1. Have you ever rolled the dice on your ability to adult your way through something new? When the stakes are high and the learning curve is steep and there’s a sharp wind blowing in from the north? Welcome to our weekend.
2. Push had come to shove. We were on a deadline for the home inspection and hadn’t dealt with what can only be called The Tragic Front Door Mauling of 2013. (Just kidding. The dogs have been mauling that door for years.) Phoebe is what one might politely call frantic when strangers friends neighbors anybody sets foot on the porch so she’s our frequent offender. Gracie’s more of an exuberant pawer, but her sheer size and weight dig deeper grooves because wood doesn’t care if you’re happy or enraged. Let’s just say it looked suspiciously like we’d been holding werewolves hostage.
3. So we did some research. And talked to a neighbor. And did some more research. And I told myself I CAN DO HARD THINGS…but man, if I eff this up there’s no going back. No pressure.
4. There was sanding. So much of the sanding. And because I’m stubborn when I’m on a deadline I was only willing to search for breathing masks for half an hour. And if I was only willing to search for half an hour then I damn sure wasn’t driving to the store to buy the masks that I know we have in the house. Commence day one of sucking in project gunk.
5. After vacuuming up all the dust I hadn’t inhaled it was time to apply wood conditioner. This stuff looks like skim milk and comes with a very helpful panic inducing warning on the label: DO NOT ALLOW EXCESS CONDITIONER TO DRY ON WOOD. This resulted in me watching my timer like a hawk then swooping in with a rag to swipe off drips before they could presumably ruin my virgin attempt at wood staining. I’m sure there’s a wood/virginity joke in there somewhere but we’re moving on.
6. It turns out staining is an extremely slow process – Apply. Let sit for 5-15 minutes. Wipe off. (Insert same panic inducing warning.) Wait four hours before another application. – but I was in it for the long haul. I didn’t freak until three hours in when I thought huh…that doesn’t really look like the right color.
7. Cue frantic texting of photos to BrightSide and his calm response that no, it just needed more stain. Oh. Okay. Repeat steps above.
8. Late that night the assessment was clear: three of the four sections looked great. One was decidedly not. I won’t repeat here the thoughts running through my head, let’s just say a lot of them rhymed with cluck and spit. Google told me I had one option: strip and neutralize the area, scrub with steel wool, then start the whole process again with a different stain. BrightSide told me I had another: sand down the rest of the board and stain it to match. My husband is a brilliant man and excellent under pressure.
9. Enter another day of sanding, vacuuming, conditioning, staining, and waiting. So much of the waiting. But by the end of the day we were there – a section with a few visible scratches, yes, but with consistent color.
10. I am badass.
Yes you are a badass! 🤣
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Why, thank you. 😉
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Lol! Love your humor 🤣
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Good job! I had to do that on base housing when we left. My Catticus tried to shred the banister and a significant number of door frames.
Given your time frame and your need to close quickly, I understand. However, for quick fixes, wood crayons. Wood putty and wood crayons are the way to go before a party or whatever. Much easier for Lauras.
I am also in the group with Cordelia’s Mom — ‘Spiiiit, duck em!’ But then, I’ve never really been pressed for time like y’all are.
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The hubby brought home a wood putty but I had all I could handle with the stain. Good to know it’s a relatively simple option. Future knowledge and all that jazz. In a perfect world Gracie would just stop destroying property but we all know how likely that is…
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A dog’s gotta do dog things 😉
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Your dedication is admirable, but the fact of the matter is most home inspectors don’t care about scratches (minor or deep) on doors so long as they don’t actually affect the function of the door. Your buyers should have seen those scratches when they first viewed the house and before they signed the contract, so if they didn’t complaint then, they really have no right to complain now. I realize that a lot of buyers use the home inspection as a way to complain about stuff they should have seen the first time they went through, which does kind of make it your problem.
We killed ourselves (well, actually, hubby killed himself) painting, sanding, fixing prior to putting our house on the market. Once the showings started, we really didn’t feel we should change anything or update anything unless something broke so that potential buyers knew exactly what they were getting. Some complained about minor (and some not so minor) flaws in the house, some didn’t. The one who ultimately signed a contract didn’t seem to care about very much of anything.
We then obsessed about the home inspection itself. The inspector never brought up stuff that we thought might become an issue, he only found a few things that would allow the buyer to shave the purchase price a wee bit – which, of course, is pretty much the goal. We gave the buyer a credit of a few hundred dollars, and he accept the house as is. Everyone was happy.
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This sounds true to course. We have some people interested (they’ve already walked through) who led with “well, that damage on the front door will have to be addressed…” so I know it will come up again. You’re right, though, I doubt the inspector will care. Fingers crossed there aren’t many other surprises.
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Personally, I would just either give them a slightly lower price, or a credit at closing, and tell them to buy a new door that fits in with their own décor. They probably won’t be satisfied with whatever you do anyway.
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Well done. Repairing a scratched finish is miserable work. I would probably have given the new owner a gift certificate for s new door.
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Believe me, I thought long and hard about it. Now let’s hope it passes muster.
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Well done! I’m so lazy I would have either bought another door or left the country. 🙂
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Both valid options! 😉
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yep, you are bad. personally I would introduce you to power tools like a belt sander which would make quick work of sanding a wooden door. putting something like a chain saw on your hand would give me pause for deep thought first tho. just saying …
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The hubby mentioned his dad has an electric sander but honestly it made me wonder would the efficiency outweigh any increased odds for newbie mistakes. Took the safer course! 😆😂
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A job well done with your determination.
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Thank you!
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Welcome 🙏
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Yay for you! I am currently trying to patch/touch up paint in my bathroom for potential buyers. Not as easy as it looked!)
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Definitely not. It takes a deft touch. Good luck!
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You ARE badass. I would probably just have bought a new door. Your was was the better way.
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And our only way because of the design. But point taken! 😉
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Sanding things is one of my least favorite things to do, but when you’re done – ahhhh! Congrats to you, badass!
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Thank you, Carol! It was weirdly satisfying.
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