Paint strippers and weather stripping

We tested a new paint stripper: Peel Away 6. It's the 3rd product we've tried, and the first product to actually cut through the layers of paint on our woodwork. I'm sure that different products are more or less useful in different situations. Our particular combination of oil and latex paints (2 to 7 layers) has reacted very well to this. After 12 hours, the paint scraped off with a plastic scraper and ZERO elbow grease. I repeat, ZERO elbow grease.

First, the application-9:30AM

Next, the test-5:30PM

(COMING SOON... the second test- 9:30PM)

One of our house's previous owners decided to remove a built-in bookshelf. Yes, I would have dome something totally different, starting with not removing built-in bookshelves. With that pesky bokoshelf gone, the previous owner added a pair of french doors. However, the stairs leading to the patio are only in front of one door, so do not use the second door. The doors aren't the sturdiest, and we have talked about replacing them with a better set. In the mean time, I've decided to do something about the weather stripping. For how much we love the doors, I think we set an appropriate budget for the weather stripping.

Old french door weather stripping:

A $4.97-fix!

Janet's Table

Let's catch up on one of last year's projects: Janet's table. At the time, we had been eating on a card table, on loan (see the left side of the first picture) for about 4 months. Then, our good friend Janet loaned us an antique table. She recommended Howard Feed-N-Wax to clean and moisturize the wood. It worked beautifully. The table originally had casters, which are now missing. The table (still) sits on newspaper booties I made, awaiting bun feet. Here are some pictures:

Applying Howard Feed-N-Wax:

Finished product (pardon the mess):

We're getting warmer...

This week, we brought in The guys from TriCord Enterprises to insulate the walls. They offer a unique product, called air krete. Initially, we were looking into closed-cell poly-resin type insulation, but no local contractors make that product available to folks with existing construction. Then we found TriCord, Andy, and air krete. After reading about the product, I think we really lucked out, having this available to use in Portland. We are very happy with Andy and Diego's hardwork (and for helping us clean up).

The difference is obvious. The house is noticeably quieter and the furnace doesn't have to kick on every 10 minutes to maintain the temperature in the house. 

Here are some pictures: 

Diego, hard at work:

Someone else, hardly working:

These are the plugs that are removed: 

Sweet holiday cookie cutters, just in time for the holidays!

This is what it looks like afterward: