step 1: remove hardware, doors & drawers
step 2: tape of sections not to be stained
step 3: figure out what stain to use.
ok so maybe that shoulda really be step 1 or before. but sometimes things just happen. like a trial of a liquid stain that didnt look dark it just looked like a dirty brown. so after a little internet search we went to a specialty hardware store friday afternoon looking for a gel stain. so the hubs, his mom and i went and 2 people asked us if we had any questions (um yeah) so this guy comes over talks to us about stain, what he uses and why and recommends a product to us. this conversation is like 10 minutes long. then he says, "oh yeah i dont work here im just here a lot". wow, he sure had us fooled. but i think it was re-assuring that he had actually used the product and was recommending it. super nice. anyways...back to the real story...step 4 right?
step 4. the beginning of the real manual labor. the sweat in sweat equity. <side note remember how this year the weather has been crazy, raining a lot and then hot for one day and then rainy again? yea well turns out the weekend we decide to work on the project the weather chooses to stay hot for multiple days in a row. lucky us.>
ok. step 4. manual labor. sweat equity. also known as zip-stripping. at least thats what we call it. aka apply a really potent chemical to the finish to take off the varnish/top coat. this stuff is serious stuff. it immediately starts to bubble and you have to scrape it off. and if it gets on your skin, you know from the immediate stinging/burning sensation. each side of the door needed 2 coats of zipstrip to be scraped off and then a 3rd coat to be taken off with steel wool. so we are talking lots of work. and time. i think we have about 36 cabinet doors.
and about 10 drawers. we took up about every inch of our 3 stall garage.
the hubs and his mom zipstripping away. im sure hes pumped to see this picture up on the blog mainly because his beloved panther picture is making another appearance.
step 5: sanding. after the varnish was off with the chemical we had to sand it. guess who was lucky enough to get that job at first. this girl. the same girl who is allergic to dust. good one.
step 6: dont cry. seems kinda like an odd step eh? ah, but this is a very important one. dont cry. dont cry when you are FINALLY half way through sanding the doors and your hand feels like it wants to fall off because its been vibrating for way too long and your hubs' mother in law tells you we have to sand EVERYTHING AGAIN, this time with a finer sandpaper.
