I have conquered a project that I have been putting off for many years. Now that we are living in the house I must walk up and down the stairs several times a day and often with bare feet. The staircase and banister was ready for restoration. The newel post sat about a half inch off the floor and wiggled back and forth with ease. Nearly every visitor would grab the banister, discover it was loose and shake it back and forth just to see how loose it really was.
I took some photos of the process but keeping up with technology is endless, wasteful and expensive. The computer I use to download my pictures to is outdated now and I am constantly reminded that this computer won't support the applications that need to be used in order to tap in to the world wide web, the internet, the biggest waste of time since the invention of the television. I use it, we all use it, very few have never logged in to this information sucking tool. Sure there is plenty of useful information at the tip of our finger. Truth is we all spend too much time checking our Facebook, our email, our Snapchat or Instagram. It is a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends and family, and so was the telephone. We don't even know for sure what will happen to a human race living amongst radio waves of all kinds. At least we won't need so much copper to make all those cords, its cordless now... Bluetooth. Does that mean we won't need to mine so much material from the Earth? We are making small gadgets using less material but making these gadgets disposable. Everyone will have to upgrade and buy the next thing. Throw away the old and purchase the new. It is the way it works these days. Not long ago we would by a quality tool and take care of it, knowing that if properly taken care of it would last for many generations. It was made from the finest material and crafted from the hands of skilled craftsman. Now most items manufactured are disposable, sad but true.
Many people still think like this and won't buy into the wasteful economy trap we are being forced into. In order to do anything these days you have to have some sort of insurance. Our local volunteer fire department needs to raise $20,000 a year to cover costs, a large portion of these costs are to insurance companies. Insurance costs are what put most small businesses out of business. I see it happening over and over again.
Enough ranting, the staircase project was a pleasure. I replaced about half the treads, turned four of the broken spindles and reused a couple that Becky found at an antique store. They were the same exact pattern but only worked for the short spindles. I had to turn the longer of the pair. I made molding to match the original to replace molding that was split or broken. It seemed like the staircase had been repaired once before, maybe around 1959 when the PG & E electrical hook up was done. The repairs were done with wire nails with thin heads. The original work was done with square cut nails.
At this point we might shellac the fresh wood and stain everything a dark color to match the original. Under the molding the wood was sealed with a white primer. Becky found traces of green paint when cleaning out the grooves in the newel post.
I have moved on to wrapping up the bay window. Now I am about to go through my stash of painted Redwood that I have left over from the house. Hopefully the material will guide me in finishing the bay. Time to get dirty.
