Friday, May 8, 2009

We are FLOORED.

Priority #1 upon moving in to the house was the upstairs floors. Part dog pee stained carpet, part carpet over vinyl tile, part painted wood, the floors upstairs were not livable. We were holding out hope that the 'fir floors underneath' signs posted throughout the house when we bought it were true.

The stairs had been painted brown at some point but the traffic had worn through the paint in many places. The hallway was carpet over vinyl tile. The master bedroom was wood painted gray and the other two rooms were painted wood of various colors underneath a layer of carpet.

For the past three weeks we've set up camp downstairs sleeping in the living room and using the dining room as our closet while the floors were in progress. David ripped out carpet and painstakingly chipped off the vinyl tile that had been adhered to the wood below with a solid coat of old, mastic black glue
. A SOLID COAT. During this process the glue managed to get all over the house including the bathroom, entryway tile and the couch. None of the glue has yet to come off any of these surfaces. Not good. (Please note: David's opinion is that the glue did not get all over the house.)

After the glue incident, we got another special surprise...the layer of paint that was hiding below the carpet in the bedrooms was lead paint. Lovely. David managed to find a band of three Romanian dudes (none taller than 5' 3") to refinish all the upstairs floors and stairs despite the glue and lead issues. (
We're also pretty sure they practiced gymnastics on their breaks). The Romanians worked miracles. And by miracles I mean the really HUGE kind that make you cry. Yes, you can cry over floors...at least when they start out as ugly and dirty and stinky as ours and end up so beautiful. Don't laugh, you didn't have to live with the piss carpet smell.

The photos speak for themselves. Our Old Growth Douglas Fir floors first harvested in 1911 are exposed again! No staining required. Just sanded, sealed and delivered.


Stair Treds:
Upstairs Hallway:
Master Bedroom:
Bedroom 2 (Office):
Bedroom 3 (Guest Room):
Looking down the staircase to the landing:

3 comments:

  1. WOOD you look at that?! Amazing transformation! Oh, my gosh! I'm floored, too! I can't figure out why these beautiful floors were painted and covered with carpet and tile to begin with!!! It's like a whole new house! Way to have a really successful kick-off to your house renovation!

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  2. Wow, that's quite an improvement. Could you put me in contact with these folks? I'd love to use them for a home I'm purchasing.

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  3. Hi Jason. The guy that did our floors is Peter Pui and he can be reached at 503-317-6956. He does not have a website, but did amazing work for us at a great price. Be sure to tell him David and Kelly sent you. Good luck with your new home, and with your floors!

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