PRAISE GOD!!!
What a relief to FINALLY have the floor done! It all started back in February, when my son took on the mammoth job of stabilizing our 123 year old living room floor. Our house used to be a rental so it was never really taken care of. In fact we rented it for about twenty years before we decided to buy it; however, the opportunity to purchase it was offered, our income was right, and we accepted. We thought that we knew what we were getting into...
The floor was a mess, with a large patched area in the middle of the floor, that was not level with the rest for the floor. We think there used to be a large furnace register there, and when they went from a coal furnace to a gas forced air furnace, they took out the floor register, patched it, and called it "good." Yeah. Right. I was concerned I would trip and fall, or worse, end up in the basement. Fortunately that never happened. (Well, I did trip occasionally). The floor boards broke off into splinters, and the nails stuck up in some areas, which was a hazard as well. I was just careful where I walked, but when someone came over, I had to warn them. We finally saved up enough to fix the floor. Yay! Of course there were many unforeseen extra expenses we came across, but the Lord provided! Praise God!!!
The floor was not level and dipped in the middle about 7/8 inch. It creaked and groaned with each step, (kind of like me when I get up). The beam under the front door had dry rot. Some of the beams had to be reinforced and new beams added in the basement. My son, with some help from our daughter in law, and my grandson took on this old house and fixed the floor. It was a real challenge, but they did it! It no longer groans with each step as we walk over it, but just smiles and looks so pretty! No more splinters or stepping on a nail, or tripping on uneven boards. I'm so proud of my son for helping and fixing it up right. It was so physically exhausting as he brought in those huge boards and carried them to the basement. I don't know how he did it. I call him my own Samson!
My husband and I painted the walls and trim. My son leveled and raised the floor beams, added new beams, carried out furniture and boxes of art supplies, fixed the dry rot, patched the holes in the floor, laid underlayment, filled in the low spots with leveling cement over the underlayment, and finally after three months of prep work, was able to lay down the floor in a couple days. Because the floor was such a mess, the prep work took a long time, plus he had other things to do as well. LOTS of other things!
I create my artwork in the living room. All my art supplies had to be stuffed in the nooks and crannies of the rest of the house or garage. I had art supplies in my kitchen, office, spare bedroom, basement, and garage. I still don't know where everything is, but just three days ago, my son finished laying down the floor. I have no idea where everything is now, but, time and patience will have its final work. In the meantime, though, it has been very stressful to me and put my normal mode of living on hold for over three months. We had to leave the house several times, so my son could work without us being in the way. There was no space left for us to sit, while he was doing the floor. it was too cold to sit outside, and only one chair in the office, or I could sit on the bed and go to sleep.
Our son, with help from his wife and younger son, got it done, and it is beautiful! This is a like a dream come true for us! What began as project to shore up the floor, turned into that and so much more. Now, about the ceiling...
FLOORED WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL NEW FLOOR
Enjoy the slideshow below to see the 'before and after'! It is quite a transformation!
Just click on the arrows along the side. We used 7 mm, 7" x 48" laminate flooring.
