Last Updated on December 24, 2015 by Kristi Linauer
I managed to get my countertop sanded and get the excess wood cut off of the countertop yesterday. Know how I did it?
I dragged that sucker outside! All 12 feet of it! All by myself!
You know the saying. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 😀
Actually, that’s not the whole story. Here’s how the day actually went.
The last picture I showed y’all yesterday looked like this…
The countertop was together, and I had slathered wood filler all over the top.
I wish I had gotten a better picture of the top to show just how uneven this thing was. The height difference between some of the boards was as much as 3/16-inch. So to say that there was a lot of sanding needed would be an understatement.
The countertop is 12 feet long, and wedges perfectly between the two walls of the living room. So needless to say, getting the thing unwedged, and then getting it out the door without dropping it was quite a chore. But I managed. Again, all by myself. 🙂
I started off sanding with my electric sander using 80-grit sandpaper. It was doing the job okay, but was going to take forever. So when I ran out of sandpaper and needed to go to Home Depot, instead of getting more sandpaper for my rotary sander, I picked up this instead…
Oh yeah…the belt sander did the trick! It sanded that countertop so smooth, and did the job much faster!
So I got most of it finished, and had about five more minutes of sanding left to do, when my neighbor (yes, the same neighbor) came over and asked me to stop because it was just soooooo loud and she was trying to study (inside her condo….which is about 85 feet away from mine).
(And FYI, Matt, who was sitting inside right by the breakfast room window, said that the noise from the sander — through the wall/window — was quieter to him than a vacuum cleaner. In fact, he was able to watch a video on his computer with no problem…and without having to crank up the volume.)
Long story short, I told her that I had to get my work done, and that I was on a deadline, and that there were plenty of places in town where she could take her books, but I couldn’t very well drag my 12-foot solid wood countertop to another location to work.
To put it lightly, I was furious. I finished my sanding (about five more minutes), but felt like such the bad guy that I then dragged the countertop back inside, got it situated on top of the old cabinets (which are still in my living room) on one end, and a chair on the other, and did the cutting with the circular saw inside.
INSIDE!!!!
My living room is 12 feet by 11 feet. So just imagine me trying to wedge that 12-foot countertop around to an angle where I could actually work on one end, and then wedge it around again to work on the other side.
It still makes me mad just thinking about it, and I’m actually angry at myself for letting her make me feel like the bad person and shaming me into using my circular saw (and making a complete mess!!) inside my condo just because she couldn’t be bothered to go to a library or one of the other 15+ quiet places there are to study in this city.
That won’t happen again.
But anyway, on to happier things. The countertop is sanded, the excess wood has been cut off, and I’m very pleased with how it’s turning out.
I don’t think that the pictures do it justice. The top is so smooth and pretty. I still need to go back over it with 150-grit sandpaper to really smooth it out.
I can’t wait to get stain on it, but I have one more thing I need to do before I can stain.
I want to trim out the front edge with cedar 1″ x 2″ lumber, just to give the front edge a nice cohesive look.
I would have done that yesterday, but the Home Depot I went to was completely out of this size…and a lot of other stuff. I thought it was quite strange for them to be out of so much, but then an employee reminded me that probably a lot of people from West are going to that Home Depot to get supplies for rebuilding. So today, I’ll head over to the other Home Depot (I love that we have two of them!!) and hope that they have what I need so that I can finish up this countertop. I’m anxious to get this countertop stained!!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
33 Comments
Adrienne
April 30, 2013 at 10:56 amThank you for sharing! I love, love, love the countertop. And the lady complaining will make moving that much sweeter!
Jeanette
April 30, 2013 at 10:56 amKristi, I love your “go at it” attitude! Can’t wait to see it finished! You will be very proud when it’s done.
Donna
April 30, 2013 at 11:01 amI really love it, it looks good. Keep your head up and take a deep breath. Some people just like to complain because they have nothing better to do.
Take care,
DONNA
Suesan
April 30, 2013 at 11:02 amIt’s looking great, Kristi! Tell the neighbor to kiss your grits. Noise from the neighbors is to be expected in condos and its not like you were doing it at night. She can easily go elsewhere. I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I just did a butcher block counter top for around my stove and new bar area, but Menards sold a size close to what I needed so I took the easy way out. 😀
JP
April 30, 2013 at 12:45 pmLookin’ good all right!
Lisa
April 30, 2013 at 2:25 pmIt must be so smooth even the kitty can’t believe it! :). PS. You can’t keep a good woman down! Looks great.
Lindia
April 30, 2013 at 3:37 pmYou are amazing! I would never have tried to make a butcher block. That belt sander really did the trick though and it is going to look great! Re your neighbor: She has a lot of nerve. I could NEVER repeatedly complain to a neighbor like that. What is wrong with her? I think she should be embarrassed about her OWN behavior and she needs to just back off. Honestly, I would just do what I wanted and ignore her and her complaints. Tell her libraries are for studying! 🙂
Ruthie
April 30, 2013 at 6:23 pmYour neighbor is nothing but a whiny bully. She doesn’t want to be bothered, but in her selfish little mind it is perfectly OK for her to bother you. If you did this every day all day she might have reason to complain. You don’t, so she doesn’t. In my part of the south we call females like her a witch with a capital B. I hope you can politely but firmly put her in her place the next time she has the temerity to complain.
You are a wonderfully creative and resourceful woman. Consider your neighbor a pebble in the road and keep going. 🙂
Cassidy
April 30, 2013 at 7:16 pmWay to go! This looks amazing! I love the idea of having a wood countertop. The color of the wood is really pretty.
Reta Russell-Houghton
April 30, 2013 at 7:26 pmI love a belt sander. It really makes sanding a large project like a counter top or table top go so much faster. In fact, I love all my power tools. I am a lucky girl with all the great toys.
Winnie
April 30, 2013 at 7:32 pmIt’s looking great – your projects always impress me. Have you considered rounding off the corners of the part that protrudes ? Can’t wait to see it all finished. I would think it’s going to be difficult to move after all the gorgeous improvements you’ve made. It will really raise the value of the condo.
Melanie
April 30, 2013 at 7:49 pmBeautiful!
Leslie Stewart @ House on the Way
April 30, 2013 at 7:54 pmI always love to watch the progress of your DIYs! Loving it!
Leslie
Brenda
April 30, 2013 at 8:04 pmKristi, beautiful work, as usual! I am a smallish woman and I know what it’s like to muscle big objects around the house in any way I can. Are you sore from that yet? Sorry about that neighbor. I wonder who she will pick on when you are gone?
Kimberly
April 30, 2013 at 8:36 pmKristi, first, your countertop looks AH-mazing! You do such incredible work. I wish your condo was out here in L.A., not only would you get a mint for it, but I’d buy it from you in a heartbeat (if I could afford it), it’s such a wonderfully cheerful place. Second, you are a far better person than I! After all the time and effort with making the counter and the frustration with moving it outside (jeez, you must be strong!) h-e-double-hockey-stick would’ve frozen over before I dragged that sucker back into my house to use a saw on it INSIDE just because you’re witchy neighbor insisted on it! I can’t imagine the mess! The words I would’ve had for that woman would NOT have been neighborly at all. Please do not let her do this to you again. Just tell her to buzz off. What’s she going to do? Call the police?
Diane | An Extraordinary Day
April 30, 2013 at 10:56 pmWow! You are one determined gal! I can see that the countertop is going to be fabulous. What a lot of work. So sorry about your neighbor. 🙁
P.S. Just wanted you to know that I’m celebrating my blog’s anniversary this week…with giveaways too. Thanks for helping to make it become a reality for me, Kristi! I’d be delighted if you could pop by. Blessings!
Karen Jorgenson
April 30, 2013 at 10:59 pmAmazing job! I would have reacted the same as you when confronted by a whiny neighbor. Let’s just agree to never do that again. Some people just suck. Her life is much smaller than yours, I’m sure.
Donna Allgaier-Lamberti
May 1, 2013 at 6:20 amIt’s amazing how you manage all of this yourself! You go girl! Don’t let the neighbor get you down…you have as many right as she does! And anyway you’ll be out of there soon.
I have question. What wood filler product do you use? I was always under the impression that once you used a filler you could no longer stain but must paint (because the wood filler would show through the stain.) But obviously that is NOT the case!
I’m dying to hear what you use!
Thanks,
Small House / Big Sky Donna
Kristi Linauer
May 1, 2013 at 1:41 pmHi Donna~
Wood filler is sandable and stainable. Caulk isn’t. And wood glue isn’t stainable either. 🙂 There’s nothing more frustrating than getting wood glue on a project, not realizing it, and then trying to stain it and watching the stain separate where the wood glue is!!! I’ve done that plenty of times. 🙂
The wood filler I use is by Elmer’s (same company that makes the glue), and I get it at Home Depot. It comes in a little tub.
Lesley Ann Staples
May 1, 2013 at 6:32 amIts awesome. I showed it to my husband along with your bathroom makeover and said I want to do that in our bathroom. He agreed and we will do it together. I am not that great with the tools yet but I am learning. As for the neighbour she just likes to whine. I would completely ignore her. I bet she complains about everything. There are noise bylaws and you did not break any of them. she needs to get a life and if the noise was so bad a set of ear plugs. Some people are just not nice. Hang in there and keep going.
Susan M.
May 1, 2013 at 6:52 amIt’s going to be awesome!
I thought of you yesterday as I was proofreading a website on deadline and ideally it would be quiet in the ‘hood so I could concentrate. Unfortunately, my neighbor was having a new porch added to the front of their house with lots of sawing and pounding. I would NEVER even consider going over there to ask the workers to stop nor did I think or utter expletives about the noise. To the crabby neighbor I say “perhaps you need to mosey your hiney to a deserted island because you certainly haven’t a clue about living within a population of people!
Sue
May 1, 2013 at 7:05 amWhen I got home from work yesterday my neighbor was having his home reroofed. Lots of noise from that. I would never dream of going over there to ask them to turn off their noisy equipment because that is part of living in a neighborhood. Your stupid neighbor can just suck it up – ignore her!
The counter is really coming along nicely. Can’t wait to see it trimmed and stained. Will you be staining the countertop and cabinets/bookcases all the same?
Kristi Linauer
May 1, 2013 at 1:45 pmHi Sue~
I’ll be staining only the countertop. The bookshelves on top, and the cabinets below will all be painted the same creamy white that’s on the board and batten on the lower portion of the walls. I love stained wood, just as long as it’s balanced by lots of bright white and color. 🙂
Sue
May 2, 2013 at 4:11 pmI think that is wise. Too much stained wood can make a room seem dark. White is clean and bright and adds light to a room.
Kelly Palmer
May 1, 2013 at 7:25 amLooking good Kristi! So happy for you that you have just a couple of months and then you won’t have to deal with the crabby neighbor anymore! 🙂
Patty Brandt
May 1, 2013 at 8:04 amI just remembered this. Have you seen those plastic and foam disks you can get at Home Depot that you put on each corner and slid the piece of furniture. Or the pipe method, where you put a heavy piece on pipes and roll it along the floor, you do have to move the pipes as you go along but it could move it a short distance. Love your work.
Krista @thehappyhousie
May 1, 2013 at 9:19 amWow! Great job, it is really coming along: I can’t wait to see the final results:)
Krista
My DIY Wood Countertop Is Finished! (well…almost)
May 1, 2013 at 11:28 am[…] If you missed the other posts on how I built this solid cedar countertop, you can see the actual building process here, followed by the sanding and cutting to size here. […]
Gilmer Gal
May 1, 2013 at 11:45 amWow. Looks fabulous, as usual. Kristi, as long as you bow to your pesky neighbor’s complaints, she will never stop. Let her know that you are well within your rights and continue with what you are doing. And DON’T FEEL GUILTY! That’s just what she wants to get her way. Some people just can’t help themselves.
Sharon B.
May 1, 2013 at 3:42 pmI was wondering how you were going to do that! Great job. Your neighbor is wayyyy more annoying than the everyday noise of living in a community could ever be. I can’t imagine asking my neighbor not to mow their lawn or work on a project to improve their home just because I don’t like the noise. That’s just asinine. You keep doing what you gotta do!
Christine
May 1, 2013 at 8:18 pmKristi, Everything you do is so amazing! I’m always so impressed by your creativity and can do spirit! You go girl!!
linda
May 2, 2013 at 7:21 pmIt’s beginning to look lovely! Can’t wait to see it finished.
Deb Cazzetta
May 3, 2013 at 11:58 amYour counter looks great! You should just keep working outside next time. Don’t let people get to you. You own your condo the same as she does. You were working in the day time when noise is expected. If you were working at night when people are trying to sleep that is different. You do so much, just be careful .