Just wanted to let everyone know that, amidst a monster renovation, we did go forward with cleaning all the woodwork to prepare for new shellac. After all the advice on solvents and strippers, we just stuck with plain denatured alcohol, steel wool (various grades) and brass brushes (various sizes). We went through A LOT of alcohol, gloves, wool, brushes and rags!! We worked much more aggressively on the oak (in an effort to lighten it a bit) and gentler on the fine grain wood(maple/birch/cherry? not sure what the exact species is). Will share pictures soon... now that we are finally ready to re-shellack (will be employing the help of a pro painter, but giving him specific guidance & oversight on handling shellac). I am now in the process of trying to source the freshest canned shellac (Zinnser) that I can. For the technical folks out there who know shellac - Zinnser advises using a 2lb cut blend on woodwork trim & doors; the can comes pre-mixed at 3lb cut. To step it down to the 2lb cut, the instruction is to blend 2 parts alcohol with 5 parts shellac. Wondering if others have followed this guidance, or just applied straight out of the can? After this epic prep, the last thing I want to do is screw up the finish... I'll have the painter thin it out as directed, although I was hoping to make this process as straightforward as possible for him to avoid mistakes. The other thing I need to grapple with is the possiblity of tinting the shellac that we'll use in the dining room, which was a tinted shellac to begin with (in a brown cherry tone). We'll test how the clear shellac will work on it, but I think we'll have to use a tinted shellac to even out the variations in the wood's tone after the cleaning process. Also as we widened a doorway in that room and had to have a new header replicated out of white oak, so I think a tinted shellac would help with blending (I've already rubbed the new wood down with "dirty" alcohol during the cleaning to begin to match it). I was thinking of experiementing with a universal colorant (we don't want to use amber/orange in there). The plan is to hit the rest of the house (which has an orange glow) with clear shellac. Again, if anyone has technical advice in this area, it'd be great to hear! Here is a link that might be useful: Shellac Application Data

Don't complicate things too much. Buy a couple of boxes of nitrile gloves, the blue ones mechanics use as they will not fall apart when using petroleum products. Wipe down all of the wood with mineral spirits or naptha, there is a deodorized paint thinner available. Any rough spots can be smoothed out slightly using lacquer thinner or alcohol thereby avoiding sanding(this step is optional as a few nubs and bumps look good to me. Then put on a coat of shellac or lacquer. The only problem is that the new coating will be quite glossy although in your case it would probably take a few coats to get there. Satin or semi-gloss lacquer is available but I haven't seen low gloss shellac. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can rub out the gloss with steel wool, that is for smaller jobs and you will be there forever. I am meticulous to the point of ridiculous but this is not a piece of furniture, it is an entire house of trimwork.

We started our remodel in January and it was supposed to be done by the end of May. Here we are halfway through July and have at least several weeks to go. We added a garden garage on the basement level and a family room above. We added a laundry room on the main level and expanded a big closet into another bedroom above the laundry room. We also annexed the old laundry room to add a desk and butler's pantry to the kitchen, swapped the kitchen sink and dishwasher locations, reused old cabinets, and added some new cabinets and new counter tops. My biggest problems have been the contractor's health issues, the framer's health issues, the trim carpenter's mother's health issues, rainy weather, and bad attitudes. Also, money. The general asked for a payment in advance of when it was due (red flag) because he had bills due on other jobs that were done before mine. All of the subs have told me they won't work for him again because he doesn't pay. I'm preparing lien releases this afternoon. Also, I purchased most of the items that were in allowances (like kitchen cabinets, counter tops, appliances, lights and plumbing fixtures, carpeting) myself because I got better prices on everything or at least could get what I wanted when the suppliers for the general didn't have what I wanted. When I said I was going to subtract the money that I was out-of-pocket for the allowances from the second draw, he flipped and said that would be a breach of contract. I did some quick calculations and figured if I went ahead and paid the entire draw, I wouldn't owe anything at the end, so I stupidly did pay it all. Now, with all the mistakes that have been made, I think he will end up owing me money at the end! Here's a short list of the problems. They poured the foundation wall for the laundry room wrong and now the laundry room (and the bedroom above it) are 6" less deep than they should have been. They poured the floor of the garden garage sloped the wrong way so it doesn't drain if we get water in there. Then they cut grooves in the floor so water would drain when we washed off the mower, but they are crooked and jagged and overlap at the doorway leaving a little "pillar" of concrete that will surely break off. They left the downspouts off the front of the house for months, so with all the heavy rain we've had, all the water washed under the foundation and soaked through the walls of the garden garage, ruining the drywall and paint with mildew. The gutter installer ran a downspout so it washed uphill on the new family room roof and caused a water leak the first time it rained after that. They had to repair the drywall and repaint half the room, as well as extend the downspout to the gutter below as it should have been done. The electricians installed a ceiling fixture 10" out of alignment with the one across the room it was supposed to line up with. Now they have to move the fixture, repair the drywall, and repaint the ceiling. They tore up the daylight drain that ran across the backyard and caused it to plug up. Wasn't a problem until it got hot and we turned on the air conditioner. Then the condensate had nowhere to go and flooded a room in the basement. They tore up the TV cable that ran across the yard even though I told them where it was before they started. They also tore up the dog fence wire in several areas. Now they say we are responsible for getting them repaired. They put vents to the outside in the crawlspace under the new laundry room, but they are blocked off with tyvek and now the whole basement smells "like a basement". The plumber was re-routing the pipes under the kitchen floor for the sink/DW swap and got called away to an emergency. He didn't come back to finish that day and when one of my kids took a shower upstairs that evening, water started pouring into the floor of the kitchen and the ceiling of our theater room in the basement. Luckily I got my hand over the open end of the pipe before it flooded the electronics, but the ceiling was ruined and the chairs and carpet got wet. In his favor, the plumber came back that night to cap the pipe that was accidentally left open. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. If I'm not standing watch every second that someone is working, something gets done wrong. Yet I overheard the drywall guy say to another sub, "I wish [the GC] would grow some b---s and not let the homeowner get involved in our business." This from the guy who slung drywall mud ten feet away so it got on kid's toys that should have been well out of harm's way. He also tracked it all through the house on our hardwood floors (that are not being refinished) and did a lousy job to boot. I'm so done with these morons. I've lost my sense of humor, I don't trust anyone, I just want my kitchen back. If I hadn't overpaid, I'd tell them all to get lost and hire someone else. A word of advice to anyone else contemplating a remodel, put deadlines and penalties for not meeting them, into the contract. Add that things you buy on your own get subtracted right away from the allowances.

Here's one point about vacuuming extra fine construction dust that no one has made yet & it's key. When I went to buy a new brush attachment at the vacuum store to clean up our construction dust, the staff person educated me about a couple of things. Since the bag in our vacuum was paper, the ultra fine dust will flow right through it. Why didn't I think of that! Even with a thick, cloth HEPA vacuum filter bag, we run the risk of burning out our vacuum because anything that goes into the bag goes through the motor. Once that fine dust hits the motor, it doesn't take long for it to kill it. A Dyson being bagless won't work either, it just coats the inside of the vacuum, clogs & kills it. Here's further info. on that: http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?4407 He added that he's seen a brand new Kirby vacuum cleaner motor burned out after just TWO DAYS when it was used on construction dust. Kirby owners be forewarned! The suggestion of using a Rainbow vacuum is a good one because of the water filer. Of course they cost a small fortune, so I'm wondering if maybe a local rental store might rent them. It's not ideal, but neither is dropping $2K on a top end vacuum cleaner. And Mr. Rings, hopefully it goes without saying that a leaf blower is a horrible idea, unless your goal is to simply spread the dust around. ;-) I'm still figuring out how to clean up our mess, but hopefully the info. I've shared will save some from ruining their vacuum cleaners & causing undue added expense & frustration. Happy cleaning & good luck to all!