Finishing the Floor

We saved our most anticipated and dreaded task for Monday: finishing the pine floor.

We wanted very much to get it done because then we could bring up some more substantial pieces of furniture, but we dreaded the work involved. Our plan was to work our way out of the house.

First, I vacuumed the whole floor with our wonderful, $4 senior center thrift store Hoover vacuum. Gerald followed with a portable shop vac to get into small spaces. Then we damp mopped with a mixture of 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of water.
We had sampled some commercial products, but in the end, Gerald decided to mix his own finish by tinting shellac.

Gerald had the idea that he could apply the finish with a garden sprayer, hoping that it would create a fine mist that would simply require a gentle wipe. He tested it in a spray bottle, which worked well. But the mist from the garden sprayer wasn't very fine. It made a mottled appearance that took more work to smooth out. Before long, we gave up on the sprayer idea and dipped terry towels directly into the shellac.

It was slow going. We started staining around 10:30 a.m. By lunchtime, we had made frustratingly little progress and we were starting to slow down.

We each developed our own technique. I liked to follow a board at a time, working along the grain. Gerald worked in circular motions, covering several boards at a time. It made little difference. In the end, you couldn't tell where I left off and Gerald picked up.

I can't tell you how excited we were to have rounded the corners and worked our way up this last stretch. Just before we did, Gerald had the inspiration to use grouting sponges, which made the work a lot easier and faster. Thank God.

Our arms, knees and backs were killing us by then. I had started working with my non-dominant hand because my dominant arm felt like it might fall off. We had started the whole process early, maybe 8 a.m. and hoped to be done in time to get lunch at the Ranch House. We didn't finish until after 2 p.m., but two happier people you never saw. Not just because it was done, but we were also very pleased with how it turned out.