A Pie Safe That Wasn’t Safe
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Have you ever taken on project because it was the right thing to do? Maybe its that stray dog you take in or the friend you help move. I’m not sure if the recent pie safe we overhauled is a proper comparison, but its the best I can do.
About 3 months ago, we first laid on eyes on the pie safe. The safe was falling apart with the exception of the chicken wire that was keeping the bottom together. By the time we made the mile ride back to the shop, the safe was in pieces. That being said, it was easy to see the beauty in this pile of wood. The front doors and sides were adorned with decorative tin designs. They were hard to make out from the rust and paint that had built up, but we knew they would look great with the proper amount of work.
After stripping, the safe needed to be sanded down and have all its old joints cleaned out. We didn’t see this taking up too much time in our initial time estimate, however, this was the dreaded pie safe!! About 25-30 hours later, the pie safe could stand on its own again.
We assumed the safe’s paint would strip right off, that was the wrong assumption. There were probably 4 or 5 coats of paint on it and they didn’t want to budge over about 2 hours of stripping. Once finished, it was apparent that this safe was going to be painted again due to the old paint that couldn’t be removed totally.
Sometimes you don’t make money on a job or its more work than you previously intended. However, sometimes bringing old things back to there former beauty is payment enough. If you have a piece of furniture that you believe is beyond repair,
give us a call before you throw it away.
