Slow Going

I will be really happy when I am working on a project that doesn't involve stripping paint or finish. That said, I am making slow, but steady progress on the woodwork. The great news is that the wood underneath looks awesome. With the weird glaze finish removed, you can really see the rays in the quartersawn oak. At least now that the weather is improving, I can actually work with adequate ventilation, which is nice.

Push Button Switches

Since we moved in last summer I have been meaning to replace the light switches on the first floor. At some point, one or more of the previous owners clearly fell in love with dimmer switches. Literally every switch was a dimmer. I guess I just don't see the need for that much dimming. I finally got up the motivation this weekend to switch all the first floor lights back to non-dimming push button switches.

I started by ordering 6 single reproduction switches from Classic Accents. Normally I try to get original versions of everything, but starting a quest for 6 matching, antique, functioning push button switches sounded pretty painful.

Once I had the switches I made a trip to Guilded Salvage in North Minneapolis. This is my favorite of the salvage places in Minneapolis because their stuff is well organized and the service is great. I was able to find 5 matching switchplates including 4 singles ones and 1 double. All 5 are solid brass, but the double one has a great copperish patina on it. The 4 single ones needed a little work. They really didn't have a lot of patina to begin with, so I decided to fake it. I used lacquer thinner to take off the remaining paint, lacquer and grime. I then used 0000 steel wool to even out the color a little. I followed that with the cleaning instructions on this blog. I used the "baking method" to age the brass.

I baked the switchplates for a little over an hour and am very pleased with how they turned out. They still don't have the patina of the double one, but I am going to let time do the rest.

Momentarily Done

It only took me 4.5 months and who knows how many hours, but the crown molding project is done. Some pics and my refinishing technique are below.

Just after the popcorn texture was removed.
Same corner after

Close up before

No more popcorn No more paint

Close up after. We still need to paint the walls.

Once I was ready to actually refinish, I used the following process.

1. Applied Transtint Golden Brown dye stain. Diluted according to the directions with equal parts denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner.
2. Brushed on 2 coats of Zinsser Amber Shellac. I read a lot of different things about making your own shellac from flakes versus using the premade stuff. The amber Zinsser stuff contains wax which supposedly makes the finish less transparent. The bigger issue is finding premade stuff that is actually fresh. The date of manufacture is printed on the top of the cans. Based on books I have read, I try to make sure the shellac is less than 6 months old. This usually means going on a wild goose chase to find the freshest stuff.
3. Applied Old Masters dark walnut gel stain. I spent a disturbing amount of time and money trying to find the right glaze. In my opinion, Old Masters dark walnut looks like a mix of Van Dyke Brown and Black. It has a fairly long drying time. Basically, I painted the gel stain on section of molding at a time, and then wiped off as much excess as I could. Abbott Paint in St. Paul and Lathrop Paint in Minneapolis carry Old Masters.
4. Applied one layer of shellac to seal in the glaze.
5. Applied a final coat of dark brown Briwax to give the molding a satin finish.

In the end, I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg and I have all the remaining woodwork in the dining and living rooms left to do.

Great Bungalow for Sale

This bungalow just went on the market this week. It is MLS#: 3656594. I am willing to bet it was built by the same people who built mine; same windows, same doors, same chimney, same brickwork including original brick planter box. This one appears to have most of the original windows as well as no aluminum soffits. Unfortunately, I have no idea how intact the inside is or isn't and the MLS listing has very few pictures. I just think it is cool house with a lot of curb appeal. I am really hoping whomever buys it appreciates it for what it is.Check out the original real estate photo from just after the house was built in 1924. I would kill to have an original picture of my house like this. You can see that not a whole lot has changed on the exterior. I can only think of 2 houses I have seen in Minneapolis that still have the original roof caps. I just made up that term since I have no idea what they are really called.

Non-tree obscured view

Salvaged Fixtures

We are lucky enough to still have most of the original light fixtures. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to the track lighting in the corner of our living room. This is currently the only overhead light in the living room. One thing I have always found odd is that there are 2 light switches by the front door, one that works the porch light and one that seems to do nothing. The living room ceiling has received the popcorn treatment, so I can't tell if there ever was an overhead fixture in the center of the room. Regardless, the plan is now to remove the track lighting and install a central overhead fixture. So far, the tricky part has been finding the right fixture since I have been trying to find one to complement the original bare bulb fixture in the dining room (pictured below). It is very elaborate for a bungalow, but I really like it.

Before this weekend, I had checked every salvage and antique store from here to Duluth without any luck. Amazingly, I found the 2 perfectly matching fixtures pictured below on craigslist this past week. Also pictured is a rare image of my wife performing manual labor. The 4 bulb fixture will go at the top of the stairs and the 5 bulb one will go in the living room. Now I just have to them rewired.

If anyone has any electrician recommendations or tips for installing the electrical box for the living room fixture, please let me know.

No more paint

The paint is no more. It took a ridiculous amount of time, but the molding is finally ready for refinishing. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the wood in the room. By the way, the light fixture is original to the house. It is a 1920's polychrome fixture. I think the only reason it survived all these years is that it appears to be impossible to remove. When we were working on the ceiling, I tried removing it to clean underneath it, but had absolutely no success. If anyone knows where I can get another like it, please let me know.
The picture below shows the various tools I used to remove the paint. I really liked using Soygel because it was really good at removing the final layer of wax and glaze without affecting the original color of the wood itself. I would apply a coat of soygel, let it sit for about 1.5 hours, then I would scrub it with the red bristled stripping brush. I would then wait another hour or so and start removing the residue with the black hard rubber potter's rib. The pottery tools in the upper right corner of the picture were great for getting into tough to reach spots. The blue brush is actually a denture brush that came in really handy for getting into corners. Once I got almost all the residue off, I used furniture refinisher to get anything that was left.
Now if I could just decide on a final finish.

Office Chair Refinished

I actually finished a project. Unfortunately, it was the office chair and not the dining room crown molding. Still, I think the chair turned out pretty good. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before

After

Before

After
I used the following process to refinish it. I decided not to use an initial dye on the wood since I liked the dark orangish color it already was. I started by cleaning it up with "furniture restorer", followed by 2 coats of shellac. I just use Zinsser Amber Shellac and mix it with an equal amount of denatured alcohol. The 50/50 mix keeps the coats thin. I then used a gel stain as a glaze. This time I used Old Masters brand dark walnut. Basically, I just paint it on, wait a few minutes, and then wipe off all the excess with t-shirt material rags. I follow that up with another coat of shellac. Lastly, I applied dark brown Briwax and buffed it with a t-shirt type rag. Obviously, I am no expert on mission style finishes, but I think it turned out pretty good.