Since this photo was taken, we have had a couple of "issues." First, the windows to the right. In the midst of a huge storm, they started leaking. And completely destroyed the wall under the window, and now the plaster has crumbled and I am debating repairing the plaster or just smashing the crap out of it, tearing it out, and replacing it with drywall. There was a considerable amount of water that also soaked into the wood floor, presumably damaging it even though it is hidden by the vast expanse of "realtor beige" carpet that covers most of the flat surfaces in our house.
After "The Flood," my cat took it upon himself to further destroy the flooring in the room by selecting a few places to repeatedly (and I mean repeatedly) pee. The entire room still stinks of cat piss. I keep it closed permanently, which is a huge loss because it is a great dining room. The table is huge (I know, I refinished it), and is a great room for dinner parties. It also has an attached butler's pantry:
My mother claims the butler's pantry is the only reason that I bought the house. I don't tell her this, but I suspect she may be onto something.
So, here is "The Big New Project"....This weekend I am tearing up the carpet in the dining room AND the hardwood floor. Yes, there will be prybars involved! And the hiring of younger brothers!
Why am I doing this? Because I have purchased a new floor. Yes! A new floor! And not just any floor. Solid oak, and stained an espresso color to match the black box beams in the ceiling.
Why replace rather than refinish? Ah, that is a very good question you ask. The reason is that I would like to refinish the rest of the floors in the house. Unfortunately, the contractors shared with me that the reason for the carpeting is that the floors are badly damaged, and needed much patching when they renovated the house.
When you take a floor installed in 1920, and repair it with wood from 2009, there is really no way to make it look exact. For one, the width of the slats. Times have changed, and the standard width has changed as well. Also, thickness. Again, not standard over time, not to mention that the thickness of the floors can be changed by how many times the original floors have been sanded. Finally, age adds a patina to the coloring that cannot be recreated with stains.
So, given all this, HOW will we ever patch the floors to repair them in the rest of the house??? That is where the dining room comes in! This is the one floor that I would like the stain to be "not brown." Mainly, because of the black box beams, and the black table and chairs that I worked so hard on. Because of that, I am willing to sacrifice the original floor in that room so that that wood can be stored as a source for patches in other rooms.
By patching the other rooms with original flooring from the house, the patches will be less noticeable, it will be easier for the refinishers, and ultimately, CHEAPER for me! So, when we finally tear up the carpet in the living room:
3 comments:
I would buy a house because of the butler's pantry. Love that pic. How's about backing the upper cabinet shelves with fabric or tin?
Michelle, you're a genius. It had to be said, so there. Good luck, I'm sure it will look amazing finished, since that table and chairs does, too!
You'll love having the resource of extra original boards when you get to the living room.
But, it is possible to match the width and thickness of older boards. I did it in a 100 yr old Victorian house in TC - I had the boards milled to my specs and then sanded and refinished the floors. They were done so well that you really had to know where the spots were that they were filling in. But, it wasn't cheap! Picky yes, cheap, no. But I had no other source for original boards, and it was important to me to keep what I could.
Good luck with the project.
oh, I vote go with the drywall replacement.
Post a Comment