And I mean house work-- not of the dusting or tidying variety!
(Though plenty of that will have to be done after all the project work, that's for sure!)
To make a long story short, after 5 years of thinking all the original floors in our pre-1850s house had been torn out (we'd only seen carpet and a standard sub floor), Tuesday morning we discovered that our house has beautiful, wide pine tongue-and-groove planks throughout. Excited doesn't begin to describe how we felt, and Daniel promptly began ripping up carpet so we could see exactly what we had been missing all these years!
Imagine our surprise when some friends stopped by and pointed out that we were disturbing a whole lot of lead paint in all our enthusiasm. Oops!
(Daniel and I are still novices at this home-owner/renovators thing, you know.)
A quick packing of suitcases and relocation to Ryan and Danica's house left Daniel and Ryan free to keep tackling the floors. What beautiful treasure lay beneath all that greatly-disliked carpeting! (If you want to know all the reasons I don't love carpet, ask me-- but they are too long for this blog post!)
Seeing our house emptied of all living room, music room, dining room, and bedroom furniture and decorations (for the first time ever, since our furniture had been moved in before we even arrived in the north country 5 years ago!) began playing with our imaginations. We started picturing how a few wall adjustments might make for a much more useful and utilized home. Adding fuel to that fire was the discovery of where some walls used to be and my long-time dream of a space more suitable to larger gatherings.
To make another long story short, we've removed a wall, enlarged a doorway, built another wall, and pretty much completely rearranged our first floor (aside from the kitchen/family room/bathroom portion). It's a big project, but it's mostly cosmetic and so so so SO fun!
Of course, I say "we've", but we all know that my role in this is simply producing ideas and trying to keep some semblance of routine and stability for the kids. Daniel has been doing what he needs to do at the church and then spending every spare minute working on the house. Alongside him have been a great and wonderful bunch of guys who are so talented and so gracious (and whose wives are equally gracious and generous to lend them). Ryan and Jamie have put in multiple long days with him at this point.
It's a fun adventure we're on, that's for sure! I will do my best to regularly post pictures as we go. I wish I was better at drawing so I could share a "blueprint" of sorts. Maybe I'll work on that soon. For now, here are just a few shots:
a few of the layers of flooring removed before getting to the original plank floors
after a little sanding
half of the wall that is now completely gone
some of the beams we discovered in the ceiling--
these will be left exposed, but will be white-washed
Very exciting! I am hoping you weren't planning on hosting Thanksgiving. I am sure it seems a bit overwhelming at the moment (or maybe not so much since you're not living in it) but it sure will be worth it in the end. Can't wait to see the after pictures!
ReplyDeleteAmazing, awesome, fun, thrilling!!!!Ok, Tim and I are considering ripping up the carpet in our bedroom b/c there is hardwood underneath and I think we're getting new bedding for Christmas. The carpet is currently in HORRIBLE condition and just really looks blah. My question is WHY do you prefer hardwood? I'm such a carpet kind of girl! I mean, in my opinion it just seems warmer and more comfy for my feet Also, it seems like it would be more work to clean??!?! NO???And, are you making the music room bigger and your bedroom smaller?This is just so fun! I can't wait to see more pics and watch the progress!
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny you guys were SO excited and just started tearing up the carpet unaware of the lead paint and what you were disturbing! That would be me! It's a good thing I have Gabe. Can't wait to see more pics as your project unravels!
ReplyDeleteJust saying over and over again out loud to myself: "Oh cool. oh cool. oh cool." It's going to look amazing. Old houses are such treasures! If they were alive, our house and your house would be swapping stories of their generation. Can't wait to see more pictures, when they come. Blessings!
ReplyDelete@michelleross - it IS more work to clean when you actually get the mop and murphy's oil out, as opposed to a quick vacuum, but I couldn't agree more with hardwood over carpet. With carpet you overlook SO much "dirtiness" with that quick vacuum or even occasional shampoo, that with hardwood you KNOW it's clean. I was AMAZED how dirty the floor got when we put ours in and I KNOW I def wasn't cleaning it as well or often/to that extent with carpet. That alone was enough for me! No fibers to hoard nasty smells, spills, or dust especially if you have pets which we don't currently but the RARE accident by Sophia is also a major plus. Area rugs, slippers, and a fire somewhere in the house can make ANY room feel cozy and "warm". You didn't ask my opinion! But there you got it! ;)
ReplyDeleteI vote to TEAR IT OUT!!! :)
WOW! Thank you for this post. I was trying to put together what was going on from the bits and pieces on FB. This project will make the house even more "you"! I love it!@michelleross - I have done the carpet thing and I have done the no carpet thing. Personally, I prefer having carpet in a bedroom. But that's just me. I know my Mom DOES NOT and I know lots of other people don't. Also, having lived in a completely tiled house for over a year now, we found it very important to have an area rug in the living room. The kids weren't playing well on the floor without it! But, I do prefer the area rug that I can much more easily replace! I also know that I have cleaned it and not some previous owner! (now you have my two cents too!)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the pics!! Looks like fun!!
ReplyDelete@Michelle- You know my opinion. Carpet in a bedroom, all the way!
What a treasure! I love old houses
ReplyDelete@michelleross - I have to tell you, ripping out our carpet only made me say, "Eww... ewww... ewww!!!!" Our carpet was brand new 5 years ago, and it already had mold growing on the bottom side in a few places, huge stains all over, and just grossness-- despite my best efforts at thorough cleaning whenever spills happen and renting professional-grade carpet cleaning 2x in those 5 years. In my opinion, any softness/warmth you want ought to be gained through area rugs (which you can get on overstock.com for cheap + $1 S/H) because those you can lay out in the sun and just clean better because you can easily flip them and scrub both sides. I plan on getting a few area rugs and have found some 8x10s and 9x11s for in the $175-$300 range. In a bedroom, it's even easier because you can stick with smaller rugs for either side of the bed-- unless you really want to be able to walk all over the room on a rug, at which point it might be better to just get a big one.
ReplyDelete@ReneeOckrin - @AHappyHousewife - @Sarah K - @brietta - THANKS ladies!!! It's a decision we'll really have to think about. I really appreciate the feedback. I've never lived in a house that wasn't completely carpeted (except for a entry way) so this is a new concept to me!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, I look forward to seeing the finished product!
ReplyDeleteWe close on the house on the 17th and I am just itching to go and pull up the bedroom carpet and see what condition the hardwoods are in! We know that 2 of the upstairs rooms have wood floors in good shape, so we're assuming the others are similar, but that's a big assumption! That said, I really would not mind carpeting the girls bedroom. There won't be food, pets, traffic or even shoes up there and I know they'd enjoy the carpet. We shall see!
One of the biggest investments we're pretty firmly decided on is putting tongue in groove hardwood in nearly the entire downstairs which is currently slab (no basement) dressed up with linoleum and carpet.
I've already been on the lookout for good area rugs and I actually saw some nice ones at Gabe's not too long ago! I know I can find ones I like for the living space, but for the kids' rooms, everything seems kind of Disney-ish unless we do plain solids, so that may be where we go with that.
I think you should draw us a new floor plan for sure!
I hope you don't mind, but David and I popped in to see the progress ourselves on Saturday and boy, what a project, but an exciting one at that! I was bummed to find that you weren't around, but I suppose I was wishfully thinking when the thought crossed my mind! We're really excited for you guys and your new house-in-the-making! Can't wait to see it finished!:)
ReplyDelete@mrsdmf72205 - Of COURSE I don't mind! I wish I'd been there to see you and hear any ideas/input you and/or David might have, too! I'm really excited about the possibilities for hosting meetings like we did this past summer-- and CFA mothers meetings and birthday parties and on and on it goes! Won't it be nice???!!!
ReplyDelete@michelleross - If its not too late, I'd like to add my two cents on carpet vs. "hard" flooring. I LOVE having hardwood all throughout the house. At times it may seem like more work to clean but a lot of it depends largely it what you get. I have an old house as well and my upstairs is wide pine plank. It is worn and the "look" is just that. Dirt hides itself very well! But I still know that is is MUCH cleaner than carpet even when left untended because I can actually REALLY clean it when I do. My bedroom is the pine plank as well and I think it is great in a bedroom. We have one rug on the side of the bed and that is it. I do wear slippers all winter long but I do with or without carpet so that doesn't really change anything. Our guest room and the boys' room are carpeted and when the time comes to rip it out, that is just what we'll be doing! The rooms look much bigger with the wood vs the carpet. Our downstairs is hardwood but a more finished look. My husband loves this floor. I prefer the rustic plank upstairs. If you go with a waxed, finished look, there is more upkeep but still the CLEAN factor is AWESOME! And you never have to rent a shampooer! I used to have area rugs but over the last two years I have gotten rid of them. We love the floors and the boys prefer playing trains and cars directly on the wood. For babies, I throw down a blanket and it can easily be washed! Our kitchen and bath are tiled. I love tile but go with a rough finish. We have a smooth finish in the kitchen and everything shows up! I would never chose it again! (we didn't choose any of this flooring, it was all in when we bought it). But the bathroom tile is GREAT!!! There is one downside to tile, it is cold. And there is very little you can do to change that (besides floor heating!). Well, not sure if I sold you on ripping your carpet out, but I sure tried!
ReplyDeleteJust getting to see all this! I looked at most of the posts and love your new layout. Personally I like wood floor in the kids bedrooms myself because when they throw up it's easier to clean!! Ewww, I know.... Plus matchbox cars run nicer on wood....Your "new" wood floors are very cool....
ReplyDelete