New Stairs - Day 8

This happened mostly in my absence while I was teaching, but I think it's pretty obvious from the previous blogs where we started and where we are now.  Such amazing work!  The finisher started today.  A lovely man named Earnest who matched the stain color of the floor and went to work getting everything finalized.

He's very precise with his prep, making sure that everything was masked fully and carefully.  (I imagine that comes from years of experience, where you understand the real value of preparation.)  And the result is a lot of prepped wood that allows for fast work in the actual staining process.

Right up to the walls.

And around the newels.

And down the beautiful rails.

We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

He stained the new piece of custom nosing and although it will never match perfectly, it is pretty darn close. 

As are the rest of the pieces.  Now because of the need to stain the custom nosing piece, Earnest has to do something called flip masking, meaning that while the nosing has to be revealed for the staining process, it has to be covered for the white painting process, which is the next step.  So, alas, yet another day has been added to the schedule.  One that we knew about, but Earnest did not.  Luckily, he was able to come two days in a row (even after he was already one day late due to an illness.)  So, the party progresses!  Fabulous day!