The storm windows are completed. I scraped and painted them then gave them a topcoat of a product that has worked really well with my outdoors projects. I used it on my bird feeders and bird house and they were outside for 3 years in summer humidity and winter freezing rain and snow and they look the same as when I put them out (except where the squirrel chewed it.) The windows just need to be put up and then I’ll weather strip them in place for the winter. They came out a bit shiny (really shiny) but I think they will look fine outside. If not, I’ll take some 0000 steel wool and knock some of the shine off.

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More photos below.
I feel lucky to have a work place set up in my basement where I can be out of the cold and watch TV.

I set my chairs up on my lowest work table and removed, cleaned and glued the rungs and set them in clamps overnight.

The two (out of 7) dining room chairs that I’m refinishing are now stripped down really good. It was a very big job. Every time you turn it over you see another side or cranny that didn’t get completed. I started on these chairs many years ago and gave up. They were my second ever refinishing job and I didn’t know what I was doing back then. Not that I’m an expert now but all those gouges and scratches from the metal scraper wouldn’t happen today. I couldn’t get all the old finish off back then. I still had a hard time using one of the strongest strippers out there. I think the finish that wouldn’t come off was actually a tinted wood filler that they left on like a skim coat back in the craftsman era to get it that mission color. Sanding didn’t work because of all the rungs and crannies on the chair and the sander just didn’t fit into the spaces. I tried hand sanding it but that was going really slow so I took out the stripper.

Even with my heavy-duty gloves and glasses I managed to get chemical burns from it. Don’t scratch your nose. That stuff burns instantly when it touches your skin. My best result came with using the stripper and then carefully taking a curved card scraper to remove it. I use an old planter and a brush to apply it, no matter what you use, stripping is a messy, awful job.

Two days work and I got the two chairs stripped really well. I will still have to clean the residue from the stripper off and then lightly sand any marks or raised grain. Then the fun part starts. I like adding the new finish.

The leather seats look awful right now and some some mildew on them from being stored in the basement for so many years. I’m hoping some leather restoring product will make them look good enough to use for now.

I want to keep the original 100-year old leather on these two chairs if possible.

I decided to use a foam sealant instead of the caulking when weatherstripping our storm windows. I have worked with the polyurethane foam stuff that expands and stays on your hands for two weeks (Great Stuff.) It is so very messy and not for this use as it is permanent. I tried a latex foam product a few years ago on the storm windows on the sleeping porch I liked it very much. From season to season you can just take a scrubby or a razor blade (carefully) and remove it and reapply when you put them back in. It’s white and it’s like whipped cream and washes off your hands with soap and water when your done. It takes a bit of practice to make it look neat. Paper towels, a bucket of water and barely damp sponge works well for making it look neat. You won’t be able to open the window once done or you’ll wreck the seal. But if you have to open it, it is easy to scrape off the old and add new foam.

The down side is this product is the white “fluff” when you go to remove the windows in the spring. It will brush off with your hand and then you can get the remainder off with water and a scrubby. Have a vacuum handy or you’ll have white fluff like a trail down the hall through the living room and out to the garage. This product is Dap foam latex sealant. I went to Lowes and they didn’t carry it. The worker said they stopped carrying it a year or two ago. Why? Anyway, I went to Home Depot and they had it.

The other “stuff” I’ve used that works pretty well for temporary use for the winter around windows that you don’t use in the winter is the 1/4 inch rope pliable caulking you press around the window. Anyone can use this stuff. You just unpeal a strand of the rope caulk and line it up with the edge of the window and press in down. We don’t use the window in our 1/2 bath and the thin rope is pressed around the whole window for a few years now. You can just peel it off when you want. It looks nice and neat when done properly and it was inexpensive to do, under $10 for 90 feet. I’ve seen it in gray and in brown.

I worked on the patio door with the Dap latex foam sealant yesterday and today I’m going to paint a little around the door’s trim that needs touchup. I’ll also work on the storm windows (squirting in the foam sealant) on our front porch. I think they may need a little touch up of black paint, too. The basement windows look pretty well sealed up still. Hopefully I’ll get a lot done today because the forecast is for rain and colder temps the next several days.