The Floors Shine

Man there is a TON of things to cover in just the past few days. Someone a while back said that things would start to pick up in pace and I honestly didn't believe them, I should have. I am starting to see the progress almost every day. The house is changing so rapidly that moving in truly feels like it's finally about to happen.

On Wednesday of last week, my sister Mary took a day off and worked on the wood trim in the kitchen. Sanding, taping and more sanding in order to ready the remaining part of the trim so that we could gmove full steam ahead over the weekend. Then end of the week also brought the final coats of varnish/polyurethane on the second floor floors. They look unbelievable! I never thought in a million years that 90 year old floors could look so great! They look brand new, but not in a very good way. The discoloring over the years from varying lighting due to the windows is hardly noticeable and the repairs where walls once were is almost undetectable. Gene - the flooring guy - did some fantastic voo doo to make those floors truly shine! Now on the the first floor this and next week.
The master bedroom and floors/Ellie's room

The extra bedroom/Looking into the landing & master bedroom


This past weekend I had a surprising number of people stop in to help. To start with I had Gma & Gpa Vande Ree show because they wanted to make a final push before they head off to their annual Florida trip for six weeks. Then lola, Amy s., Shana D. and Lola's husband Dave showed up. In all we had four people varnishing, one person staining (gpa) and at least one person filling in the holes with wood putty. We accomplished what I didn't think would be possible - we got the entire first floor wood work to the point of only needing a few holes filled with putty and then a minor sanding away from being ready for the final coat of varnish - which would then complete the re-installation of the original wood work on the first floor BEFORE moving in! Truly an amazing feat that a lot of people helped with, but a lion's share of work (and thank you) goes to my grandpa and grandma VR for putting in a TON of hours over the past three weeks. The wood looks beautiful and unfortunately the pics on this page don't do it justice. You should come over and see it for yourself!
Mary sands the tough spots/Grandma varnishes almost the same spot

Lola fills holes w/ putty/Grandpa stains the stair case

Amy gets in the nooks and crannies/Gramps and Lola work on the small stairs

Gramps gets in there/Then touches up the new window in the buffet

Dave K. fills in holes with putty/Shana varnishes the beams


Then in the past three days Gene and his wife have been hammering away at the sanding of the first floor floors. Again he did some magic getting the old stains out and has prepped the floors for stain tomorrow. I really look forward to seeing what the color is like on the floors and how the grain of that old wood 'pops'. It's great to bring back the old character of the house and bring some glory back to it since it's been so long hidden.

The first landing on the 1st floor/Stairs up close

Into the living room/And again

The maze of wood work and flooring/Very little water stain remains

The 'log cabin' corners make staining and finishing difficult but beautiful


There is so much more for me to write about, but life has me moving and shaking so I will need to sign off and leave you wanting for more. Take care and have a great weekend!