The Historic District

What kind of wood is it anyway and what is already on it? Just to clarify, I used poly because there was already poly on it (which the PO did) and since I wasnt sanding it all off, that meant my choices for what to put on it was pretty much limited to another coat of poly. If it was a more thorough ...

It looks to me like the greasy grimy stuff that gets deposited in kitchens over the years/decades - smoke yes but also the molecules of whatever was in the air as food was cooking. I just remember what an endless chore it was washing out cabinets with hot tsp. It took off the calcimine as well so it...

As was mentioned above, hiring someone to do sanding only is an option - one which I will probably use with the good maple floors downstairs - and then put on the waterlox myself. Upstairs is fir which had already been sanded down by previous owner - they had gone through the tongue and groove in so...

Have been using pink insulation foam 3" thick for one window. Ifyou have storm windows then Ive found that just taping around all the edges of the glass pane seals the drafts nicely.

That bathroom scale can go - as Ive gotten older, I have permanently banned them from my house

Removal solves two problems at once!

Hi Oak, I love the F&B colors but have never used them - seriously thinking of getting one of the cream colors and painting my ceilings + walls above picture rail. A lot of light colored paints Ive used over the years turn out so disappointingly drab/gray.... just because of how they are made, n...

OMG thats beautiful Matt, appreciate the fine points about how to work in the overlaps as I got frustrated with my one attempt on my floors - do you have this kitchen project posted somewhere? Question for yall - if I remove polyurethane from oak dresser (I didnt do it) then can I shellac - or will ...

Im so envious of your work space!!! Have no garage or much of a basement - so Im gluing/sanding 12 foot lengths of trim for my front porch in my kitchen - the countertops provide nice level surfaces. So I was right in the middle of a glue operation when I found I had to push aside some stuff on the ...

That photo looks pretty good - about typical for what heat gun can do. IF that orange is shellac then steel wool plus denatured alcohol or (a little stronger) what they call "furniture refinisher" might be all you need to get off most of that residue - the shellac will melt and carry off t...

Could it originally have been e a library or institutional piece? Very nice! I recently inherited a massive oak library table, with the shelf underneath and drawer - will use it as kitchen island aka work table. It has some sort of shelf on the bottom (like yours except with shelf where the brace is...