Progress, Finally

We finally had a Saturday to ourselves "at home" and after wrestling with a head cold all week you would think that I would have taken the time to relax. However, the decongestant I'm taking is working great but it's also 3am and I'm still wide awake. So let's recap what all got done so far this weekend.

Remember I'm currently on the west kitchen window pictured here on the left. The morning started off by staining the bottom sash's interior side with two coats of Dark Walnut. While waiting between coats, the slow and careful removal of the dried up glazing on the top sash took place. I'd really like to reuse the pane of glass and hope it doesn't break also. Then I went outside in the bright, 40 degree sunshine to completely strip the top sash, inside and out.

Here's a couple video links showing my preferred method for stripping paint. If you watch closely the paint will slowly change shades as each layer is removed. Even though overall it's a faster method, it still requires patience and a steady hand, otherwise the wood will become gouged and uneven. The moulding on the interior side requires hand sanding to strip all the old varnish. Afterwards the entire sash gets sanded down with 60, 120 and 220 grit sandpaper and finished off with a coat of boiled linseed oil.

The last task for the day was the first coat of paint on the bottom sash. It's been two weeks since the glazing was applied and it now has the required "dried skin". So nothing major completed, just lots of little things moving forward and as a bonus, while waiting between coats I ran loads of laundry and took the kids on a bike ride. Of course we had to top off the evening with a pepperoni pizza and a movie:)