February 24, 2014

Bedroom Remodel: Floor on Hold

Our bedroom floor is actually a subfloor, or perhaps there is no subfloor.
What I mean is, it's the only thing between us and the crawl space.

Here is a long overdue update on our bedroom remodeling project. The next step is the floor, and from our 2012 income tax return we set aside some money for that. We hung on to it until the end of the year and hoped to tackle the bedroom floor around Christmas. But a family member had a need and so the money went to that because, in the end, people are more important than things. So, getting the floor finished is pending the acquisition of new funds! In the meantime, life goes on with a zillion other projects.

Bedroom Remodel: Floor on Hold © February 2014 

14 comments:

Sarah said...

Leigh- it seems like you're taking this as just a bump in the road. Good for you! How wonderful that you were able to help a family member out. Maybe between now & the time money becomes available you'll find something that you love even more than what you had planned on doing!

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Home projects will always be there for us, helping family won't. Your family member truly appreciates all you've done to help them.
Maybe putting down a throw rug will help until you have that opportunity to work on the floor.
Soon you and Dan will have this floor done.

Farmer Barb said...

So often, our lists take on a life of their own. Then a reminder comes of our humanity and we look up. The floor WILL get done, the winter WILL get done and we will all be putting up food for next winter soon.

Soon. If I keep saying it, it will happen...

Mama Pea said...

No demerits for not getting the floor done yet. But lots of gold stars for lending the $$$ to a family member when it's really needed. It's good to be able to be there to help when we can . . . and, drat and darn, there seems to be a lot of folks having a tough time financially right now.

Leigh said...

Sarah, one thing we've learned is that our road is consistent with bumps. :)

Sandy, we've done just that, toss down a few throw rugs. Hopefully we can get that room finished and behind us soon!

Barb, that is so true. And I'll join you in saying it, "Soon."

Mama Pea, thank you! At least the chicken coop is more pay-as-we-go.

Nina said...

The floor isn't going anywhere, so the timeline is yours. It will all come together at some point. Family is more important.

Ed said...

In my opinion, an old hardwood floor full of scratches, nail holes, etc. is still better than the alternative of carpet or cheap laminate flooring. Once I get the layout of our house complete, I'm installing hardwood all around. I can't wait. It is so easy to keep clean and it never wears out!

F said...

Our whole house is this way too! We have no subfloor. The hardwood sits directly on the joists. It makes the floors very springy. Although the spring is at least partially because the joists are not a standard distance apart. In each room addition, of which there are at least four, the distance between joists changes.

We only have basement under the oldest part of the house and the result is the other rooms have really cold floors in the winter. With this exceptionally cold winter I've been considering our options for having insulation either sprayed under or attached under the house. Unfortunately the cost is something between $6-9,000 and the extra cost of heating the house even if we lived here more than 20 years would not be recouped.

Ah the joys of home-ownership. Hopefully you will get a decent return on your taxes this year and be able to get your project started.

Renee Nefe said...

Your post reminds me of the story in the movie UP! Carl & Ellie keep saving their money for a trip to Paradise Falls, yet something always comes up and they have to use the money for that instead.
I hope that doesn't happen to you.

What are the plans you are saving up for?

Leigh said...

Nina, that's a fact. We're still able to use it and enjoying a warmer winter bedroom.

Ed, I confess I agree with you, but Dan has his heart set on carpeting for the bedroom at least.

Foy Update your house sounds like ours! All of our floor joists are 24" apart, resulting in that saggy bouncy floor. Dan added support beams and bridging which helped. Crazy how they used to make houses.

Renee, I forgot about that movie! Cute. The savings were for carpeting. As I mentioned to Ed, Dan has his heart set on carpeting for the bedroom. He thinks it's easier on his knees when he walks around the room barefoot. Plus warmer to put bare feet on when getting out of bed. :)

Anonymous said...

I am sure the family member is grateful! But there also must be that little twinge of "so close". So glad you are always sharing what you are up to, it inspires those of us just starting.

http://caffeinatedhomestead.weebly.com/blog.html

DFW said...

Project can always wait, people not so much, especially those in need. Good for you!

On a side note. I thought I had left my copy of your book in Mexico, I couldn't find it for the life of me. I was about 1/2 way through reading it & when I got home I looked & looked & couldn't find it anywhere! Well, I am getting ready to head to another quilting retreat in VA & pulled out my suitcase. Low & behold, in one of the secret zipper compartments, I found the book! Whew. I could have sworn I looked there but I guess not. I hope to have some time to finish it next week. I may have to re-read a bit but I am so glad to have it back in my possession!

Debby Riddle said...

it's not a bad looking subfloor , as sub floors go, but I would want a little more insulation. we lived in a little cabin once, in a lake community, with sandy soil. Our ceiling was the bottom of the second story loft's floor. I will never forget the day we had company, the kids went upstairs to play, and the adults were sitting around the table after dinner. Especially with the extra children, it sounded like they were coming through the floor,the noise was so exaggerated, it startled me! then we watched as years of sand in the cracks of that floor , sifted all over the remains of our dinner! No leftovers were saved. I think by the time we moved from there, our kids had vibrated all the sand from the unreachable areas of that floor:)

Shawn said...

Wow! This is exactly where we are. All of our hardwood floors, including those over crawl were laid direct on joists. As was mentioned by someone else, with older farm houses built by farmers, load and span requirements with joists were often were less important then available materials and dollar bill considerations. As such the spacing of joists and their sizing can be suspect, as was our case. The open first floor, especially to dirt crawl is problematic all around, but we started on the second floor where I am replacing all joists and re-laying a proper TG subfloor before putting back the old hardwoods. Check it out coming soon, perhaps my errors can save some headache for you! Good luck!