We made it! (kinda)

I've been so busy trying to meet our deadline that I haven't had time to post or take pictures of our progress.  The floors are done.  They consumed us for about 10 days straight but they're done and they're beautiful and they're all covered up with paper ready for their big reveal when the house is done.  We did not get the cabinets installed but got the bases set into place for the counter guy to measure.  He's going to look through some remnants in the color family I chose and let me know what's available.  Paint is going on right now.  Doug is replacing the rotten subfloor in the old bathroom and we are keeping super busy......... Hopefully pictures to come soon--if I remember :-)

Still talking floors...

We have spent the last week focused on floors.  As of right now they are stained and had the first coat of poly.  We used this stain and it turned out a little lighter than I wanted but we didn't have time to do a second coat.  I'm happy with the color but maybe would have liked it a tad bit darker.  The polyurethane was difficult and I'm a little nervous to go back today and see how it is drying.  Second going will go on as soon as it's dry.  That may take some time with this wet, cold weather we are having.  So far, so good for Monday's deadline.......

P.S.  I couldn't take pictures because we had to back ourselves out of the house as we did this project.....

Floors, floors, floors....

I mentioned this deadline that we have coming up...... I still don't know if we're going to make it, but we're trying our hardest.  We installed the new hardwood floors Thursday night and Friday night.  The sanding of the old floors started Saturday morning..... We rented a large orbital sander and it just wasn't getting the job done so we got a big drum sander to see if that would go any easier.  It did from the aspect that we didn't have to change the paper as often, but it was still tough going.  The finish on the old floors was not polyurethane but some old oil varnish that did not want to come off.  It would only gum up and chew up sandpaper.  Doug was amazing in his tenacity to get the job done and was up to the wee hours each night so the sander could be returned this morning.  We still have to use the orbital to get them polished up for stain and then the floors will be all done.  They look awesome already!

This is what the dining and living room looked like Saturday morning.

And this is the opposite view of dining into kitchen.  I think the new and old will match up nicely once they are stained to match.

This is the new flooring in the kitchen and third bedroom. 

 

When we're done all the floors will be hardwood with the exception of the two bathrooms and back hall/laundry area.

Progress

I was given a deadline a few days ago to have the kitchen cabinets set so that my countertops could be measured on April 22nd.  Sometimes a deadline is what you need to kick it in gear and sometimes it just causes stress and in our case it's little of both.  Before we can set the cabinets the new floors have to be installed, stained and protected.  Before the floors can be done the painting needs to be at least primed.  So that's what we've been doing.  The walls, ceilings and trim have all been primed and the ceilings all painted.

We have now started installing the 3/4" oak in the third bedroom and kitchen.  The rest of the hardwood is in good shape it just needs to be sanded and refinished. 

Tools.....

I thought I would put together a list of some of the tools that we have found helpful in this process.  Many times it is cheaper to buy tools and do it yourself rather than hire it done.  On some jobs we didn't have experience doing I've found the internet more than helpful.  There's a YouTube video for everything!

We bought a wallpaper steamer and borrowed one as well.  I had bad luck with the first one I bought and had to take it back.  I returned it for another and it didn't work either.  I did return for the third time and got one that worked well.  Go figure.......  Aaron was the main man in wallpaper removal and he thought the steamer worked the best in getting off the paper and the glue. 

I have used this little orbit sander a ton and love it.  I've used it to sand trim and doors as well as some furniture I'm refinishing.

Over the years I've had need for an air compressor and just never did justify spending the money.  However, knowing we would need one to use a nail gun we did end up purchasing a small one to use with the stapler and finish gun.  I do wish I had a bigger one that would keep up the pressure a little longer, but I like the size and portability of it.  I have also used it to blow off dust and will use it a lot more once I begin to paint trim.  Aaron particularly likes the stapler and finish gun.  I admit they're fun to use too.....

I have not used the miter saw yet, but Doug says it makes nice clean cuts and he's done several straight and miter cuts with it.

We also bought a paint sprayer to prime the walls, ceilings, trim and doors.  I will have to let you know how this works out.

We chose to purchase the things above for a couple of reasons...... first, they are things we will most likely use again and have had need for in the past.  For instance, I wish we would have had that paint sprayer last summer when we painted our deck!  Also, we figured the cost of paying someone else to do it and by purchasing our own equipment we were WAY ahead financially and we learned a new skill in the process. 

There are some things that we will choose to rent.  We have a circular saw, recipricating saw and miter saw.  Although a table saw would be nice for installing flooring the cost outweighed the benefit.  A jig saw would be nice to have as well but again, not enough need to justify the cost.  We are in envy of people who have all the fancy tools and maybe someday we'll collect some more good stuff too......

Because the house has 10 ft ceilings and it ALL has to be painted we did buy scaffolding to assist in the painting.  The last time I painted on a ladder it took several chiropractor visits to get me put back together.  So in this case the cost of the scaffolding is much less than a few Dr. bills.

We are taking the weekend off and enjoying time with family in celebration of the Lord's resurrection. May you all have a blessed Easter holiday!

Getting Ready to Paint

The paint prep is taking forever!  The walls are ready thanks to my drywall guys--great job and super shout out to Clint Garey and crew!  However, the trim has been scraped, scrubbed, repaired and sanded and we're still not done.....

Snow!

I think they're saying we got 17" of snow yesterday.  It is gorgeous!  We didn't realize how bad it was though and sent Abby back to school yesterday.  The normal 70 min. drive took her over 3 hours--not fun!  Aaron has a snow day but got up at 6:30 to help clear a car lot, Doug has a meeting in Canton and I am at work.  No rest for the weary I guess.......  We didn't get everything on our list done this weekend at the house so painting is postponed this week........  happy Monday!