A huge point that both Bob and Nick made to us: tape the paper to the paper, not to the floor. The chemicals from the tape will seep into the wood, and when you go to remove the tape… you’ll remove some of the stain as well. And while it can be repaired, you’ll always be able to tell something happened.
Tape the paper to the paper, tape the Masonite to the Masonite. No tape to the floor, ever.
It’s a challenge with these images, as we only end up coming downstairs well into the evening (we need to wait around 90+ minutes after Nick’s done to walk on the floor). We don’t really get to see the floor much in daylight, as it’s dark when we actually can walk around.
Nick and Milton came by today, to have another pass at the floor. After their normal, full day… they stopped by around 4PM to put down the first layer of varnish.
Similar to the stain, once the varnish is down… we need to stay off of the floor for a set amount of time (about an hour to an hour and a half, until it dries).
We’re being really careful to watch gingerly along the floor. And I can’t help but feel like every step I take is going to somehow irreparably damage all the work that’s been done. It’s like the floor is some kind of delicate, beautiful lava, and I need to just stay off it at all costs.
Honestly? I was not expecting such a stark change, with the slight gaps between boards seemingly removed, and a continuity that stretched from room to room.
This really is an amazing thing, and a tremendous milestone for me and Liz. We’ve been working for a long, long time on the house and so much of that work has been subtractive in nature: demo and removal.
To be at a point where we are adding new things, shaping the house anew, is incredibly exciting. Every time I come down and stand in these rooms, it just takes my breath away.
Liz reminded me that we were not going for distance here, which took some adjusting for me, mentally. Ultimately, the snag made the candy delivery easier for the children. And I guess this whole thing is about them. I guess.
A lot of planning today, with a majority of the time spent figuring out what needed to be done, measurements for the fireplace tile frame, and framing up all the floor vents.
I also took the shop vac and went over every inch of the floor. This was pretty time-consuming, but ended up taking less time than I figured. In a lot of spots, the plywood had more dirt and grime than I realized, and lightened up considerably with each pass.
Bob found a “MultiLite Polycarbonate” sheet, which was similar to plexiglass… but thermal-insulated (and about half the price). One downfall with this sheet: it was composed of small-ish boxes, resulting in a kind of gauzy appearance (though it was technically clear).
We ended up going with Plexiglass, which was more expensive but more clear. Part of our desire for the window (at least for now) is to be able to have more natural light in the main hall. We’ll be deciding on a floor stain very soon, and the more natural light we can get, the better.
Bob was over today, framing out the south side hall window. The sashes will likely need to get re-built, and Liz wants to re-use the glass from the old windows. This is a longer-term project, so in the meanwhile we’ll likely have something temporary here.
The jeans I had on had a slight rip to them. And that rip got a little bit worse, every time I stopped down. Eventually, it got so bad that I was concerned about going outside (for fear I’d get some kind of indecent exposure fine).
I asked Liz for a safety pin, but she ended up going all MacGyver on me with some duct tape. Which, to my surprise, held up pretty well.
The taper has two more trips over, to sand and smooth things down. In the meanwhile, we’re aiming to get what we can done in the first floor bathroom and stairs. It would be nice to get the rockers and tapers to handle those areas as well, but timing-wise we’ll see.
The rockers came during the week, while Liz and I both were upstairs working. I got to see some of the early work, but on walking down as they were packing up… the whole area looked completely different.
The main hall felt like a room again, and not a bunch of exposed studs. It was a very shocking thing to see.
Rockers are coming tomorrow, and tonight we had some last-minute prep work to do. Put up the remaining backer boards, and move all the drywall so it’s accessible (the ceiling drywall is tucked away in the kitchen).