Monday, November 15, 2010

stripping and sanding, oh my!


i am getting to know these bowling alley lanes intimately. in order to use them as countertops, we needed to strip off all the existing finish, then sand them, and eventually we will seal them.

saturday afternoon i got busy with my lane. it took me an hour, 45 minutes to get one lane stripped of the finish (you can see the strands of old finish next to ryan's knee).

ryan got home and did his lane in 50 minutes. was it his experience or his brute strength that enabled him to do it so much more quickly? all i know is - my arms and back are still sore today from that DIY job!

for some reason (bad communication), the counters were installed in our kitchen BEFORE we got them sanded. argh!


i'll admit - once they put them in, i took one look and said, "these look like dirty old bowling alley floors." 

but, after having my moment(s) of despair and annoyance that our kitchen was going to get extremely dirty from sanding the maple lanes, i took up the power sander and got to it. 


look ma, gotta use my hands! seriously, never thought i'd be doing that. and deriving satisfaction from it! but it didn't do much for my sore arms and back. the first sanding has uncovered their beauty, and i'm looking forward to finally getting the seal/finish on them.

the dots - cute bowling lane detail 

onward and upward with our kitchen sprucing!

if you'd love your own bowling alley lanes for a home project, the rest of the wood from our bowling alley haul is being sold at Resource Conservation Group in LA.
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4 comments:

  1. An Urban CottageNovember 15, 2010 at 2:01 PM

    That's some messy work but they'll be gorgeous when you're done. Love the dots!

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  2. the gardener's cottageNovember 15, 2010 at 5:44 PM

    hi tera,

    i think they are utterly charming and so unique. i love them. i think the dots and line-up arrows are so cool. they are going to be gorgeous when finished.

    ~janet

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  3. AnonymousNovember 16, 2010 at 6:09 AM

    Hi Tera,
    I am so glad that I stopped on over! Not only now do I have some fabulous new recipes but I am totally obsessed with having bowling lane countertops! In fact, last night my dear husband (nicely) asked me to stop talking about them. :) They look fabulous! I love the arrows.
    Hope you are enjoying your fall - I've moved on, it snowed this weekend.
    Sarah

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  4. Rev. Tera LittleNovember 16, 2010 at 8:56 PM

    thanks for the affirmations! it helps to keep the end result in mind while things are on the messy, not-finished end of things.

    tonight i drove by a bowling alley, and felt an odd kinship with it. :)

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