Sand-tastic

The time has come to address the floor. It really contains the last of the remaining nastiness and crud from the past. Wanna help, boys?

"Pass!"    "What he said!"

That's OK. I wouldn't want a cat tail to get caught in the machinery. 

So we drove into Bad Axe to rent a couple of sanders: one big drum sander and the smaller edging sander. Neither of us had sanded a big floor before, so it was going to be an adventure. As usual!

Here it is after the first few swipes. This machine was pretty tame and easy to use. 

That's the good point.

 But it also left a lot of paint still on the wood.

That's the bad point.

So we used it in conjunction with the edger. The difference in the ease of use was like the difference between holding on to a vacuum cleaner and holding on to the Tazmanian Devil!

Hey, it's like vacuuming! Over and over...

Hey, it's like holding on to a bronco's head! A mad bronco.

Well, it was a long and arduous task, but we made progress.

It's like mowing the lawn!

Except the lawn is making an awful dust!

It's like holding a tornado!

But it turned out to be the only thing that would dig in and get the last of the ancient paint/stain out.

 hours later...

Wheels of grit

We went through some paper. We pay by the sheet, which messed with my thrifty mind. Changing the paper often makes the job much easier, but at $10 a sheet for the large sander and $4 for the small, it makes you think twice. I couldn't help imagining strapping a ten dollar bill under the sander every time we changed the paper. But then after a few shifts on the bronco head, I would have paid more just to make it easier.

Sheets o' used paper

Also, it took us awhile to remember that dust is an irritant.

That's why we bought masks!

So back and forth we went, up and down the boards. And we progressed.

Ride 'im, Cowboy Mike!

I did take turns, but Cowboy Mike forgot to record it! We both were pooped at day's end. But what a change! It was an exhausted but happy glow we had later that evening!

Ahh! Hard work pays off!

Yeah- and nothing good comes easy. And idle hands are the Devil's workshop.

But it's true...

Totally Worth It!

Worth numb hands and sore shoulders?

uh,

YEAH!

Ignore the other-worldly looks, we'll wear masks next time, promise!