Thursday, September 23, 2010

Where do I even start?

Before
During
Before


The project that has taken most of our summer is redoing the floors in our house. We are still a long way from finished but we have also made a lot of progress. When we moved in we knew we were going to have to replace the carpet because the previous owner had cats and the whole upstairs stunk. Luckily the basement was remodeled after they moved out and before we moved in so we didn't need to worry about that.
Chris's parents dishwasher leaked and ruined the floor in front of it and that floor is not made anymore so they had to tear it all up and they gave it to us! Yeah! Well, when we tore the carpets up I don't think we were quite prepared for how bad it would be underneath.
During

Do you see all those nasty stains? It smelled so much worse (which I didn't think was possible.) It made me sick to think about how we had been walking and playing on this carpet for the past month! Anyway, we ended up tearing out all the sub-floor too. What a project! So this supposedly "free floor" we were getting wasn't quite turning out that way. We also had to knock down all the rock on the fireplace to get the boards out. After Chris's hard work, this is what the family room looks like today.

I know we still have to finish the fireplace and the trim but at least I have a floor.
Now the kitchen and dining room area we decided we wanted tile. It is still not in yet. This is what it looks like today. (literally I took this picture two minutes ago so forgive the mess.

(I have also been sanding and painting our table and chairs. That is another project for another post.)
This room has been even more of a nightmare because, as with most old houses, nothing is level. As you can see from this picture again...
The previous owners had put in some sort of plaster to try to even things out but it was all breaking up and cracking everywhere so we tore it out. We thought we had it level and put the backerboard down (the white boards you see under the table are for laying tile) and we would find it still wasn't level. So we would tear it up level it again and again and again. I think finally the dining room is level. we are still working on leveling the kitchen. The problem is it takes a good two hours to do a small area and we have to wait till the kids are in bed so it can dry with no little feet walking on it. Anyway, I feel like we take 2 steps forward 1 step back, 2 steps forward 1 step back...but hopefully it is finished soon. I told Chris I wanted to have a Halloween party at our house so it has to be done before then. Wish us luck!

8 comments:

The Whipples said...

Good luck! At least you have a house. We are still in a tiny apt. Someday. Can't wait to see the final results

Nick and Stacey said...

Looks like FUN! Way to go on all fo your work, it really does look like a project, but it also looks like it is coming along beautifully!

Sandra said...

Looks like it's coming along great. Did the previous owners have a dog or cat? Is that what the stains are from? Hope it can be done by Halloween. You should post finished pics.

Des said...

oh man, what a project. but it does look so beautiful!!

Katie said...

Good Luck. I know it's going to look fantastic when it is finished because you have such awesome designing skills. Can't wait to come and see it next time we venture to Idaho. If my kids ever get better. Love you guys!

Hilarie said...

Hooray a new post!! I've been thinking about you and wondering if you are ever going to blog again! Looks like some serious projects, but you guys are doing a great job, I love what you've done so far. Can't wait to see it all finished. (So keep on blogging :)
When was the last time you talked to Mandee?

Sean and Kyla said...

wow! quite the project, but it looks and sounds like it's going to be pulled off quite nicely and turn out awesome : )

ren said...

way to go emily! i'm so proud of you for posting!