floor restoration

So apparently there is a very large difference between refinishing a floor vs restoring a floor...who knew?  Certainly not I.  I spent the last two weeks of my life pulling up tiles, carpet, staples and nails.  Once that was over I thought is was smooth sailing.  I thought Home Depot gave you a sander for the day and voila....24 hours later you had nice smooth floors. 

Boy was I ever loving wrong.  I should have been tipped off when I heard we needed a drum sander and not an orbital.  Apparently the orbital wouldn't take care of the damage that the drum sander would.  What?  There's damage?  I didn't realize that the splintered floor boards in the middle of the dining room or running down the length of the hallway posed an issue.  I certainly didn't realize that the 50 or 60 year old paint covering large portions of floor boards would be difficult to sand off and would ruin disc after disc after disc.  I also failed to understand that when my husband had to replace damaged floorboards in 5 of the 6 rooms we were refinishing that in fact we weren't refinishing but refurbishing!!  Holy smokes someone should have prepared me. 

By day number 4 of sanding the floorboards, my husband corrected me when I commented on how long the refinishing process took when people assured me it would be relatively easy.  At this point in time, my husband gently informed me that we were restoring the floor to it's origins and not simply refinishing a floor that needed a new coat of poly.  Oh!!  So that's why we are moving into day #5 of sanding and still haven't sealed the boards....now I see. 

It has been a slow and arduous process but one that will pay off in the long run.  I had every intention of documenting with pictures until I misplaced the battery charger for the 100th time and have had no chance to look for it.  I have had thoughts of investing in a video camera to tape the rest of the refinishing and the 95 projects on our to do list ranging from dishwasher installation to laying tile to blowing foam insulation.  Somewhere along the way I am also trying to convince my husband that hot tub installation needs to be bumped to the top 5 on the list.  For the meantime though floor restoration has become my home away from home, my second job, my other love....

72 hours

Friday morning started with a pedicure and ended with keys to my first home.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I spent ripping up carpet, tearing down paneling and drop ceilings and removing plaster.  I have the cuts, blisters, scrapes and bruises to prove it too!!  We started with a totally inhabitable dwelling and have ended up with a demolition zone.  We are almost ready to put it back together again.  Just a few hundred thousand more staples to remove and we'll be good to go. 

Me and my raging headache are headed back to the construction site today to continue along with the tedious task of staple pulling.  Fingers crossed that I can get at least one whole room done!!



T-24 hours

until I can swing my sledgehammer and start the renovations...

learning curve

Yep.  There is certainly a learning curve associated with buying a house and moving into that house.  Right now, I enjoy neither process.  I find that I am spending an inordinate amount of time fielding phone calls and sending faxes!!  Say what?!  Seriously.  The mortgage lender contacted me today in regard to a check I deposited back in February asking for a copy of the check....stat!  No big deal but they've had these bank statements for over a week and are calling 3 days before closing?  oy vey....

Some of the other great annoyances in my life right now are the dirty dishes, packing boxes and field mines everywhere I turn.  There is just shit everywhere!! Holy smokes.  Some people choose to live this way no less but I want to tear my hair out.  I cannot wait until this is all over :))

yep....

Those are dirty and nasty dishes in the sink.  A juicer and sink full of fruit rinds.  It doesn't get much worse or does it?  I am only documenting this so that one day I actually believe I had to suffer through this.  If this wasn't happening to me I don't think I could ever imagine it....

I am the queen of cardboard right now as it is all I am surrounded with.  Well cardboard and dirty dishes.  I look forward to not seeing another cardboard box in my life.  I also look forward to a vacation.  I am thinking sand, sun, water and drinks with umbrellas!!!

haute puppy

 We have had this puffball since Thanksgiving and have diligently been working with a trainer to curb his vicious ways.  We were unable to get him under control on our own.  Although he knew commands like sit, stay and settle, he couldn't leave his street side mentality at the front door and would attack me when I fed him or any time for that matter.  He would bark and go wild whenever someone would enter our apartment.  Anytime there was a knock at the door or a noise he didn't like he would haul ass through all the rooms barking and going wild. At times, it was bad....very bad.  Somedays I wanted to give him back to the shelter but I knew with the amount of times that the hubs and I had been bitten he would be put down 1,2,3.  I can't get rid of him now.  He had some terrible owners before us.  He was a stray on the streets in Philly and was adopted by someone that never house trained him and locked him in a room for the summer until they returned him to the shelter.  Then we found him and he became our badass problem.  

 Alas, we contacted Christine a couple of months after we had him to help us deal with his food aggression, dominance, trust and fear issues.  Christine came twice and loaded us down with lots of homework.  We had to modify his feeding schedule, walking routine and lots of other day to day activities.  We have him on a homeopathic anxiety med and will be switching his food from Purina 1 to a freeze dried human grade food.  Once we move and settle into our new digs we are also getting the little guy his own treadmill too.  Our trainer has faith in him that he will be able to do 30 minutes of mentally burning exercise on the treadmill while I get ready for work in the morning!!!   I am really excited that he one day he could potentially be fully rehabbed!

In the 5 months we have had him he has never been groomed.  He was far too crazy to take to the groomer.  We leave his rabies tag on him when walking him for fear he will bite someone.  I couldn't imagine unleashing this terror on a groomer.  Christine begged to differ though and referred us to Gretchen at doggie & kitty style.  Sure enough, my little guy did almost just fine... up until she went to touch his face.  He had enough for the day but he did manage to get his nails clipped, bathed, trimmed and brushed.  He saunters through the neighborhood like the show dog he was meant to be.  He's one haute puppy now and I can't wait to take him back to Gretchen.