Day Six & Seven...A Foolish Move

     The break in working on the beds has allowed me time to reflect on two important problems: (1) How, exactly, am I going to stain and clear coat this monstrosity outside? And (2) how can I best prevent weather delays, given my lack of a garage or other covered structure? Surprisingly, the solution to both problems can be found in one solution: Bring the beast inside!

Ready to be reassembled

     First of all, I will be up front and honest and admit that I completely did not properly factor in staining/clear-coating the bunk bed properly when originally considering this project. My original newbie plan was to cut the wood, then stain the pieces in the basement, and finally assemble the bed. However, that turns out to be inadvisable because of the damage the pieces will inevitably suffer during the assembly process. Duh! I should have thought of that! I also should have remembered how powerful (and toxic!) the fumes are. There is absolutely no way that I would be able to do this inside without the wife & kids away for a week...unless...[insert flourish of trumpets here] my newly build exhaust fan box to the rescue! I plan to buy another fan and build another box and effectively create a positive airflow system, which should allow me enough ventilation to stain it in the boy's room without harming my family in the process.

Deep in contemplation...how I spend at least 50% of my time.

     After my last update, I spent the rest of the morning clearing everything out Jacob's room, disassembling and throwing away his old captain's bed frame, and re-organizing Maxwell's room so Jacob can sleep in there for the time being. Then I spent the afternoon preparing and disassembling the bunk bed completely in order to bring it all inside. To prevent damage to the carpet in the room, I took my two tarps and covered  every square inch of the floor. For the most part the tarps are layered over each other, so I'm pretty confident that the carpet is protected well enough for me to work in the room and from any spillage that might occur when staining. The *new* problem is that the room isn't much bigger than the bed itself, and I really don't have much room to work in! Yes, things are a little tight!

The door is only open 14"! Tight!

     Yesterday I had enough time to add a couple of cedar planks to the bottom bunk frame, and to cut the remaining cedar planks for the top level. I was able to router the pieces and sand a couple of them, but I ran out of time before I had to stop.

     Stay tuned. I have a feeling my frustration level is about to go up, so it should get amusing!