A Surprise Below Our Feet
As Bob has been continuing the ductwork towards the front of the house, he recently got to cutting into the floor for new supplies. He discovered that our floors were actually not what we thought they were.
Originally, we were going to have the floors refinished. But Bob learned that we actually have engineered floors. This isn’t something we can refinish… and so it’s looking like we’ll be ripping up the floor and doing some replacement.
Our floor is actually in three layers – the engineered floor on top, then a layer of oak, and then original floor below (which is acting as a substrate).
The original floor is all southern yellow pine, according to Bob. And you should have seen the way his eyes lit up, when he talked about this. Apparently, it’s completely un-treated southern yellow pine. Which would make it ideal material for other elements of the house (rosettes, trim) or even other projects entirely.
The up side here is that with the money we were going to spend on refinishing the floors… we could simply buy (and set) the new floors ourselves. As much as we’ve tried to keep the house in its original condition, more and more it’s looking like a total gut job.
Not that that’s a bad thing, per se. We’re just figured on doing a bit more repairing versus replacing, but it seems like the latter is what’s needed.
OH, goodness. I’m catching up on all your posts about the house. I’m exhausted just reading. With regard to the flooring, I can vouch, installing wood a lot easier than I expected, as long as you’ve got the right tools. I’m not sure that’s settling, in any way. Once you and Liz are finished with this house, it’s going to be absolutely spectacular and exactly what you both dreamed. In the meantime, I’m glad you both have spaces to retreat to. It’s nice to be able to think/do something other than home improvement projects.
Michelle (April 16, 2014 at 2:28 pm)