The Second Floor

Above, a composite photo of the master bedroom. All of the woodwork had to be stripped here as well as in the rest of the house. Jill and I experimented with a number of methods over the years. Eventually we settled on a) an infrared heat gun (which doesn't burn hot enough to make the paint fumes toxic--though we still have to wear a mask), b) a scrub of coarse steel wool and grain alcohol (watch those splinters!), c) a razor scraper, d) a regular heat gun for stubborn spots, then e) sandpaper. All of our old paint is lead-based. We've carted off pounds and pounds of it. Below: middle photo is of the plywood lofts that were installed in the second and third floor bays.

Below, 74 balusters were batted out by the frat boys. We had to get the replacements custom made. Generally, the stairs were sound but the mahogany banisters were chewed up. It looked like the boys had hacked at them with knives.