Episode LXXV: My people

I have allowed the amazing thread to go on a little too long, but my excuse is that I'm distracted. When I'm not trying to get some work done in my hotel room, I'm out among the milling hordes at Convergence. I warn you, the video below may horrify some…but these motley nerds, geeks, weirdos, freaks, and strangely imaginative and gentle partiers are my people.

It's going to be interesting tonight. The Trophy Wife™, who is actually a normal person and has never been to a con before, arrives to find out what goes on at these things, and there may be a little culture shock. It could unlock her inner geek, or there may be marriage counseling and psychiatry in our future. I can take being locked in the rubber room, dear, as long as there is wireless.

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Crodley Mott,

Sal Bro I, thanks for the picture of your floor. I really like it.

You're welcome, and thanks! After sanding down the floor and meticulously removing all traces of dust, I laid out a grid with string. Because it was a custom job, I was able to fudge the shape of the check pattern a little--it actually ended up being diamond-shaped instead of diagonal squares.

Each stained square was individually taped out (using the string as a guide) and stained. I was lucky in that the stain was pretty thick and so didn't feather too much in the soft wood.

The border was simply laid out onto either side of a strip of 2-inch painter's tape.

At the very end of staining, I accidentally kicked the can of stain and sent blue flying everywhere. Ooh, I could have died! Luckily, I was able to sand out bare squares again.

If you're interested, here's the story in pictures:

The cabinetry you saw in the background was original--it's solid wood, so I refinished it rather than replace it. Ooh, and the counters are soapstone (nerdy drool!).

To tell you a bit about the current real estate market in Cleveland, Ohio, this house has been on the market for nearly 2 years and is currently priced at $70,000. It makes me nauseous.

Feel free to email me at salbro1 at gmail dot com if you have any more questions.

By Sal Bro I (not verified) on 02 Jul 2010 #permalink

Thanks, Caine. I guess I committed the error of too many links.

Crodley Mott,

Sal Bro I, thanks for the picture of your floor. I really like it.

You're welcome, and thanks! After sanding down the floor and meticulously removing all traces of dust, I laid out a grid with string. Because it was a custom job, I was able to fudge the shape of the check pattern a little--it actually ended up being diamond-shaped instead of diagonal squares.

Each stained square was individually taped out (using the string as a guide) and stained. I was lucky in that the stain was pretty thick and so didn't feather too much in the soft wood.

The border was simply stained onto either side of a strip of 2-inch painter's tape.

At the very end, I accidentally kicked the can of stain and sent blue flying everywhere. Ooh, I could have died! Luckily, I was able to sand out bare squares again.

If you're interested, here's the story in pictures:

To tell you a bit about the current real estate market in Cleveland, Ohio, this house has been on the market for nearly 2 years and is currently priced at $70,000. It makes me nauseous.

Feel free to email me at salbro1 at gmail dot com if you have any more questions.

By Sal Bro I (not verified) on 02 Jul 2010 #permalink

Thanks, Caine. I guess I committed the error of inline CSS and/or unordered lists.

Crodley Mott,

Sal Bro I, thanks for the picture of your floor. I really like it.

You're welcome, and thanks! After sanding down the floor and meticulously removing all traces of dust, I laid out a grid with string. Because it was a custom job, I was able to fudge the shape of the check pattern a little--it actually ended up being diamond-shaped instead of diagonal squares.

Each stained square was individually taped out (using the string as a guide) and stained. I was lucky in that the stain was pretty thick and so didn't feather too much in the soft wood.

The border was simply stained onto either side of a strip of 2-inch painter's tape.

At the very end, I accidentally kicked the can of stain and sent blue flying everywhere. Ooh, I could have died! Luckily, I was able to sand out bare squares again.

If you're interested, here's the story in pictures:

Removing 1 layer of icky carpet and 2 layers of icky tiles. (This red is presumably much more hideous than Caine FDM's kitchen!)
Unfinished maple. Did you know that calico cats co-evolved with kitchen floor remodeling beginning in the 1950s?
String grid. Taped x's designate diamonds to be stained.
Post-staining, pre-polyurethane (detail)
Finished floor--IRL, the colors are much lighter (detail)

To tell you a bit about the current real estate market in Cleveland, Ohio, this house has been on the market for nearly 2 years and is currently priced at $70,000. It makes me nauseous.

Feel free to email me at salbro1 at gmail dot com if you have any more questions.

By Sal Bro I (not verified) on 02 Jul 2010 #permalink