New Floors - part 2

The flooring installation has begun!  It was a bit of a hassle because we had to move everything out of the art room and try to make room for it in the other rooms, but it was totally worth it! Check out the pictures below:

So much clutter - do you think I am a hoarder?

Looks like this room has been through a lot of color changes.

Part of an old vintage Bon Ton advertisement.

This squeaky board was created when the kitchen light was installed.

Uncle Don put down padding first to make the old floor less noisy.

Next came the actual floor boards.

It looks pretty amazing!

The rest can't be installed until we pull up the carpet in my office.

Morgaine and Mako aren't sure how they feel about the new floor.

New Floors

Hi guys!  I know this blog has been quiet for a while, but it's been pretty slow around here lately - at least home improvement-wise.  But now all of that is about to change - we're getting new floors upstairs.  You may remember that the carpet in the art room was torn up after the bathroom was finished, and that it looked rather terrible.  Well, Chris and I went around about it for a while, but we've decided to go ahead and buy some laminate flooring rather than refinish the stuff that's already there.  There are just too many messed up areas that would have to be repaired - and who even knows what is under the rest of the carpet up there?  It will be easier to get something new and uniform to cover up any possible surprises we might find.  The installation process is set to begin in a week or two - so check back soon for more updates!

Surprise Hardwood Floor

So the other day, while Chris and I were at work, Aunt Candy and Uncle Don came over and took up the carpet in the playroom.  It was pretty much ruined with stains from the bathroom project and also from my cat (she, for some reason, took offense to the carpet in that room and used it as her litter box).  So I was pretty excited when they called me at work to let me know it was gone.  I was even more excited to hear that there was, in fact, a hardwood floor underneath.  I was not so excited to hear that it was in pretty bad shape.


When I got home, this is the sight that awaited me:

You may be thinking "oh, that's not so bad," which is exactly the first thing I thought.  But then I gave it a closer look and found:

This 1960s era newspaper clipping painted to the floor (there are a few of these).

This rickety middle section of the floor (so that's why there was a dip in the carpet).

 

This metal place covering a hole for an old heat vent.

This huge gouge.

This metal plate covering the hole for (what I assume was) the old chimney.

All in all, it is a bit of a disaster.  The plan is to put down a new floor with vinyl or flooring, but I am not so sure.  Part of me, an unrealistically ambitious part of me, wants to try and refinish this floor.  I don't even know how to refinish a floor, but it can't be that hard.  Ha ha.  What do you think?

But I already love the difference not having carpet in there has made.  It is taking every ounce of my restraint to not remove it from the rest of the rooms upstairs.  I mean, if there are hardwood floors under the carpet in one room, it's probably like that in all the rooms, right?

Also, if you are bored, go ahead and play Spot The Intrusive Cats with the pictures in this post.  I'll give you a hint:  there are cat parts in 50% of these photos.