Isn’t this pretty? Soon, it will be sanded and stained. I am looking at rubbing Briwax into it instead of sealing it with polyurethane. Yes, it would be more trouble…I would have to rub Briwax into the wood every year or so, but I think the wood grain would be prettier and more natural looking. After scraping off layers of paint and orange-ish puddles of yuck…I think I would prefer not to put any of that stuff back on there.
This is burley or curly pine (I guess depending on where you are from or who you talk to). Legend has it that only the wealthy in Central Louisiana had it in their homes since it is so rare. The curly pine comes from a diseased tree where the bark grows in wavy patterns instead of straight. I was also told that a certain affluent Alexandria family who owned one of the only local mills in the early 1900’s, kept all of curly pine found for their homes. The builder and owner of my home, Sally Hynson-Ringgold (who, from what I can gather, lost her husband in the Civil War), was the former owner of the Kent Plantation (she inherited the Kent Plantation from her father). She must have either had connections, or her husband’s family owned one or more of the sawmills in Ringgold, Louisiana, because there is curly pine throughout my house as well.
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 