May 2, 2013

Rain + Waiting On Plumbing Parts = Floor

Rain. Over 6.5 inches in April have made the ground too saturated to work on our current outdoor projects, such as the buck pasture or current fencing project.

Waiting On Plumbing Parts. Dan had to mail order parts to finish the bathtub plumbing, and they hadn't arrived yet.

Floor. The hallway floor was the next indoor project on the list.

To give you some idea of the changes, here is a photo of the hallway when we first moved into the place.

Wide, pink hall.
The hallway when we first moved in with
linen closet at the end.  It's wide, about 5 ft.

We tore the linen closet out when we started on the bathroom. The other day, Dan pulled up the pink carpeting.

Linoleum was under the carpet. 

We discussed a variety of flooring options, and finally decided to use the materials leftover from the hardwood flooring project in the dining room. We had just enough vapor barrier, and almost enough oak floor planks.

We rented the flooring nail gun.

We were about 19 square feet short of finishing the area. Lowes sells bundles of hardwood flooring at 19 sq feet per bundle! But, because the new boards were narrower, we had to alternate some rows.

Some rows are 3.5", others are 2.5" Gaps near the wall allow for expansion.

I doubt this will be noticed once the floor is stained. And if it is, who cares.

Dan applying stain to the floor. Excess is wiped off with a rag.

We used the same color as we did for the bathroom window frame, but it seems to have turned out darker on the floor. Darker than I was hoping. One of the creative unknowns, I suppose. Here's what it looked like with the job finished.

The sheet (pulled out of the way, upper left) helps
to minimze dust all over the house from sanding. 

The polyurethane finish is next, and then Dan can get on to turning this space into its intended purpose. More on that soon.

23 comments:

Erin said...

That looks really beautiful. Good job!!

The Cranky said...

It looks spectacular and I can't wait to find out it's intended purpose. Always busy, you are!

Tina T-P said...

I know how it feels to get each project done when you are remodeling - Yay, one more thing to check off the list, and it looks great!

That Ziggy is being a tease, isn't she??? T.

Anonymous said...

It may be a bit darker than you planned, but it turned out really pretty. Great that you were able to use what you already had on hand to complete most of the project.

Leigh said...

Erin, thank you! And thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment. The link from your name says your Blogger profile is not public, so if you have a blog, I can't make a return visit. I appreciate yours to mine, however.

Jacqueline, thanks! It's exciting to have finally gotten this far.

Tina, Ziggy is driving me crazy! I need to find my goat calendar, where I jot down all my notes, but I think her next due date is in about two weeks.

Stephanie, we probably would have had enough floor boards except that some got used here and there for other projects. Still, I was relieved we could find the extras. :)

Farmer Barb said...

I know! It's a DANCE FLOOR!!! I love a dark floor. You will become accustomed to it. It highlights your decorations when you get them up. I notice no GOAT photos? We just had our first doe yesterday at the Nature Center. A little tan and white doe that looks lkie a mini Ziggy.

Thank you for sharing. It looks like a dream! What will we do when all our projects are finished?

Dani said...

Dark floors don't show the dirt, nor dog hairs like light coloured floors do ;) Good Job!

Kris said...

Great job! I'm sure you'll come to really like that rich color. Are you going to poly with gloss or satin?

Now about that Ziggy....what's WITH that goat???

daisy g said...

Wow! That's a lot of rain!

I like the staggered look of the planks. It makes it look more custom. Congrats on another accomplishment!

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

I so hear you on the rain and having to do in door projects. Is it really cold there too?

Your hall floor is beautiful. You and Dan do fabulous work, I need to have you both come down here and help with our floors (teasing about working on our floors).

I love the color of your floor, and I can't see the difference in the size of the wood.

Ed said...

Pulling up all the carpet and some tile in the house and replacing it with hardwood is making its way up on the list of things to do in our house. Since I have so much of it, I've been searching for used nailing guns for long term use. I've also been debating on whether to buy prefinished flooring or finish it myself keeping in mind that there will be five people living in the house at the same time. Until I decide, I enjoy reading others post on their experiences. Thanks.

Leigh said...

Barb, LOL. Could be. :) And no, no goat photos. Until Ziggy kids I figure folks have probably had enough of goat photos!

Dani, good point!

Kris, I think what we have is a semi-gloss, so we'll just use that. As far as Ziggy(!) I'm dusting off her next potential due date. :)

Daisy, if only the rain would spread itself out over the year! Every summer we have a long dry spell, where we're begging for rain. At least this year, I have our rainwater tanks. :)

Sandy, thanks! Temperature-wise, we've been really comfortable. Often in the 70s during the day, and we've actually had some days of low humidity, which make it delightful.

Ed, the thing I love about blogging, is that we can read one another's experiences and learn. Some of our best decisions have been based on the experience (both good and bad) of others.

Sherri B. said...

I think it looks great..I like the darker stain. There is nothing like a nice hardwood floor! xo

Renee Nefe said...

What you have in rain, we have in snow. Really frustrating in that we can't plant yet. It is just giving me time to come up with more ideas of what all I want to do.

I think Ziggy is holding out for a baby shower with cake. A friend of mine made a carrot cake for her horse's birthday. She didn't share the recipe though, but it looked to be mostly ground carrots.

DFW said...

Various size boards just add character. Beautiful!

Cat Eye Cottage said...

Your house will be top notch when you finish!

Cassandra said...

I think it looks great. I can't wait to see what the intended purpose of this room is.

Mama Pea said...

The intended purpose of this space? Boy, now you've really made all of us curious. Don't keep us in suspense too long!

I cannot believe Ziggy hasn't kidded yet. Cannot believe it!

P.S. Hope you saved that pink carpeting to use somewhere else. (Hee-hee.)

Leigh said...

Sherri, I love hardwood floors too. And the color is growing on me. :)

Renee, Ziggy would love a carrot "cake!" Surprise would be terribly jealous though. :) I have to say that I don't envy your snow!

DFW, thanks! It is turning out well.

Candace, I hope so. Except that we likely won't finish for another 10 years or so. :)

Cassandra and Mama Pea, that's upcoming soon!

And Mama Pea, Dan thinks we should use the pink carpet to remodel the chicken coop. !!!

And yes, Ziggy has us all in suspense.

Hannah said...

My DIL picked hardwood with blackened highlights, so you must be right in style. I use strips of carpet for weed killing in the garden. I won't mention Ziggy.

Leigh said...

Hannah, LOL. Update on Ziggy (and more) tomorrow. I think carpet would make an excellent weed killer in the garden, good idea. I haven't seen the blackened highlights in a hardwood floor. I need to take a look around for some examples!

CaliforniaGrammy said...

I gasped at the amount of rain you've had and it's only the 2nd of the month! Amazing!

But your floor is beautiful, and the difference in the board widths makes no difference in the overall beauty of the floor.

Poor poor Ziggy!

Leigh said...

Janice, I didn't realize the date. It should read, over 6.5 inches in April! Glad you caught that. :)