Maple Hardwood Floors

The project this weekend was to finish the hardwood floors. 

Old floors with the closet transition finished. 

I say 'closet transition' because I'm not sure what else to call it. You can see the painted boards, that is where the closet was. There was a wall up between the closet and the bedroom. So when we took the wall out we had to fix the floor to give it a natural flow into the bedroom. Brent ripped up all the closet boards,  cut into the bedroom floor boards, filled the gap and gave it a natural flow. It was a TON of work, but it really paid off. The floors turned out beautifully. 

Brent rented a Random Orbital U-Sand sander from the local Hardware Hank for $60/day.

He sanded for over 7 hours! I went up to see how he was doing 2 hours into it and he said he almost fell asleep it was so boring! I took over for a while. The boards in the closet were the worst because they were painted - it took for-ever to get them sanded down! The rest of it went pretty quick. 

Sanding finished. At this point he used some cleaner and wiped down a few spots to see how smooth the floor would look once finished and we noticed a lot of scratches still in it. This was from all the plaster that we ripped off the walls and shoveled across the floor. We contemplated either sanding more, renting the machine for another day ($$) or just leaving it and call it 'character'. We decided to leave it.

Pretty. Brent calls them 'rustic'.

Amazing difference. 

The next day we put the polyurethane on. Slap it on, wait two hours for it to dry, again, and again and again. 

After 4 coats of poly, we sanded on our hands and knees to get a nice smooth finish. Believe it or not we cant even see those scratches from shoveling the plaster. I'm glad we decided to just leave it alone. 

Floor complete. We decided not to stain the floors a color and keep it natural. The sun will do the staining for us over time. 

I will post a better picture of the finished floors later. He has been working on installing the new door and trim. 

Demo: Bedroom #1

 First things first - ditch the old brown shag carpet and unveil that beautiful hardwood floor! Next we tore off the old wall paper which revealed a yellow wall. Then we or he rather, began knocking down all the plaster. People ask us why we didn't just sheet rock over the plaster walls? Two reasons: led paint and lack of insulation in the walls. 

Look at those beautiful floors! 

That is a walk-in closet. A good use of space using the eves of the house - more plaster! 

Piles of old plaster, slats and old insulation. Plaster walls amaze me. All the slats they use, and each one nailed individually. We pulled a lot of nails. 

This was such a mess, so dusty. We wore masks and head coverings. My Dad put the skid loader outside the window and we shoveled it all out the window. Scoop by scoop by scoop ... 

Knocked out the closet wall.

You can see the chimney on the left (still blue). We tried to chip the plaster off to expose the brick but it didn't work. The little bit that is exposed didn't have plaster stuck directly on it. I wish we could have exposed it, but as he chipped off the plaster, the brick came with it.

Next, my Dad wired up outlets and light switches. He was an electrician in the Navy years ago. After the wiring was finished we insulated the exterior walls with batt insulation and a layer of pink foam board for the vapor barrier. It is a hot and toasty room now. 

After insulating came the joy of sheetrocking, taping and mudding. Hauling 70lb sheets of rock up those narrow steps was quite a chore for the guys.

Brent did the rock with help, but the taping and mudding we hired out since we only have a day and half on the weekends to work on it...there just wasn't time and in this small town it was cheaper to pay someone than bother with it. 

Remember that closet, now it's part of the room. 

I love the beam that he installed (this also acts as a support for the roof!). The beam will be exposed and wrapped. 

Brent has been working on the wood floors in the closet. We thought about just adding a transition piece where the wall between the two rooms were, but instead decided to create a more natural look.

Moved the door in and added a closet to the interior wall.

I love how the curve from the wall to the ceiling was preserved -  classic farmhouse style.

Closet.

Painted. Hirschfields "Haystack". 

When Brent painted the ceiling he added a little sand to the paint to give it the continued effect of plaster. 

My next job is to pick a ceiling fan, the color of the floor stain and trim boards.

A Tour of The Farmhouse

The old farmhouse was built in 1913 and celebrating 100 years this year. My parents have owned the house for 33 years. These photos reflect their belongings and some disorganization because they are in the begining stages of moving 33 years of life so you'll see boxes, bins and clutter in some rooms. We plan to move into the house soon. 

Farmhouse Kitchen

Original hardwoods throughout the entire house, up and down, including bathrooms. Maple floors.

My Mom used to do stained glass. You'll see a few windows throughout the house with her artwork. 

That little shelf is where the old phone used to be. 

You'll see many antiques throughout the house. My mother is a collector.

You can see the door to the master bedroom on the right. This is typical old farmhouse to have the master right off the kitchen. 

Master bedroom.

Master closet door.

The closet was an addition years ago when the previous owners needed a closet, there is no basement under it. It just hangs on the side of the house. It's very cold. 

Lower master bedroom.

Notice the window in the bedroom on the left wall. This was a recent addition. They added 7 feet onto the house to install a shower in the lower bathroom. That window used to look outside. 

Lower master bedroom.

Living Room

The brick shows where an old wood stove used to sit. 

View of living room facing east.

The stained glass door is technically the front of the house. There is a porch attached. It's uninsulated and lets a lot of cool air into the house, but not so bad that they cant use it.  

Formal Dining. Facing south.

Sunroom

The sunroom was a slow addition 20 years ago. This is the most popular room in the house - very cozy and warm. There is a little electric fireplace in the corner. This room also serves as a greenhouse in the winter/spring months.

Formal Dining room. Built in's added in the last 30 years. 

Front porch. West side.

This is the back (front) porch. Check out the wood floors. Main floor washer and dryer. 

Main floor bathroom.

Main floor bathroom.

Shower in the main floor bath.

My mom has a bad knee and the addition of the shower reduced the amount of steps she had to do. 

Stairway.

Upper landing.

Upper full bath

Upper full bath

Upper bedroom #1. 

We'll call this bedroom number 1. It was my little brothers old room. It faces west and overlooks the farm. Notice that lovely carpet and wallpaper.  

Upper bedroom #2.

This was my old room. The only thing that is the same as when I lived here is the paint color and the drapes. Hardwood floors exposed in here. Faces east over the garden. 

That door leads to the attic. 

The door on the right is a walk-in closet door. Cold and uninsulated. Both bedrooms have these closets.  

A few years ago my parents removed the baseboard heat and installed geo-thermal. The baseboard heat was heated by a wood burning stove near the house-hot water heat. 

I left out pictures of the basement. It is a full basement, except for the back porch, totally unfinished old farmhouse basement. 

Our current house is for sale and we will occupy this house as soon as it sells. My folks are being very kind and letting us remodel the house before we move into it. 

We live 1 hour from 'the farm' and the last 5 weekends have been spent ripping out and remodeling bedroom number 1.