Quick Up-Date on the Bleach

Hello Again everyone!

Thought I'd get in a quick post about the wood bleaching.

We were planning on applying bleach to all the stained wood today around 3 in the afternoon. However, SWMBO wasn't feeling too good (I think she's getting the 'crud' that's going around here) so I decided to do just a small patch instead. I really wanted to see what would happen but I didn't want to fill the house with bleach smell if she isn't feeling well.

After apply the bleach (about an 1/8 of a cup), and rubbing it in, I left it alone. I was a bit depressed because nothing happened!!

About two hours later SWMBO and I went out for a bit and before we left I checked it again.

This time there HAD been a change!!

WOOWHOO!!!

Take a look.

The bleach did take a lot of the stain out!














Tomorrow I'll saturate the rest with bleach and give it a chance to work. I'll also wait and see what Mr. Neil has me do next.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

Charles Neil

Hello Everyone!!

I received permission this morning to give the name of the guy who has come to our rescue - Charles Neil.

You have got to go check out his web site.









This guy is a rock star in the world of woodworking! Google his name and you will see what I mean. He does has a line of 'how-to' videos as well as books. Even the The Wood Whisperer is a fan of his!

Here is what they said about him on January 1, 2007:

"Charles Neil is a well-published award-winning furniture maker literally making antiques on a daily basis. Fortunately for us, he enjoys sharing his knowledge. Charles has numerous video clips available on his site, as well as DVD’s, classes, and a forum. You can spend a good day or two just catching up, so you’ve been warned."

SWMBO and I are deeply, profoundly , grateful that he is willing to help us fix this problem.

Here is a snippet from one of the e-mails he has sent me.

"I know you want this done, but lets get it right, and something not only you will be satisfied with, but that will endure, and any one who sees it, it’s a "WOW", instead of "oh that’s nice....".

I am looking forward to learning all I can from him.

Till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

Stain Update

Hello Everyone.

Well...the stain is way too dark. We don't like it.

What we can't figure out is how come it looks so good in pictures but so horrible, and dark, in real life.

So...what to do - what to do... We turn back time, in a way.

We have started the process of removing the stain. Yup, you read that right - removing the stain. It is not an easy process and one I have never done before, but a knight in shining armor has come to our aid.

I wish I could go into more detail about this knight, but until I have permission to divulge his info we must keep it to ourselves. However, the method can be discussed.

As stated earlier, the stain turned out WAY too dark. At first I was stymied as to what happened - the recipe for the stain was followed to the letter. Turns out that the problem was with the wood it's self.

Let's backtrack. The stripping process started over two years ago. What this means means is that the wood has been exposed to the dry climate for quite a while and therefor the wood is completely dry. Since it is completely dry the stain soaked in faster, way faster, than normal.

Typically you apply stain and let it set for a bit then wipe it off. You then repeat until you get the desired shade you want. In our case, the moment the stain touched the wood it soaked in like water on sand. There was no time delay other than a few seconds.

I'm kicking myself because I didn't stop when this was first noticed. I figured I was being paranoid or something.

So, we are left with two options, the hard way, and the harder way. We can either try to remove the stain or we can replace the woodwork.

You might think that replacing the woodwork would be the easier of the two options, but is in fact the harder. It would entail the removal of matching wood from two of the upstairs closets. The hard part would be removing it without damaging the woodwork OR the original plaster. Then the stained wood would have to be removed without damaging it OR that plaster. So, this option has the potential of destroying plaster in several spots as well as original woodwork.

The other option is removing the stain.

The process is straightforward and sounds easy - just time consuming, messy and potentially hazardous. Following is a condensed version of the process as our knight explained it to us.

"Minwax is linseed oil and pigments,and the wood has absorbed way to much. Start by wiping it down with some mineral spirits keeping it as wet as possible, let it soak a bit then wipe it dry , then do it again, until you pull enough stain out to lighten. If you do not see a dramatic difference pretty fast, then use some lacquer thinner. Both solvents are very flammable, be sure to let the mineral spirits rags dry spread out, out side, they also are very flammable and subject to spontaneous combustion, also wear a good respirator. What you want to do is draw as much of the stain out as possible, the lacquer thinner will also help dry it down , when you feel you have removed as much of the stain as you can, let it dry, at least overnight. What I mainly want is to get as much of the oil out as we can, the mineral spirits and lacquer thinner will do that. If we can get the oil out, then we can bleach it to kill the stain color, but that’s a last resort."

There is more to the info, but this is enough to give you an idea.

We spent today wetting and wiping the woodwork with mineral spirits and then switched to lacquer thinner. We were amazed at just how much stain came out.

The pictures that follow do give an idea of how much we got out, but it still looks dark. This is another one of those times where the reality looks a lot different than the pictures.

You can see some of the lightening of the jambs, under the lintel.

Do you see how pale it is looking?

If I'm understanding my research properly, the spirits and thinner are pulling out the oils used in the stain along with some of the pigment.

The oil needs to be removed so that the bleach will kill the stain that's left over.

I wasn't able to get a good picture, but there are some spots where the woodwork is basically back to it's pre-stain condition. The spots are so small I just couldn't get the pictures to take.

If you look real close you'll see SWMBO in the picture!

You should also be able to see that the wood filler has had virtually all the stain removed. So now those spots are sticking out like a sore thumb.

While we are on the subject... I will probably remove all the wood filler. Yes, I know I was praising it, but I found out some more info in regard to this. As I learn more about this I'll post it.

This is about the best picture that shows some of those spots that are back to 'normal' wood. Look along the left edge of the jamb and you can see the spots.











Just another pic trying to show how the stain has lightened.















And another one.

















This picture is a photo shopped one so that two of the pictures could be side-by-side and you could see a difference.


The picture of the doorway on the left was taken right after the stain was applied. The one on the right is after we used the mineral spirits and lacquer thinner. Hopefully you can see the difference.

In reality the stain now has a light grayish hue to it and is lighter. I'm assuming this means the oil is out of the wood as much as possible and all that's left is the stain color.

It will be interesting to see what happens once the bleach is used.

Now, there is a two part A/B bleach that has been suggested I use by a few I've spoken to. However, when i did some research on this stuff, and contacted one of the main manufacturers, I was told that the two part bleach is used to remove the natural tannin color of the wood - not to remove stain thats been added.

I am wanting to talk to our knight about this a bit more. I'm not sure why some people have suggested I use this, but the manufacturer says not too. When I find out I'll let you all know.

Here is one last picture to share with you.

This is one of THE few spots in the house where you can see the original stain.

It's in the master bedroom closet. It is a bit dark but I figure that's due to natural aging. All the woodwork in the other closets have been painted. Why this section remained untouched we have no idea. We really like the warmth and richness of this stain.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

First Look at the Stain

As promised...I said I wouldn't post again until there were photos of stain to show.

So, without further ado here it is.

Right now all that has been stained are these two door ways.

Have any of you ever heard the old adage "never sit too close at the ballet - it ruins the illusion"? Well, this is a good case in point.

For some strange reason the photos of the stain look better than the stain in person!

I've only applied one coat and it looks darker than the sample we based our decision on. Not sure why this is, it's the same recipe and the same wood. Also, the first coat has not been sanded down with steel wool yet. This might lighten it. If you remember, the sample has two coats and a top coat of amber shellac. You can go here to read about it if you like.

There are a few problems and before I proceed I'm going to try and work out a fix. I'm not going to tell you where they're located, but there are some obvious bad spots. I might show you a close-up of the worst problem spots if I can figure out how to fix them first.

Here's another picture.

Is it just me or does it look darker than the first? In the first picture I didn't zoom in, the second one I did. Perhaps this makes it look darker.

One weird thing though... About an hour or two after taken these pictures I went and took another look. The stain actually looks like it has 'mellowed'. The only thing I can figure is that it was dark outside and the lights were on. Who knows what shade the stain will be in the morning!!

It has been pointed out by a friend, as well as by SWMBO, that the stark white walls might be making it look darker. Perhaps, once the paint it up, it will be a completely different shade!!

On a side note. I finally put words to why I 'think' I've been dragging my feet on this staining project. SWMBO's uncle stopped by today and when I was talking to him about it I told him I was dragging my feet because I was afraid of how it would turn out. As long as it isn't done there is always hope that it will turn out great. Once it is done though, the truth will be staring you in the face.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

YES!!! Priming is done!!

Today I applied a second coat of primer to the ceiling as well as a couple other spots that needed to be touched up.

The best news is about the spots on the ceiling.

Before I show you the 'after' pictures I must tell you my latest "DOH!!" moment.

Gary. over at This Old Crack House, left a comment in regard to the spots.

Basically, he reminded me that spots/stains could be covered up by apply a coat of shellac over them. Like I said "DOH!!"

I know you can use shellac for this purpose, as well as to cover odors, especially on wood. For some reason though I just sort of blocked it out for this application. I guess it was one of those 'can't see the forest for the trees' moments.

I felt very sheepish after reading Gary's comment...

Thanks for knocking the noggin Gary!!

That said, let's have a look.

Here are the spots covered with a layer of shellac. I didn't have any clear on hand so I used Amber.

I also applied a couple coats of primer before re-priming the whole ceiling just to make sure the Amber color didn't bleed through.

Not bad if I say so myself.











Here is a little tip I'll pass on to you all.

Before you mix your paint, stain, or whatever, punch a few holes in the inner rim of the can.

This allows the spill-over to seep back into the can a little easier. To be honest though, it didn't work as well this time because the primer is extremely thick. This little trick does work though - pinky swear - it really does.

Once all the primer was dry I went ahead and removed the masking tape. This stuff was AWESOME!! I highly suggest it for any of your painting projects.

I wanted to show you the tape I used last night, but couldn't find the wrapper. I found it this afternoon and can now give you a link.

Here it is.

It's the Scotch 'Ready Mask Paint Tape' by 3M.

This stuff works GREAT!! It went on easily and came off easily. Normally I have a mess when masking things off. either I just don't get it on right, or not well enough, and have all sorts of paint seepage. This time there wasn't any!!!

In fact the only paint that got on exposed wood was my own fault and involved using the regular masking tape.

Here's the spot.

It won't take long to deal with. Not bad considering just how much exposed woodwork there was!












These next few pictures are just for fun.

While on the ladder (did I ever tell you all I have a phobia in regard to ladders?) priming the ceiling I just happened to look down and thought "this would make a good picture". So here they are.

The north west section of the business end of the kitchen. Awful small ain't it.

It's not as small as the one used over at the Smitten Kitchen, but it's not much bigger either.

The north east section.











The south west section.

Can you believe that green stuff use to be in the kitchen?!

I'll start work on the powder room next. This roomlet will have to be gutted.

And here is the built-in/temp tool storage.

Look to the bottom and you will see that the 'code inspector' is checking out my work again.











Hmmm...he looks grumpy...

Wounder what he found wrong? OY!






I know, I know, I said I'd have some staining done by the next post and there wasn't any. So I promise next time I will have some staining pics for you all.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

And then there was primer...

Believe it or not - the walls and ceiling are primed!!!

I'm not as happy with the way the ceiling turned out so another coat is in order. There are also some spots that need to be touched up.

So, let's get right to what you all want - PICTURES!!

Some of the areas are a bit wet at the time the pics were taken so that's why there are some 'patchy' spots.

This is the door area leading to the back porch.

Before any of you get excited thinking I've splashed paint on the wood work, it is all covered by this funky painter's tape I found. So, there is no paint on the woodwork.

I can not believe how bright it is in the kitchen now!!



The wall that the sconces will be on, between the back door and the foyer door.














Doorway leading into the foyer.

You can also see the chimney chase, but the BIG deal is that the plastic baffle doors are gone!!

WOOWHOO!!!








The spot above the doors leading to the powder room and the basement.

You can really see that funky tape in this pic.

The corner area above the sink and stove.

If you remember, there use to be a vent above the two windows on the left side.

The corner on the opposite side of the sink area.

The back door is on the other side of the wall on the right.


Okay, this is a picture of the ceiling.

It is an area right between the wall the fridge is on and the built-in cabinet.

If you look close you will see blotches. Those blotches were not there (at least not noticeable) before the primer went on. I have no idea what has caused them, but I've applied two coats of primer and they are still showing up.

So, now that primer is up I might take my chances and dab some KILZ just to the spots and see what happens.

I'll keep you posted.

SWMBO was quite pleased with the results and noted how bright and fresh it looked in the kitchen now.

I am hoping that the next time I post you will be able to see pics of the woodwork being stained!!

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

"Oh I Wish I Was an Oscar Mayer..."

As figured...nothing got done on the kitchen yesterday.

After the birthday party we a lot of errands to run such as get lumber prices, looking at some router bits, etc.

However, the day had an interesting surprise - we got to see the Wienermobile!!

Isn't it grand!!

Who wouldn't want to take a spin in the Weinermobile?

It was a totally unexpected sighting so we didn't have the camera. We used the phone camera so the pics aren't the best.

Come on...admit it...you want to jump in the driver's seat and take for a spin don't you!

There was a modest crowd for being so cold. The 'Hotdogger' were great and fun to talk to. We even got whistles after singing the the theme song.

One the best, unexpected, treats was getting to go inside.









It was a lot bigger inside than I expected. It reminded me of the inside of a corporate jet. Can't you just imagine a huge hotdog flying through the air?

The door in the back leads to storage.








This thing is really roomy inside.

It has an awesome stereo system, GPS, sunroof, cloud painted ceiling and comfy armchairs.

Can you imagine spending a year touring the country in one of these? Take a look at the Hotdogger Blog to see what it's like. Perhaps you have what it takes to be a 'Hotdogger'.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry