Like Deanna's, mine gets grabbed and used however it lands, I don't pay any attention to one side or the other, I just figure I'm lucky that I have some and didn't run out when I needed it. I also "recycle" aluminum foil, so it could be any darned side out by the time I'm done with it. Grandma always told me it didn't make a difference either, that I should stop being so "obsessive" about things and just cook something. I try to follow her advice, which is why such things usually don't bother me one way or the other. That, or I'm lazy, LOL. I've never tried the "release" type of foil, somehow I just know I'd get the wrong side up! Annie

A couple of other things. You put water on a piece of sanded wood and what happens? The wood gets rough again. People call it "raising the grain". So you sand and repeat. If you want a really fine finish, say for furniture, you keep lightly spraying or wiping with a damp rag and re-sanding and eventually you can get a piece of wood to be a smooth as marble. You used a water-based finish. And I am assuming, even though you didn't say, that it was an oak floor? IF so, that is a great example of a wood that really "pops" when wet. So you will have 2 issues. Partly, the grain raised because of the water-based finish. If you lightly screen and apply another coat or two, that problem can be minimized. Second, you inevitably have dust and debris in an open environment, especially if you have recently sanded floors in the house. Remember, this is not Intel and you are not talking about a "clean room", which would cost you several million dollars to produce. So some of that dust settles on the finish. That will wear off quickly as you walk on the floor. One reason that water finishes often take more coats is because the amount of solids suspended or dissolved in the liquid is sometimes lower than in other finishes. That is the stuff you want to stay on the floor, so to get the same protection you need another coat. It's roughly similar to using a cheap primer vs a good primer over a dark wall that you want to paint light, although in this case it does not imply that water finishes are "cheap" in any way. You don't note how experienced you are with this stuff, so what is acceptable to people who are familiar with floors may be surprising to people who don't know. Finally, and this may not be the case because the finisher sounds like he isn't too bad, it may be possible that the finisher didn't use a very fine grain on the last sanding. That will give a less than desirable finish. But it sounds like he knows his job, so I would ask him directly about the specific things that concern you, whether it is feel or look or whatever.

I have given the artisan bread book to so many friends as gifts... pretty cool, huh? Do you guys have a special container to keep the dough in in the fridge? I bought one of the ones they recommended, but there's no convenient way to keep the lid ajar. I would love to see other people's solutions! I have not made the bread since we moved into this house (Halloween) because the fridge was so small. I am a little nervous that my new CD FD Jenn Air won't have enough room, either! (Never had a CD fridge before.)

Thanks for the quick responses. I was told the entire floor is stained, but I don't remember the color (maybe red oak?), but something other than clear. The planks that are now grey never had any stain or coat on them as far as I know. And, to be clear, I would never paint the entire floor, I was just thinking about painting and then faux graining those 7 planks. My thinking was that since no two planks on the floor are the same color, my faux grained planks could vary in color as well. Is hardwood floor finish different from Varathane gel stain? I just don’t have the money to pay someone to come in and do anything with the floors (I wouldn’t feel right asking a flooring person to come over and milk him for information knowing that there is no way that I would ever hire him). I don’t have low budget; I have zero budget. I can only afford what I can do by myself with a trip to Home Depot/Sherwin Williams. What negative results could I get from painting and faux graining the 7 planks? On the Ikea board it looks all right (the picture was just my first attempt; I’m getting better and better at it). Would the faux graining just look awful on the wood, so that it’s best to leave the grey mis-matched wood as it is? If the faux graining is a terrible idea, could staining just those planks ever work, or is there just too high a risk of blotchiness?