Stripping old varnish in the Genkan.

The job of stripping the old varnish off the two large wooden lower beams took me an afternoon whilst Shinobu & Arnie were working on the exterior walls.

Some of the wood's darkened in places. I've left it as is for now and will sand it down, perhaps lightly stain and varnish. It was a pleasure to see it come to life. There's some beautiful wood waiting to be treated with the respect it deserves in this house.

Need to wait for a dust free opportunity to complete the varnishing, but I prefer to wait till the rest of the entrance area is done (Stairs, etc) - coming soon!


Left side shows old varnish being stripped. Right side's bare untreated wood.


Stripped!

Before:


After:


The wood floors here will probably remain for at least the first year. We have plans to fit 1 inch bamboo cut in halves, varnished and stained, then bonded to the floor.

Would look much like what my wife & I saw in the entrance to a guest house we stayed at a few years ago.

The bamboo could come from our garden. Inexpensive to do, but time consuming - so we'll probably leave the bamboo plans till after we move in and prioritise the jobs that do need doing (lots!)leaving the current oak flooring in place for now.