Did I mention it's winter in Western Newfoundland?
So, off to Murphy's Square to buy a few tools for my project.
The snow is piled high in the box store parking lot.
Ah... Canadian Tire beckons.
This is what the rows of staples (that were holding down the carpet underlay) look like. It's my job to remove them.
A surprisingly meditative activity.
I used a stubby flat screw driver and a needle nose pliers.
Check it out...
Removing tack strip with a pry bar and pliers. Brian Hunt lent me the pry bar. Thanks, Brian.
I just had to know what was under the carpet on the stairs.
I cut the carpet with a utility knife and pulled it back. There was underlay and tack strip.
I tore back the underlay and there was wood and paint.
Dirt and sediment. Obviously, a runner had been on the stairs for years and painted around.
Many layers of paint.
The reveal. Looks to me like a very old Newfoundland stair case.
Viridian green paint, the colour of oxidized copper.
Definitely oil based, probably toxic.
Glad I'm wearing a respirator.
Removing the tack strip from the bottom of the stairs.
Nasty stuff.
Two hours later... looks so nice, clean and swept!
The fruits of my labour. The end of another day. Nice old mirror that I'll definitely keep. I can just see my friends and family using it when they put their coats on.
No comments:
Post a Comment