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

We DIY-ed our stair replacement. Here's the before: We ripped out the carpet and found cheap pine treads and risers. We also removed the railing and ballusters. We removed the treads and risers and, using the same stringers, installed stained treads and painted risers. We installed a new newel post, banister, and ballusters, and getting the ballusters right on the sloping banister was the biggest pain. We added some trim and here's the finished product: We put a nosing on the edge of the top floor that the upstairs carpet butts into. I researched directions on installing iron balusters and they all assume you're keeping an existing banister. They said to take a saw to the wood balusters, leaving the banister in place. Then use the existing holes (which are lined up properly) and epoxy in new balusters. You'd remove the carpet and replace the treads as needed before putting the balusters in. And you make sure the holes on the underside of the banister have some extra depth so you put the top of the baluster into the banister, push it up so the bottom of the baluster clears the tread, swing the bottom into the hole in the tread, and when it's lowered down the top is still sufficiently inserted into the banister. Not a project for the faint of heart, as there are lots of things to get right. But definitely doable.

Ok - that staircase is beautiful!!! It could be absolutely stunning!!! I know this will be work, but I would strip the staircase and the face board along the staircase - you can do the opposite board later or just replace it with a salvaged piece later. It really will be beautiful - a show piece. Looks like you have maple under the paint so the paint won't be in the grooves. If you set a reasonable goal - like one spindle each weekend, it won't be so daunting and you'll be able to see how fantabulous it will look. Get a good, enviro-friendly stripper like the Peel-Away and let it do it job, then peel & re-apply. The key is to keep the stipper wet so it can work through all the layers - so keep it covered and sealed after you apply each coat. Once the big gunk is off you can use 3M stripper pads and steel wool to scrub off the residue. Use a flexible putty knife or razor blade to scrape off the early gunk. Plastic scrapers work well for the curves - you can even buy curved scrapers. Once you get the hang of it, it will go faster... If you want more specific tips, email me - I'd be glad to share : ) Good luck!

My former boss built quite an upscale home (for this area, anyway) with hand scraped very dark wood floors in the kitchen. You could see every. tiny. speck. and. footprint. When I was there during a reception or tea party that his wife was fond of having, I thought the floor always looked soooo dirty. All that food and all those people definitely left their marks on the floor.