The hardwood floors needed to be refinished when we moved here in 2014. We knew it. Fading from rugs that hadn't been moved in years, scratches and scrapes, felt furniture protectors that stuck to and discolored the floor, evidence of neglected spills, and the general wear-and-tear of 90 years added up to a rather discolored and tired surface. We saw all of this the first time we looked at the house, but we didn't do anything about it before we moved in. It's patina, we told each other. We'll wait until we don't have a dog anymore, we said. I suppose the truth is somewhere in there, but we also weren't sure what to do about it. So, we lived with the floors in the living room and dining room and focused our efforts on other projects.
Now, nearly 2 years after sweet Lucy passed away, we still see the drip outlines of her industrial-strength drool on the floor. (Yes, this is gross, but you ignore much such grossness when you have pets. Poop in bags, anyone? Very fine dog hair on your eyeball? Furnadoes under the couch?) We've rearranged furniture, added a new rug, picked up a new chair inspired by our December trip to Denmark, and feel like the time has finally come to tackle the floors. Naturally, we aren't taking the easy way out.
After some research, we determined that the floors had been treated originally with shellac and then probably shined up with wax way back in 1929 when the house was finished. Shellac is a natural treatment (made from the resin of the lac bug--no joke) and can be kept up easily if you regularly maintain the surface by adding more shellac. The key is REGULAR MAINTENANCE. The floors in these two rooms have been neglected for a very long time, so just adding shellac without other remediation was not really an option. The shellac has alligatored in areas, the fading is very uneven, the floor itself is uneven, scratches and scrapes need to be addressed, and the marks left by furniture pads have to be sanded away. Evidence indicates that the floor has never been resanded after the initial installation 90 years ago. Astonishing, if you think about it.
You might be mumbling to yourself, "Just get to the point and tell me what company you're going with to refinish your floors!" You're cute. Also, you've obviously never met Mr. H.
Mr. H. found a small, local company in St. Paul, MN that specializes in guiding homeowners in refinishing their own hardwood floors. At least we know we're not the only fools around. (The only fools in the greater Milwaukee area perhaps!) On a trip to the Twin Cities in May, we arranged for a private consultation with Kadee at Pete's Hardwood Floors. What was supposed to be a two-hour session turned into four hours of individual instruction on the actual machines used in sanding floors (a belt sander and an edger), a personalized analysis of our own floors based on photos we sent in advance, advice on the various options available to us for finishing them (including the use of a buffer), and a game plan to get going. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND Pete's Hardwood Floors! I told Mr. H. that I'd go with him to the class but that he should, by no means, take my presence as confirmation that I'd actually be on board for his crazy scheme. After our time at Pete's, my attitude changed from "no way" to "we've got this!"
The info shared by the good folks at Pete's also helped us settle on the finish we'll be using. Neither of us were keen on a layer of polyurethane (a.k.a. plastic), but we didn't want to use a combination of shellac and floor wax either. We settled on Rubio Monocoat after reading up extensively on it and seeing it in use on the floors at Pete's. (Our consultant, Kadee, used the product on her own office floor and behind the service desk that gets so much foot traffic.) You can read about it on your own, but we were attracted to it because of the ease in application, the matte look of the finish, and the options for addressing any damage or scratches that come up between major applications.
So now, this Tuesday morning, I'm continuing to empty these two rooms of items. The pictures are off the walls, the shelves are empty, plants are being relocated, and I'm getting ready to go through the pile of books to see what needs to be returned to the library. Mr. H. is going to remove the quarter-round trim (or try to, at least) in the evenings. We have to tape up the built-in cabinets, empty the room of furniture, and remove the cellular shades. He's picking up the various machines (three of them) on Friday. We've stocked up on sandpaper in surprising grits. (FYI, 12-grit sandpaper looks like golf cleats.) He even bought me my very own dust mask/respirator so my glasses won't fog up when I'm sanding my brains out. (That's real romance, people.) Starting early on Saturday morning, we are doing this!
I'm including some before pics of the living room, mostly so I remember how everything was before we blew this place apart.
Now, nearly 2 years after sweet Lucy passed away, we still see the drip outlines of her industrial-strength drool on the floor. (Yes, this is gross, but you ignore much such grossness when you have pets. Poop in bags, anyone? Very fine dog hair on your eyeball? Furnadoes under the couch?) We've rearranged furniture, added a new rug, picked up a new chair inspired by our December trip to Denmark, and feel like the time has finally come to tackle the floors. Naturally, we aren't taking the easy way out.
After some research, we determined that the floors had been treated originally with shellac and then probably shined up with wax way back in 1929 when the house was finished. Shellac is a natural treatment (made from the resin of the lac bug--no joke) and can be kept up easily if you regularly maintain the surface by adding more shellac. The key is REGULAR MAINTENANCE. The floors in these two rooms have been neglected for a very long time, so just adding shellac without other remediation was not really an option. The shellac has alligatored in areas, the fading is very uneven, the floor itself is uneven, scratches and scrapes need to be addressed, and the marks left by furniture pads have to be sanded away. Evidence indicates that the floor has never been resanded after the initial installation 90 years ago. Astonishing, if you think about it.
You might be mumbling to yourself, "Just get to the point and tell me what company you're going with to refinish your floors!" You're cute. Also, you've obviously never met Mr. H.
Mr. H. found a small, local company in St. Paul, MN that specializes in guiding homeowners in refinishing their own hardwood floors. At least we know we're not the only fools around. (The only fools in the greater Milwaukee area perhaps!) On a trip to the Twin Cities in May, we arranged for a private consultation with Kadee at Pete's Hardwood Floors. What was supposed to be a two-hour session turned into four hours of individual instruction on the actual machines used in sanding floors (a belt sander and an edger), a personalized analysis of our own floors based on photos we sent in advance, advice on the various options available to us for finishing them (including the use of a buffer), and a game plan to get going. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND Pete's Hardwood Floors! I told Mr. H. that I'd go with him to the class but that he should, by no means, take my presence as confirmation that I'd actually be on board for his crazy scheme. After our time at Pete's, my attitude changed from "no way" to "we've got this!"
The info shared by the good folks at Pete's also helped us settle on the finish we'll be using. Neither of us were keen on a layer of polyurethane (a.k.a. plastic), but we didn't want to use a combination of shellac and floor wax either. We settled on Rubio Monocoat after reading up extensively on it and seeing it in use on the floors at Pete's. (Our consultant, Kadee, used the product on her own office floor and behind the service desk that gets so much foot traffic.) You can read about it on your own, but we were attracted to it because of the ease in application, the matte look of the finish, and the options for addressing any damage or scratches that come up between major applications.
So now, this Tuesday morning, I'm continuing to empty these two rooms of items. The pictures are off the walls, the shelves are empty, plants are being relocated, and I'm getting ready to go through the pile of books to see what needs to be returned to the library. Mr. H. is going to remove the quarter-round trim (or try to, at least) in the evenings. We have to tape up the built-in cabinets, empty the room of furniture, and remove the cellular shades. He's picking up the various machines (three of them) on Friday. We've stocked up on sandpaper in surprising grits. (FYI, 12-grit sandpaper looks like golf cleats.) He even bought me my very own dust mask/respirator so my glasses won't fog up when I'm sanding my brains out. (That's real romance, people.) Starting early on Saturday morning, we are doing this!
I'm including some before pics of the living room, mostly so I remember how everything was before we blew this place apart.
Comments
Post a Comment