Before Refinished Floor
Ah, the next stage in the second floor saga begins. The refinishing of the floor and stairway. Which we are outsourcing because, in Chicago, it is relatively inexpensive to do that compared to the cost of renting all of the equipment ourselves.
But first! A long last look at the old carpeting. Decades old carpeting. In a pattern that just makes me want to cry out, "WHHHYYYYYY??????" in despair.
Aaron went at the carpet with undisguised glee! We've been itching to tear this stuff up. Why is DEstruction so much more fun than CONstruction?
And underneath that carpet? Decades and decades of THIS:
And underneath the general yuckiness? Would we find the beautiful original finish?
Um, no.
Blue. Blue stairs. Blue painted stairs. Again, I shake my fist and cry, "Why?????"
Thank goodness that is only on the stairs and only on the treads! The rest of the floor currently looks like this.
Pretty red oak is lurking under all of that old varnish, those scratches and gouges, that water damage.
And my bare feet can't wait.
(14)
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Comments
Ha - we have the beautiful rainbow striped carpeting in our upstairs hallway!! Can't wait to take it out. I do believe it's cat-pee-soaked (like every other surface they left behind), all the more reason to remove it... when we're done with one of our eighty other projects, of course.
Your floors are going to be beautiful. I can't wait to see the results!
~Mindy
Posted by: mindy | July 11, 2005 1:56 PM
It's hard to believe that stuff was ever in fashion.
Posted by: Grex | July 11, 2005 2:41 PM
Our stairs are painted brown, with other colours showing though. I wonder if it's better to strip or sand them? I know over at pigeon point, they disassembled the stairs to refinish them. Our carpet on our basement stairs is much worse. Are you going to have carpet when you're done (runnner)? We were planning on it, the kids seem to be fine with the wood stairs so far though.
Posted by: Derek | July 11, 2005 3:03 PM
We also spent yesterday removing carpet to reveal the beautiful hardwood underneath. I'd love if you posted about what company you're going to hire to refinish your floors. We are almost ready to start getting bids and would love to know who you recommend.
Posted by: Autumn | July 11, 2005 5:19 PM
I'd be interested to know who you use and if you recommend them (after the fact of course). I would prefer NOT to refinish all the floors ourselves. It's a beast of a job really- though I know we can do it as we did the kitchen and the other floors are in better shape.
Posted by: Jocelyn | July 11, 2005 8:29 PM
You were very patient to wait this long to tear that out. I think I would have been 'picking' at it a long time ago. The oak floors are going to look great!
Posted by: chrisc | July 11, 2005 9:22 PM
I would've been picking at that carpet, too! Go read my latest post for a preview of what you'll be feeling like soon. :)
I'm curious how much you guys are paying. I'm doing a much smaller area, of course, but it's coming out at under $200 (unless I decide to rent a buffer) and I didn't have to risk getting another incompetent contractor.
Posted by: Kim | July 11, 2005 9:55 PM
C'mon! I'll bet that was very groovy carpeting when it was new. As a matter of fact, didn't I just see something similar in the Pottery Barn catalog?...
As a side note, I've been lurking here for a while and your posts have been very helpful in my own home improvement endeavors. So, thanks!
Posted by: C2 | July 12, 2005 7:58 AM
WhenI was young, almost every house that had a stairway used that same exact runner. Two of it's purposes were noise reduction and to cushion the kids when they fell down the stairs. And I fell down a few of them....POPS...-30-
Posted by: POPS | July 12, 2005 9:53 AM
I couldn't wait to rip out the carpet. I arrived two days before the moving van and took out three bedrooms worth. Nastiest stuff you ever saw.
Posted by: Susan | July 12, 2005 9:59 AM
Hey, I feel the pain on the blue paint! My steps were painted lovely blood red...and then covered up by PINK carpeting! Oh the horror!
Posted by: Kathie | July 12, 2005 1:19 PM
Um... I actually kind of like the carpet pattern. Maybe it comes over better in phots. Still, I would DEFinitely have picked at it and exposed the floors to the cruel viscisitudes of drywalling and framing. My girlfriend says "Stop picking at your house!" so often that it's become proverbial.
Posted by: Nathan | July 13, 2005 3:42 PM
I am thinking of renovating a house how much should i look to spend at the most.
Posted by: Jeanna | July 26, 2005 8:35 AM
My house is all carpet except kitchen and bath.
I would like to install harwood floors in the stairs,living room,kitchen and hallway.How much that would cost for about 450sq feet including the stairs,please e-mail me with the info.I live in Athol MA
Thanks
Posted by: Maria Allison | October 29, 2005 9:17 PM