And we have landing! A stair landing that is.

When last we left, Chris had finished the compass rose and was fitting the white oak flooring around it. This was a painstaking task but it came out great. 

We put a light coat of stain and poly on it and then took a deep breath.

Wait - you want to do what to it?

Why the breathing exercises? Because we (Chris) decided to do a copper inlay of an N for North and a ring around the compass points. But first he did a practice piece. We picked a font, figured out a good way to secure it to a board, and then Chris carved a channel for the copper wire.

The practice N. There is wire in the middle channel

Once the practice piece came out good, he had to carve the N into the finished floor. Very nervous making.

The template and the practice N

Taking a power tool to the new floor (breathe, just breathe)

After carving the channel, he fit copper wire into it and then hammered it flat(ish). Then he sanded the wire to be flush with the floor. Sanding wire has a cool effect - it makes the wire sort of spread and fully fill the channel.

The flash makes it hard to see the copper

The effect is subtle but it looks great in real life. The copper just catches the light.

No flash - see the N at the top left?

A couple coats of poly later, the floor is tough enough to wait for Spring weather for the final finish (that stuff stinks - better to wait until we can open windows for ventilation). Up next is the landing wall and built-in dog kennel.