We've Moved!

Well, not exactly...

We bascially just took all of our furniture on a tour of the house.

Ben & I have suspected that hardwood floors lay hidden underneath our carpet for years…
But until this summer we weren’t positive and then we didn't know the condition they were in once all of the carpet was removed.

Here’s what we discovered a few months ago.

After much discussion we finally decided to purge the carpet and explore other flooring options.  Ben did some research on refinishing hardwood flooring and then I had a professional come over and give us his honest opinion as to whether this could be done at our house.  After pulling back pieces of carpet, Jeff told us that there might be a few "character spots" but the bottom line is that you never really know until you get the carpet completely out.

This process has been similar to moving.

Don't we look like hoarders?

 We had to move everything out of the 3 bedrooms & living room. And when I mean everything, I mean everything needed to be off the floor, off the walls, and out of the closets.

As the guys were pulling out the carpet they discovered more than just a character spot.
 It was apparent that at some point in the last 60 years, a lot of water made its way into the living room and sat for a while, which caused many of the boards to be dark/bowed.  In other words many of the living room boards needed to be replaced, which added a few more days to the process.

 View of the living room sub-floor

A look at Kaden's room as they started sanding.  Some darker spots, but good overall. 

Owen's room looked pristine, as if the floors hadn't been touched in 60 years!

We knew this going in, but it is a JOB to restore hardwood. (A job I am grateful we didn't have to tackle alone!) Sanding, replacing, filling, dusting, CLEANING up dust, sealing... drying... and then staying OFF them while they cured.

I really don't think this process would have been possible had it not been for Ben's parents and their willingness to let us move in for 2 weeks... dog and all.

   breakfast at the bar

The move back in should have been quicker, but there were a couple of setbacks. This entire process took a few days longer than everyone anticipated and the day in which we were able to move back just so happened to coincide with Ben's golf trip that he had been planning for months...
 
 Then, there was the kid factor (thought I might kill myself-or Kaden-moving this king mattress alone!)
SINCE I realized that I couldn't move furniture by myself & would have gone insane just sitting at the Dows. With the beauty of those new bare floors, I felt the need to spuce up the dark walls with a lighter coat of paint AND was determined to do it before Ben could come home object.

 painting the bedroom while the boys slept

  before & after

So almost a month later, we're finally back to "normal"