The Hardwoods Are Finished
After 45+ hours of hard labor, they're finished. Last weekend we celebrated the completion of a project that we thought would take forever. Our hardwood floors. We were installing these throughout the entire first floor, minus the master bedroom. One thing I'm sure of is that our backs will never be the same :) But it was worth every pain and grown. We love them!
Now that we take time to examine things, there are a few rows we would've done differently, areas we would've been more patient on, and cuts that we would've perfected. To the naked eye they're good enough for resale! That's the lens in which we view most of our renovations... "What are the potential buyers going to think?" We're not thinking of selling anytime soon, we know the earliest would be in roughly 4-5 years.
I know what you've come to see, more before and after photos. Enjoy, and let us know what you think! As always, if you have questions about specific steps, let us know. We were only able to do this by learning from others (thank you DIYNetwork, The Home Depot, and YouTube).
Friday Night Agenda
- Get as far as you can installing floors
Well...take a look at the bottom photo and you'll see how far we got... from the far left wall that sticks out till where the wood stops. Let's just say there were 4 doorways that we had to work our way around and those definitely are the most time consuming.
Saturday's Agenda
- Finish installing the floors
We got over to the house around 10:30AM and told ourselves that if the end came close in sight, we would work as late as it took.
Like I mentioned before, doorways are the hardest to work around, especially when the doorjams are not cut all the way and you have to chisel or cut the space open. Here JT is using his handy Dremel saw. He loves this thing.
Sunday's Agenda
- Fill nail holes & stain the wood filler
- Install air returns
- Chisel door frames
- Sweep the floors
- Install washer/dryer
- Clean the garage
- Put appliances back in place
Note to self: dark floors show white dirt easily. Imagine how your black pea coat shows lint in the middle of winter. Yes, it's that similar. Looks like a lot of sweeping is in our future!
What happens when you try to screw back in the electric unit to your stove with an electric drill? You get shocked, sparks fly, and the evidence is left on the wall. Good thing JT still has his limbs! That was a close call.
After putting in so many hours indoors, JT couldn't wait to get outside and trim some things. Not sure if this is the best time of year to be doing yard work (due to freezing temperatures), but who cares! It's fun and looks so much better.
Now, drum roll please... here's the before and afters!
