More Admissions of Ineptitude...

[Anton von Stockhoff]

Do you have any extra piece of the wood trim that is not seen that you could remove from a closet or something in that room? The reason I ask is this: if you use the same wood, cut it up and save the sawdust you can then mix the sawdust with white glue to make a natural hole filler that will be the same color as the rest of it since it is the same original wood. You won't have the grain, but the wood will be the same base color and won't stand out as much. You could also experiment with paint and make it faux wood grain. What you do is paint it a medium or light brown, with darker lines and swirls for the grain. Let it dry. Then go over THAT with a darker stain. Just experiment, I'm sure you can make it look good with a little imagination..

[travelinman]

Big Sexy

Something GAE is reminding me all the time is that when I look at the refinished wood work on our 2nd floor I see many little nail holes, gouges and other blemishes that I know are there because we filled and sanded every one of them, but if you came over and we told you that there were probably 50 + of then you would spend hours trying to find they.

It?s like our bathroom, I know every miss aligned tile, uneven spot on the floor and bump under the wall paper, but when someone else goes into the bathroom they see it as a whole and not each little blemish.

Remember old houses have character new houses have mistakes.

For me our house is not just a place to live, it?s one of my hobbies and it?s also a learning experience for the next one we will buy. Have we made some mistakes? Of course. Have these mistakes cost money? Of course, but I expect that chasing a little white ball all over a manicured woods is more expensive.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 29, 2005 07:29 AM: Message edited by: travelinman ]</font>

[reason]

Like you I am overly aware of *every* little flaw and sometimes they drive me nuts.

I'll try the stainable putty - bought some more last night. But then I went back and looked at the window I've fully stripped, just to take a second look at what needs to be done. After I counted thirty nail holes just on the left hand side of the window, I realize there's more like 90 holes per.

Soooooo....I'll still give it a go. The room is empty, so it's not like there's any need to get it done yesterday. Besides, it seems my goal to have my home on the market by spring was most unreasonable, otherwise I'd be slapping this all together in no time flat.

[gae]

You WILL be happy that you stripped the wood, The Big Sexy. Trust me.

We started with what is now our bedroom (probably 12 coats of paint) then moved on to the TV room (probably 80 dozen coats of paint) and were ready to do the office when Erin moved in. (Office was to go upstairs to have an empty room.) So instead, it was the bathroom and then the stairs.

To me, the painted woodwork here in the office is an eyesore and I hate it.

It might not work for you, but books on tape/CD were just the ticket for me while wielding the heat gun. It's boring, tiring work, and having something to listen to made the task less awful. (Notice that I didn't say "better".)

[reason]

Originally posted by gae:
You WILL be happy that you stripped the wood, The Big Sexy. Trust me.

We started with what is now our bedroom (probably 12 coats of paint) then moved on to the TV room (probably 80 dozen coats of paint) and were ready to do the office when Erin moved in. (Office was to go upstairs to have an empty room.) So instead, it was the bathroom and then the stairs.

To me, the painted woodwork here in the office is an eyesore and I hate it.

It might not work for you, but books on tape/CD were just the ticket for me while wielding the heat gun. It's boring, tiring work, and having something to listen to made the task less awful. (Notice that I didn't say "better".)

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't mind using the heat gun. I always feel like I'm making progress, which is a good thing. And I usually don't listen to anything when I'm stripping paint - What does on inside my head is so much more interesting.