Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Finished Main Floor

We spent 48 man-hours sanding the main floor and the treads on both stairways. Dust was everywhere! In every room, every crack, on every piece of furniture... everywhere.
Chris' head after using the belt sander for a few minutes.
Karen working on the stairs to the basement. We still have a few ballisters to put into place... we keep forgetting about those.
Once the floors had been totally vacuumed and wiped clean, we used rags to apply the 50/50 mix of raw dark tung oil and mineral spirits. Mason jars worked pretty well as the impromptu container of choice, but they did get slippery.
More oil application, though at this angle it is harder to see the change in color.
After sanding, before the polyurethane.
While Chris was at Scout Camp last week, Karen and Jenn Baird polyurethaned the floor. Karen put on one coat every night for four consecutive nights, and Jenn was there for a couple nights, too. Lots of protection, and it really changes the way the house feels.
The dinning room after the two coats of oil was applied.
The dining room again, but after the poly. The first coat of poly was applied with brushes, and the consecutive coats were applied with 9" short nap rollers.
The view from the kitchen, looking through the dining room and into the living room.
Same view, but after the poly. Are we seeing a pattern here?
A random picture of the living room before we put all the furniture back in place. It was very empty and quiet while Andy, Mindy and the boys were on vacation!
Sunday morning sunlight coming in the East windows in the living room. Sometime around 7 am.
Chris and Karen's empty bedroom, with 7 am sunlight streaming through to the floor.
Tuckered out and just taking a moment respite before we clean all the furniture and put it back into place.
The living room from the stairway to the loft. With a few things back in place, it really feels like a finished home. It's as if people should be living here!

4 comments:

Brianne said...

Your floors look beautiful! I am amazed by all your hardwork.

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Love the sawdust in hair picture. You want to come and do my house next? I don't even have wood floors anymore, but I would be willing to put them in!

The Wests. said...

Hmmm... a trip to UT to install and finish wood floors. Yes, that could be fun!

With enough pie and ice cream, that should be no problem at all. :)

Thanks for the compliments on the floor.

Chris

The Britton Family said...

Just beautiful! I love the before and after pictures in each room with and without the shine. I'll bet it makes such a difference in the house! Did Andy and Mindy like it when they got back from the trip?
We missed you this weekend! See you soon,
Robin