Sticky Fingers

Jan happened to notice a loose end to a long thin strip of oak trim when cleaning the granite top to the bathroom hand basin cabinet.  The strip of oak is almost completely obscured by the hand basin.  Moreover it’s under the gunwale.  Its purpose is to cover the joint between the granite top and the sidewall.  I could have just put a small dab of glue under the loose end, but if a job is worth doing then it’s worth doing well.

After carefully removing the oak trim (to avoid breaking it) I used a torch to look at the joint between the granite and the gunwale.  Some of the joint silicon sealer had started to fail, probably due to the expansion and contraction of the boat.  I don’t particularly like using silicon as a sealer because it has a tendency to fail over time thus requiring removal and replacement.  A better option is construction adhesive, which rarely fails.  I removed the failed part of the silicon sealer and replaced it with the last of the silicon left in the tube knowing it’s not a good idea to mix silicon sealer and construction adhesive. I could have just squeezed some silicon into the joint and left it as a rough seal.  It won’t be seen as the oak trim goes on top.  However I’d prefer to do the job properly, so the joint was masked up with tape to ensure the join was smooth, level and had straight edges.

The oak trim was sanded back and then given three coats of varnish.  I didn’t want to open a new tube of construction adhesive for such a small job, and then I remember I’d bought a dozen tiny tubes of instant glue (the “One Drop Holds a Ton stuff”) from Poundland.  Two tubes were sufficient to cover the underside of the oak trim.  Actually it was too much because when I turned the trim over some of the runny glue ran onto my fingers.  A frantic effort then resulted as I attempted to position the trim without VERY rapidly setting glue sticking it to my fingers.  This involved using consecutive fingers and each was contaminated by a small smear of glue. As I attempted to find more glueless fingers I discovered those covered in glue were starting to stick together.  Meanwhile I was still attempting the final positioning of the trim.   Eventually I managed to position the trim correctly without it being stuck to my fingers.  This was followed by a frantic effort to prevent my remaining fingers being permanently stuck together.  If I couldn’t pull them apart I could envisage the need for the involvement of a razorblade.  However I managed to avoid this with a few seconds to spare, but it left me with eight fingers covered in hardened glue.  A pot poly pad eventually resolved that problem and I now have very clean and pink looking digits.  It’s fortunately I didn’t have the urge to scratch my nose during the process!

Meanwhile Jan made the long walk to Sainsbury’s for a few essentials.  Are the custard doughnuts bought for me essential?   Hell yes!