So in addition to all the craziness that comes with the end of the school year, we also finally had the floors replaced in the house. One thing we loved about this house was the oak floors in the living room and dining room. They had an amazing pattern on them and were original to the house.
We discovered after moving in and starting to fix up our house that the 100-year floors had 100-years of sanding and refinishing, meaning that they'd reached their limit (when you can see the tongues in the tongue-and-groove floor and have spots where you can actually see into the basement, you know things have gone a little too far). So we realized that what we need to do is replace the floors, but we definitely wanted to keep the uniqueness of the pattern. Luckily there is a
flooring company right here in Westfield that right off the bat gave me a "Sure, no problem!" when I asked if they could replicate the pattern (the other company I talked to tried to talk me into a regular hardwood floor with an inlay around the edge instead of giving us the same thing).
The project kept getting pushed back by other more important and immediate projects, and then right when we were about to pull the trigger last summer Jim lost his job, so one more pushing back. Once Jim got employed again and we still had the money earmarked in the bank for the project we were raring to go.
So now it's time for some pictures, pictures and more pictures! I don't think they do the project justice, either in seeing the shape of the former floor or the glory of the new one, but it will at least get the idea across.
This is the old floor. Here is one of those instances where it actually looks better in the picture than it did in real life. If you look closely you can see in the bottom left corner of this photo how the wood was getting old and discolored in some parts. You can also see if big gaps between some of the boards, which are just impossible to get dirt and dust out of.
Unfortunately the only picture I got of the cross-hatching in the doorway came out blurry. But this is where Alex and I would have to periodically get on our hands and knees and find popped-up nails to hammer back in, otherwise our socks ended up with holes in the bottom of them.
Demo of the old floor. This was the worst part of the project, as 100 years of dirt and dust flew up and coated everything in my house. I'm still trying to get everything clean again.
Sub-floor, original to the house. I just get amazed at how long things have lasted in these old houses.
The new floor begins to get laid down in the dining room. They started in the center of both rooms and worked out. The pattern is almost exactly the same, but boards these days are about 1/4" wider than the old boards. The overall effect is the same though (the cost of custom-milled boards was not something we wanted to add into the total).
Living room floor getting started. Of course adjustments came along the way. They were going to trowel down glue under the new boards until they realized the glue would then drip all over our basement through the sub-floor, so things were modified.
More floor.
Floor all laid, but unfinished. Of course nothing goes as planned - the "3 days" promised for the job was two days then "it needs to sit for few days" that ran over a holiday weekend, plus a few more days, finally finished after almost 10 days.
Replicated cross-hatch pattern in the doorway (still unfinished).
Finished living room (spots are reflection on my camera lens). They nicely framed in the tile in front of the fire place, which had been a weird no-mans-land of broken out tile and no wood).
Finished doorway between rooms.
Finished dining room. But now the walls look like crap, so the next project is to get someone in to paint the living and dining room. This is the one portion of painting we need to hire out - the living room extends up the stairway to the upper landing, and the ceiling height on the landing goes all the way up to the top of the house, which we'd NEVER be able to reach to do. Plus we want to see about getting a new mantel built for the fireplace that better fits the house, and to paint the weirdo paint job on those fireplace bricks. I guess eventually we will be done...someday...
In addition to our craft and snack, we had a limbo contest.
Hot potato game.
And MANY rounds of freeze dance.
It was a really good class, and with only 16 children it was a perfect size.
Guess he's a first-grader now!
This is the old floor. Here is one of those instances where it actually looks better in the picture than it did in real life. If you look closely you can see in the bottom left corner of this photo how the wood was getting old and discolored in some parts. You can also see if big gaps between some of the boards, which are just impossible to get dirt and dust out of.
Unfortunately the only picture I got of the cross-hatching in the doorway came out blurry. But this is where Alex and I would have to periodically get on our hands and knees and find popped-up nails to hammer back in, otherwise our socks ended up with holes in the bottom of them.
Demo of the old floor. This was the worst part of the project, as 100 years of dirt and dust flew up and coated everything in my house. I'm still trying to get everything clean again.
Sub-floor, original to the house. I just get amazed at how long things have lasted in these old houses.
The new floor begins to get laid down in the dining room. They started in the center of both rooms and worked out. The pattern is almost exactly the same, but boards these days are about 1/4" wider than the old boards. The overall effect is the same though (the cost of custom-milled boards was not something we wanted to add into the total).
Living room floor getting started. Of course adjustments came along the way. They were going to trowel down glue under the new boards until they realized the glue would then drip all over our basement through the sub-floor, so things were modified.
More floor.
Floor all laid, but unfinished. Of course nothing goes as planned - the "3 days" promised for the job was two days then "it needs to sit for few days" that ran over a holiday weekend, plus a few more days, finally finished after almost 10 days.
Replicated cross-hatch pattern in the doorway (still unfinished).
Finished living room (spots are reflection on my camera lens). They nicely framed in the tile in front of the fire place, which had been a weird no-mans-land of broken out tile and no wood).
Finished doorway between rooms.
Finished dining room. But now the walls look like crap, so the next project is to get someone in to paint the living and dining room. This is the one portion of painting we need to hire out - the living room extends up the stairway to the upper landing, and the ceiling height on the landing goes all the way up to the top of the house, which we'd NEVER be able to reach to do. Plus we want to see about getting a new mantel built for the fireplace that better fits the house, and to paint the weirdo paint job on those fireplace bricks. I guess eventually we will be done...someday...
