Altar platform part 6

Time to pre-finish the stair treads. The treads and the hardwood flooring are the only components left to be finished. I will finish the flooring after everything else has been installed.

Typically floor polyurethane is applied by hand, but this water based stuff that I am using is thin enough that I am going to try spraying it.

I want to use the water-based because it leaves the maple the original, cream-white color. My goal is to match the marble around the altar, as close as possible.

I started by spraying a single coat on the bottom of the treads. I want to prevent any moisture from saturating the wood unevenly from below. That could cause cupping or cracking in the future. Sealing both sides of the tread will help prevent that.

After that side dried, I flipped all the treads over and applied a coat to the top side as well.

After each coat, I sand all the surfaces with 400 grit paper to smooth the surface and prepare it for the next coat.

I repeated this process three times.

Three coats of the water-based poly gives me a strong, protective, even finish.

One additional thing I wanted to do was paint the framing around the area where the access panels will sit. I am using a simple black acrylic paint.

This prevents the white wood from showing through the seams where I left gaps around the panels. It will instead just create a shadow line and blend in better with the dark stained wood around it.

The next day, everything was dry and it was time to load up. I packed as much as possible into my truck, then called my friend Troy and loaded his truck up with all the sub-framing components.

We had several volunteers, at the cathedral that helped us haul in all of the individual components. Without their help, I think I would still be there unloading…

I was very happy that my measurements were good, everything slotted right in where it was supposed to. My goal was a one-day install with as little noise and mess as possible.

First we setup and assembled the base frame.

I applied construction adhesive to the joists and started attaching the sub-floor. I went around and pre-drilled holes for my buddy Troy to follow along and screw in all the decking.

Troy also helped me set all of the heavy pieces in place and get them screwed together as well.

For the stairs, I used construction adhesive and 18 gauge brad nails to hold on the risers and treads.

Then we added the shelf up top and started attaching the oak trim.

Since the hardwood flooring won’t be installed until next week, I just set the base trim in place for now.

I attached the cap trim on top of the shelf. The top is done so I moved onto the base trim around the back.

I measured and marked my 135° corner trim to fit between the top cap and the base, then cut it down with my pull saw.

I applied construction adhesive to the back and pressed it in place.

It fit well and looked really good.

Since it is so thin, I didn’t want to risk attaching it with brad nails so I used the adhesive and 23 gauge pin nails to hold it in place while the glue dried.

The corners look really good…

And that was it for now. The maple doesn’t perfectly match the marble but it does compliment it nicely.

I also routed and installed the microphone cables when I installed the sub frame. It will hang out the side until the plates get installed.

I took a few pictures from several different angles.

Next up is the hardwood floors. I will be pre-finishing them this week and installing them next week. I want to give the finish a few days to fully cure before people start walking on it.

This came together really well. The entire install only took about five hours. All my prep work before-hand really paid off. Also, I am happy to get some floor space back in my shop…