The initial estimate of both time and money spent to refinish our floors has doubled. We went from a re-finish to a full on balls to the wall restoration. It took 4 weeks of non-stop labor and about $1000 give or take to re-store the floors. It took two weeks to rip out carpet, tile, staples and more, another 5-6 days sanding and another 5-6 days sealing the floors. It was countless hours of manual labor but soooooo worth it. What we were able to accomplish on our own for pocket change would have cost the price of our first born if we had to hire someone to do what we just did. Granted, we didn't end up with professionally re-stored floors but heck we ended up with some damn fine good floors in 4 weeks!! Sadly I have no camera because I lost it in the hustle and bustle of feeling homeless and between dwellings in the past 4 weeks.
That brings me to today though. Today marks my one day off between projects. While my floors are curing I am getting geared up to sprint through a packing marathon. Tomorrow at this time, my furniture will be settling in to my other home. Needless to say my packing and organizational skills are a bit lacking since I have spent the last month sanding floors. It's time to get crack-a-lacking and start a-packing!!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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....
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....
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
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!!
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