Friday, 02 November 2007
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I'm not a painter...
I'm not a painter and I'm not an electrician. I'm not a plumber or a roofer or a mason. I can do all of these things and I can do them well, but every single time I wander from my true calling I end up regretting it. Something always goes wrong. I AM A CARPENTER/WOODWORKER!
Oh sorry, didn't mean to yell in your ear. It was my ear I'm trying to yell into. Yet again I strayed from what I do best and tried something of which I have no experience, and yet again I am regretting it. I won't elaborate, except to say that I'm tired. I wouldn't mind so much if it was my own home. If it was my own home I would just shrug it off an say to myself "Okay, so it's taking a little longer than I expected. No big deal. My home will be all the better for it." However, it's not my home. It's somebody else's home and what was supposed to take 3 days is now 2 weeks and climbing.
I can hardly believe how courteous and supportive they've been. When we saw it was going to take a lot, lot longer than I estimated, we agreed to lock in a price. I'm covered for the first week, but the rest is time out of my pocket. The sanding was finished. Time to apply the first coat of stain. I couldn't find the Minwax Pickled Oak stain that made the wood accept the Minwax Honey Pine tinted varnish just the right way, so I bought a different brand. "It's pickling stain..." I thunk to myself, "how much difference can there be?" The answer is.........
A LOT!
The other brand of pickling stain is a better quality. I don't remember the brand off the top of my fumigated head at this time, but it cost more than the Minwax would have and it covered the wood in a much different way. But the thing is, there is no way I would have known this because the Minwax disappeared into the wood as it dried, which took several hours. So I managed to apply this other brand of stain to a substantial amount of the freshly sanded wood before realizing it wasn't drying quite the same. It wasn't disappearing into the wood the way the Minwax did.
Note: The technique is to apply the stain and wipe it off immediately so it's just enough to seal the wood. The Minwax Pickled Oak stain is the only product I could find that didn't darken the wood. Wood sealer darkened the wood, as did every other type of stain and/or varnish I tried. So, the Minwax Pickled Oak wood stain was not so much to stain the wood as it was being to seal the wood while keeping it light before applying the tinted varnish.
Long story short, I have to re-sand about 20% of the wall. That's not a whole lot, especially considering that it's not the tough-as-nails finish I originally sanded off. It will take a couple of hours to get it back to raw wood. It's not the extra work that bothers me, nor is it the $45 I paid for the gallon of stain which I have no idea when or if I'll ever have a use for it. What's getting to me is the fact that I have to face the more than reasonable customers yet again and tell them there's yet another slight delay. It's humiliating, and I'm tired.
On a brighter note, I have a best friend who makes it all worth while. Rock on Black Parrot!
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Comments (15)
You are so detailed in your work. What a beautiful job. Judi
A BEST FRIEND is balm on a sore...I am so glad that you have one!
good luck with the sanding again. have a great weekend!!
Man that burning punkin is AWESOME! Makes me want to flambee mine in the street hahahaha
Sorry you had another setback with this thing. It will end eventually!!
Wow, that sounds pretty hectic and stressful.
We learn from our mistakes....at least you made a good friend out of it all!
I had a sad face and have no smile in this whole time I read this blog but at the end, I can't stop smiling
BBa
aaagh! I know exactly what you are talking about, and true switching from a tried and tested product to another is never a good Idea! Hope this project gets finished soon!
hang in there! If not, drink some Jack D and moan about it until you get the courage to get up and try again!
:)
it's so bad to leaving you that way, seems so unrespectful
Forgive me pleaseeeeee......... 
BBa
That's the first time I hear, or read, you say "ha?" to me lolol
Okay. As long as it doesn't make your client grumbling
BBa
You should start a TV show. Call it something like - oh, I don't know - "This Old House".
What gets me is how persnickety some clients can be about the color of something being JUST PRECISELY RIGHT. What difference does it make in the grand scheme of things? Or maybe it is YOU who are persnickety?
Oh...and isn't what you describe above carpentry/woodworking, the thing you say you're best at??
I wish I had known about you, to recommend to my stupid doctor friend in Chicago who just finished spending over $50,000 remodeling his stupid basement and STILL isn't satisfied with it. He had the contractor tear out all the beautiful knotty-pine paneling that was already there.
Dear DIY Guy,
It was nice seeing a visit from you. I slightly remember you were going to scale back your Xanga time, and then you stopped coming by altogether. It was nice to see at least a Happy Halloween comment from you on my Oct. 29th entry.
Don't make to much of a thing about your mistakes when they aren't of your "calling". We all make mistakes. We usually learn from them, so we don't make them again.
Also, nice to have friends for support.
Thanks again for the visit and comment.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet philosopher, fool
Hope all is well with you. Did you have a nice holiday. Judi
hey there, long time no new posts
hope your still doing gud!
Hope that you are off to a good start for this new year!