January 23rd - Day 23/342 days to go!

I spent this morning painting banisters, another coat of white paint on the side and underside of the stairs for the second floor. I also added the cherry trim. I stained the trim for the stair openings.

This evening I did a test floor to check the height to make sure that it would be level with the trim. I use matte board since it is sturdy enough to glue the wood strips on to and doesn't curl after the stain as been applied to the wood. I was almost in shock when I found out that the opening trim and the floor are actually the same height....first try out! It's a miracle!

I'll leave them all the pieces I did today to dry thoroughly overnight and then tomorrow I will seal them with varathane and install them.

I looked at the assembly instructions to see what the next step is after I install the second floor staircase. I'll be on Step E then....hum, "E"....that's Step 5 in numbers. Wow, it's been 23 days and I'm only heading on to Step 5! This next step will really make it start to look much more like a house. It will be time to install the tower front and interior partitions.

I can hardly wait!