The Floors, Part 1

Do you remember what the floors looked like when I moved in? Carpet. Old carpet. Old carpet that appeared OK upon closing, but after a few weeks the newly shampooed smell wore off. No matter, the plan was always to yank it out and reveal the gorgeous (hopefully) wood floors underneath.

Roxie dog. She's ready for the carpet to go.

This lovely carpet was in the living room and all three bedrooms.

With the help of my amazing parents, we spent a few solid weekends pulling carpet, staples, nails, tack strips, sanding, sweeping, sanding, sweeping, cleaning, sealing....well, you get the idea.

Good riddance carpet!

Close-up of the LR floor.

The floors were in OK shape, but there were a lot of stains, scratches, stickers, paint, glitter...all of that needed to disappear.

Scraping at a stubborn sticker/paint in the pink room.

I rented a drum sander (we ended up needing it 2 separate weekends) and we got to work. Though not a difficult task, it definitely was dirty, dusty, and very time consuming. We sanded each room multiple times, starting with the lowest grit (30) and moving up (100). It is a very good idea to tape off the room as you're sanding, otherwise there will be dust EVERYWHERE. Oh, and turn off the a/c and tape off the air vents too.

You also have to sand the edges with a hand-sander where the drum sander won't reach. After the rooms have been sanded with all grits (finishing with the 100), and the edges have been sanded, it's time to clean, clean, clean!

Stay tuned for Part Two and the reveal!!