The Big Reveal

After almost 120 hours of manual labor, 60+ gallons of sawdust, and lots of aches and pains, we have finally finished the floors of our new house! And the verdict is: I will never ever refinish my own floors again. It was definitely the most taxing physical work I've ever done. But, that being said, we actually had a pretty good time and it is one of the most rewarding things you can do to a house, I think. Each step is tedious, but you can see clear progress with each goal, and the finished product is so gratifying. It went pretty smoothly, except that I ran over the cord with the drum sander and ripped it down to the bare copper wire (oops), and at one point I forgot to empty the dust bag (the point of which I still don't really get, because it is SO dusty even with that attached). I was cruising along, sanding the floor, and it got so heavy it fell off and a ginormous cloud of dust exploded all over the room. Not fun.

To recap the steps for you, this is what we did in 5 rooms (1000 square feet), plus some of the stair landings: sand with 40 grit, edge with 40 grit, sweep, vacuum. Repeat with 40 grit again, because we're anal. Fill entire floor with wood filler (by hand, with a plastic trowel) to seal cracks, gouges, etc. Sand and edge with 60 grit, sweep, vacuum. Repeat with 60 grit again, because we're anal. Spot fill the floor with wood filler for any places you missed. Sand and edge with 100 grit, sweep, vacuum. Get a 1 1/2" paint scraper to scrape out the corners you couldn't get with the sanders, sand by hand with 100 grit. Buff with 120 grit, sweep, vacuum. Sweep & vacuum again, then wipe all surfaces (floors, walls, baseboards, windows) with a damp towel to remove ALL dust. Apply oil sealer to fir, water-based sealer to oak. Let dry overnight. Buff the fir with 120 grit, sweep, vacuum, wipe all surfaces again to remove dust. Apply first coat of water-based finish to all floors. Let dry overnight. Buff the oak with 120 grit, sweep, vacuum, wipe all surfaces again to remove dust. Apply 2nd coat of water-based finish to all floors. Walk away very, very slowly so as not to stir up any dust. I'm so not exaggerating, my friends. It was brutal. But check out how great they turned out!

Here's a reminder of what they used to look like:

The landing has been refinished, the stair treads are what the floors used to look like.

Here's an action shot of me applying the oil sealer to the fir floor in the master bedroom. You have to use an oil sealer for fir floors because the wood is softer and needs a little more protection. We used water-based on the oak (living room and dining room) because we like the look of it a little better, and it's not so fume-y.

I have intentionally refrained from commenting on the pink and green paint in this room. (Not to mention the mysterious sticky drips of unidentifiable liquid on the baseboards.) I don't want to talk about it, but it will be addressed. Trust me.

This is the finished master bedroom. It's not a great photo, but you can tell it looks better than it did.

Finished guest bedroom # 1 (notice, no more burn marks - yay!)

Finished guest bedroom # 2

Finished living room

Finished dining room


Another action shot of Justyn buffing the floors (after we applied the sealer). You can see how dusty it is... I couldn't keep the lens clean long enough to snap the shot.

So, I mentioned that Justyn has done a lot of construction, remodeling, etc. We were sitting around on one of the last days of this project and I said, "Honey, please tell me this is as hard as it gets." He was like, "Oh, yeah, this is definitely the hardest I've worked in a long time." And I was thinking, Whew, what a relief! Then he said, "I think hanging drywall might be harder, but luckily we don't have to do that." (Plaster, people. Our house was built in 1925.) Then there was a pause.... and he said, "Painting. Painting trim especially sucks, and is a lot of work, too."

Fabulous. That was next on the list, and we had about one day to rest before we had to start prepping for that project. I'm sorry, but I refuse to live in a place with mysterious crusties on door frames and baseboards. Also on the agenda before move-in: buy a stove, have the place professionally cleaned with the strongest chemicals ever made (I know, I know...I should be ashamed), and get an electrician out to remedy the fact that there are no outlets in the bathroom (among other electrical issues). More on these projects coming up, but right now I've gotta start packing!