We spent a bunch of time at the beach then I had to drive the ladies to two different airports and I am pooped. And as and soon as I am texted that they are both wheels down in their respective cities, I am crashing. I’ll fill y’all in tomorrow.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.
An almost top 10,000 blog!
Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.
The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.
Bark louder, little dog.
This blog will pay for itself.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.
After roe, women are no longer free.
if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.
But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.
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Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity
A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.
Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.
Damn right I heard that as a threat.
Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
The willow is too close to the house.
I really should read my own blog.
Only Democrats have agency, apparently.
You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.
T R E 4 5 O N
… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP
War for Ukraine Day 332: Why Are You All Still Arguing About Tanks In Last Night’s Post While I’m Writing Tonight’s Update?
Steeplejack
Vacations are hard work! Get some rest, Cole. 💤
Suzanne
I could use some advice on best brands of wood stain for stair treads that looks good without being too slippery. I may or may not get a runner afterward.
Brachiator
Ha! I was going to ask when the vacation was going to start.
bbleh
Srsly just check out for a day. Sorry, taxi’s in the shop. Uhh, weather’s bad for photographs so no touristing. Dang, outta cash can’t do a nice restaurant. Oh, I must have switched my phone to vibrate and just didn’t hear it.
Zzzzzz …
NotMax
@Suzanne
There are several anti-slip products for wooden decking that might do. Stains, varnishes and /or paint.
With luck, B-J’s resident orange apron guy will show up with recommendations as to brands.
gwangung
Worse things than getting tired on vacation.
Suzanne
@NotMax: This is for interior stairs, so I’m not sure what would be best. I am super-conscious of slips-and-falls…. SuzMom lives with us and she took two spills on our stairs in AZ, which were carpeted. The carpet got smooth over the nosings and it was easy to lose your footing.
NotMax
@Suzanne
No reason I can fathom why it can’t be used on interior wood.
Suzanne
@NotMax: For sure. Interior stuff probably has less to do with holding up to weather extremes and I need some good aesthetics here. This house has some amazing existing woodwork and we had some of it replaced because it was damaged…..but I want it all to look awesome.
frosty
@Suzanne: I took out the puce wall-to-wall carpet everywhere in this house as soon as we moved in … except the stairs. We’re going to need new treads and risers, hardwood of course. The only way I’ll go from this carpet to rebuilt stairs is to put a runner in, anchored somehow. I’m as worried about slips and falls for us as you are for Suzemom.
So that’s a roundabout way for me to recommend a runner.
Spanky
@Suzanne: What kind of wood? Staining pine can be problematic.
tybee
@Steeplejack:
if you do them right.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: I’m a delivery guy, that’s the paint desk.
Another Scott
@Suzanne: It’s possible (maybe even common) to treat staining and final protective finishing as two separate steps.
This article on staining wood stairs seems to be pretty good.
On brands of stain, I use Minwax a lot (for minor home projects) because it’s a known brand, easy to get, consistent color, etc. But can be very fragrant so be sure to have good ventilation.
For the top coat, I suspect that slipperyness isn’t going to be a concern with whatever you choose. Polyurethane is tough, but sits on top of the wood. AFAIK, it cannot be “repaired”, but has to be sanded off if it ever gets damaged.
The same site has this on finishes:
HTH a little. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
mvr
@Suzanne: I think that you may want to divide up the two goals, darkening the wood and making it non-slip. Darkening is usually a matter of staining/dying, whereas the slipperiness is usually a function of the surface finish which normally is applied afterwards with the color showing through a clear finish. That said, there is only so much you can do with a surface finish as far as slipperiness goes.
MomSense
I just stepped/tripped on a dog toy and saw my foot bend in a really gross way. Toes move but my foot is a swollen and bruised. Big snow/sleet storm just started so hopefully the RICE will work.
Suzanne
@Spanky: Oak! There’s a lot of gorgeous oak in this house, stained, like, law-library dark. We have some replaced treads and rehabbed pieces that we want to match.
mvr
following up on @Another Scott: Scott’s advice here is pretty good.FWIW, I like shellac in an old house, since that is likely what was used originally. OTOH I’m an old house nut and do things like mix mine from flakes rather than buy it off the shelf. Shellac is easier to repair than polyurathane but poly is less easily damaged by water and alcohol. Both are relatively smooth finishes which will be fine with rubber soles but not so hot if someone is wearing socks or slippery bottomed shoes.
Almost all interior finishes will have that issue since the way they deal with exterior finishes to add traction is adding some sort of sand or grit to the finish coat. This is usually not something people like in their houses since it obscures the wood.
<P>Also, Scott mentions Tung oil (which I love for walnut) and linseed oil and notes that they are normally applied with a rag. If you go that route you need to read up on spontaneous combustion and taking care of rags with drying oils like Tung and Linseed. These dry through an exothermic chemical reaction with oxygen. This releases heat and that makes them dry faster releasing more heat and soon you have a flaming rag if you haven’t taken care about how you dispose of it.
Suzanne
@frosty: The trouble with runners, or any carpet, is that they actually make the nosings more slippery. But it’s softer if you do fall. So I am researching.
Ohio Mom
@Suzanne: Do you have a bannister, I think the best way to prevent slipping on stairs is to hold on to a handrail — Though of course you can’t make the people who need it the most use it consistently.
Suzanne
@Ohio Mom: Yes, but it’s hard to use a handrail if you have anything in your hands.
Ohio Mom
@MomSense: Ouch! Good luck with the RICEing, hope it works.
mvr
@MomSense: That’s no fun. Hope the swelling goes down soon and that everything is basically OK.
Suzanne
@MomSense: Oh damn. Take it easy.
Martin
Headed over to Ikea this afternoon and accidentally stopped for lunch at InNOut next to Levi’s Stadium.
Jesus Christ football fans are annoying.
Martin
@Suzanne: There are clear coatings for stairs that are anti-slip. There are also additives you can put in traditional finishes for anti-slip. Also available for latex paint.
My recommendation for wood stair treads is this.
It’s not cheap, but it’s a very good water based finish. I’ve not used this specific product, but other Bona finishes are quite good, are easy to apply. For treads you probably don’t need a gallon (unless you have a shitload of stairs), see if you can find a quart of it.
rikyrah
I am glad that you are pooped, Cole🤗
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: Should’ve used the drive-thru! 😁
Jackie
@MomSense: Ouch! Elevate! Plus the rest of RICE, but elevate most of all. Plus Tylenol.
mrmoshpotato
@MomSense: Hope it’s nothing too serious. And hopefully someone else can bring in the mail, etc during the ice storm.
mrmoshpotato
Looking forward to your vacation update. Sounds like you three had a blast.
Martin
@mrmoshpotato: We did. They were still hella annoying.
karen marie
@mvr: Satin finish?
Anne Laurie
For just that reason, we’ve always gone with stair treads instead of full carpet runners. It means tacking them down on your nice oak stairs, but for us they’ve been a good compromise.
As an advantage in a home with kids / pets, if you get a couple extra treads, you can replace any that get hopelessly soiled or chewed…
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: Oh! LOL!
opiejeanne
@Martin: What are you doing in Santa Clara? I thought you lived behind the Orange Curtain.
Gvg
@Suzanne: I am not an expert but I can start explaining some of the basics. staining and varnishing (finishing) are separate things. Lately do it your sellers have been combining the steps in one can, but this gives an inferior result. Don’t.
Choose a stain to accent the grain. Minwax was the common, buy everywhere good reliable brand for decades. My father did woodworking for fun and budget reasons since my childhood in the 60’s and I started around 2000 using minwax so I have a lot of furniture done with it. However, it has strong fumes which don’t always clear up soon. Other brands are challenging it and it’s harder to find. Box stores like Varathene? And woodworkers like General brand.
On finish or varnishing, stairtreads or any kind of flooring have to take a lot more wear and tear than say furniture. They need to resist water, and grit, which is like sandpaper because it is grains of sand being stepped on by heavy people. You have to use special varnish designed for floors. You cannot get by with tung oil or any non synthetic modern type. They don’t last and have to be reapplied frequently which is in fact what people did in the past. Or they got carpet runners.
The varnish is going to be a source of fumes so pick carefully. People care about this and some brands have a lot fewer fumes. There are testing ratings on it to check the claims. I think consumer reports does tests, they do paints which caused me to switch brands a few years ago and the recommendation for paints was good.
The varnishes also get rated by the industry on slipperiness. It’s on the can I think. At least the flooring varnishes do, not regular furniture kinds.
There isn’t much you can do after the fact, but stairway safety depends a lot on the design. A stair that has 2 stages and turns is safer than one long straight up because then you won’t fall as far down etc. And wider steps, good lighting, good hand rails, all those things help. You can add automatic lights for the stairs. Either motion detectors or weight sensors. Quite a few things exist.
Joelle
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: hahahaha
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Oh, no! Do you guys have a sports medicine place in your neck of the woods?