Did you say free time...what's that?

So between our full time jobs and this home renovation we have very little free time.  We consider all of our "free time" the hours we get to sleep and the moments we remember to eat.  Jeff has lost around 8lbs over the course of this whole process and lack of free time.  I always seem to remember to eat so I haven't lost a single pound.  If the scale ever reads lower than normal on a given day it's probably because I sweat a little more and haven't consumed my weight in water yet. 

Like I said...we've been busy and the busiest of late was the big move last weekend.  I wouldn't say it was a smooth move because we were at the house painting, tiling, cleaning and prepping for the move and then at the apartment packing, cleaning, purging and prepping for the move.  None of it got done completely and I have to say the move was pretty ugly.  I'm very organized, I have to be because I'm so damn forgetful.  So imagine my frustration when NOTHING is packed and what has been packed is literally thrown into a boxed and taped shut...WITHOUT A LABEL.  But why not complicate this whole mess a little more.  Leading up to last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday's mass exodus, I said it was ugly, we made the bold decision to get the floors refinished.  This decision was weighed in every possible direction. 





Option A: Tearing out the original flooring and laying all new pre-stained hardwood.

Option B: Refinishing just the living, dining and den leaving the hall and bedrooms with the old sub-floor (which we would paint and live with until more money came down the pipe...or is it pike?).

Option C: Laying in new hardwood in the hall and bedrooms and refinishing the entire lot.





If you've read the blog at all in the past couple months you know that we tend to GO BIG.  Meaning we don't half-ass our way through the process and take a flying leap in the abyss of home renovation.  That said you might guess that we chose Option C.  Keep in mind that we made this decision with barely three weeks left until we had to move into the house so it was imperative we find a trustworthy company that could to the work with short notice and efficiently.  Never mind that polyurethane requires a certain amount of dry time or that sanding the floors would take a minimum of three days.  After many bids and a number of follow-ups we found our guy...literally...his name is "Guy".

And he was great!  This Guy called a number of times leading up to their proposed start date to give me a revised time-line.  With the economy in the pooper and the housing industry in the pooper it was easy to get a company out within a matter of days to get the work started.

It's important to note the condition of the floors and the choices we were asked to consider.  These floors are potentially 75+ years old.  They are maple and they are in need of repair.  We love the look of a darker stain, it looks rich and warm and sophisticated.  When we mentioned this to Guy he expressed concern.  Maple is a tight fiber meaning it doesn't tend to absorb stain evenly which could lead to a cloudy or uneven appearance.  We stressed our desire for rich, dark floors and Guy said it could be done.  "It will be a challenge but we will do it."  My flooring hero! 

And boy did he deliver!  They sanded a number of times until the floors we smooth and then massaged a conditioner into the grain and then on their hands and knees the stained and polyethylened.  These floors are gorgeous!