate, beautiful lava, and I need to just stay off it at all costs.
Honestly? I was not expecting such a stark change, with the slight gaps between boards seemingly removed, and a continuity that stretched from room to room.