Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I was promised a recession.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

This blog will pay for itself.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You cannot shame the shameless.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Everybody saw this coming.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Too Tired to Update

Reader Interactions

39Comments

  2. 2.

    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.

  4. 4.

    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 …

  5. 5.

    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.

  7. 7.

    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.

  9. 9.

    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.

  10. 10.

    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.

  14. 14.

    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:

    Types of Wood Finishes:

    There are at least 10 types and dozens of brands of wood finishes to choose from. Each type of stain has a type of wood that it works best to seal and protect. Out of these options, there are two wood finish categories:

    Penetrating wood finishes – these types dry inside the wood. They are often easier to apply and leave the wood with a more natural look and feel. Some of the more penetrating finish types include: linseed, Danish and tung. Tung is actually a popular finish among woodworking professionals because of the easy application and how it maintains a natural look. Penetrating finishes are often best applied with a cloth or rag.

    Surface wood finishes – these types dry on the surface of the wood. Surface finishes are known for making the wood more durable, but they also don’t look as natural. For everyday furniture that receives a lot of use, surface finishes are the way to go because they are more protected. Some popular types include: Shellac and polyurethane varnish. Unlike penetrating finishes, surface finishes are best applied with a brush.

    HTH a little. Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  15. 15.

    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.

  16. 16.

    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.

  17. 17.

    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.

  18. 18.

    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.​

  19. 19.

    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.

  20. 20.

    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.

  25. 25.

    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.

  26. 26.

    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.

  34. 34.

    Anne Laurie

    @Suzanne: The trouble with runners, or any carpet, is that they actually make the nosings more slippery.

    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…

  37. 37.

    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.

Comments are closed.