January 20, 2009
New and improved floors, walls, and ceilings
We are 5 1/2 weeks away from completion! Still pretty hard to imagine, but Mike and his cavalry have been working like mad―plastering the walls/ceilings and laying new hardwood floors. This photo show the stunning plaster crown in our kitchen, recreated by Kevin Perez. After the jump is the lovely wood floor of the garden level living room.
When we bought the house, there was vinyl floor tile in every room, some of which unfortunately tested positive for asbestos. So, we had to have the affected tile removed by a licensed contractor, who utilized the required, very costly and involved abatement procedures, including a decontamination chamber and third-party air-monitoring. We were sorry for the huge expense, but glad to have the assurance that the hazardous material was completely removed from our future, safe home.
Once the tile was gone, we were able to assess the state of the wood floors beneath. Even though the original parquet was missing, we had hoped that the subfloor, made of old-growth pine, could be refinished to lend a kind of rustic look, at least in the bedrooms. Another big disappointment and another big expense, they were not salvageable.
So,
we were looking at replacing all the floors on all four levels of the
house. We thought about carpeting the apartments, but in the end
decided that laying new hardwood floors everywhere would make the
spaces so much more beautiful and increase marketability. So, the new
floors have been expertly laid down by Neale, who was filmed for a big
segment during last week's shoot, and we are considering stains.
Next, pretty and environmental linoleum tiles by Forbo (made of natural linseed oil and ecologically responsible pigments) will be installed in the apartment kitchens by our Kevin. Hopefully, he can meet Mike's rigorous schedule.
(8) Comments
Comment on this BlogIt's unfortunate that the pine subfloor could not be salvaged--would have been so unique. Choosing hardwood flooring over carpet was a great investment. The room looks fantastic.
It's unfortunate that the pine subfloor could not be salvaged--would have been so unique. Choosing hardwood flooring over carpet was a great investment. The room looks fantastic.
What a great looking place! It looks like it has some beautiful woodwork throughout. The hardwood was a great choice too. I would prefer most hardwoods over a pine floor. I find pine to be too soft to be overly practical. I'll be interested to see what it looks like finished. Why dont you check out my blog where I focus more on just the ins and outs of hardwood floors, from installs to repairs and prep and everything inbetween. http://hardwoodsolutions.blogspot.com/
I dislike the current trend towards hardwood floors. I spend most of my time barefoot at home, and much prefer the feel of a nice carpet to a hardwood floor. I probably would have made the same decision if was going to be renting out a space though, as hardwood is much more in style now than carpet is. What caused the pine to not be salvageable?
Hello Jim G,
The floors were covered with asbestos tile. The glue used to attach them to the floor was very similar to tar. The tiles were poorly installed and it needed to be scraped off. Sorry to say, a lot of the floor came off with them. Thanks for your interest.
Do you have any plans cleaning up the lovely woodwork? Ours got so much plaster dust in the crevices during renovation that I'm still trying to get it clean three years later!!
Congratulations on the progress. I'm curious about how you chose the wood floors and if you can explain the details of the square edge white oak,does that mean it is not tongue and groove? Wondering why you chose and where you found square edge. Finally is it 3/4 inch?
Thanks and good luck
Restore... better than new builds indeed. Great job, glad to see it getting finished....another saved marriage!
Seattle,Wa area Historic home inspectors:
http://www.PacificNorthwestInspections.com