home about archives blogfriends recipes cottage

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Hard Work Revisited





I've been thinking a lot about all the renovations
that we have done since moving to the farm
over 2 1/2 years ago.

It seemed like a long time had passed until 
I went back through the photo's
and all the memories came flooding back
as if it was yesterday. 

I was reminded of the 3+ months we
spent sleeping in our camper in the 
back yard as we tore off old baseboards and trim
and sanded horribly rough walls and primed
and primed again then painted...one 
coat after another. 

Each room was a different color.
Emerald green dining room.
Royal Blue guest room.
Blood Red office/craft room.
Muddy Brown living room.
At least the master bedroom was white!

Above is a photo of the dining room...it was
actually darker than what the photo's show
and all the woodwork other than the trim
was stained and varnished.

Once the ceilings and walls and trim
were painted and crown molding was added
then came the job
of sanding and refinishing the floors.
All of them except the kitchen bathroom
and back porch/laundry room.

Below is a photo of this corner of the
finished dining room.



Below is a photo of the guest bedroom
after it was primed and painted.
It had been a dark Royal Blue.
I can't remember how many coats of primer
and paint it took to cover that blue...
but it was a LOT!

You can also see the unfinished floor.
It was almost an orange red
with areas where the stain had
been worn away.



Below is how it looked after hubby sanded
the floors.

What a difference!


We were shocked at how beautiful the wood
was...the grain was amazing.
Turns out the floors are PECAN.

Below is after I applied the last coat of
Waterlox.

It took 4 coats but it was worth the 
effort and the time it took to dry each coat.

It took approximately 7 days 
from applying the first coat to moving the
furniture in and I applied each coat to all
floors each time...no stopping.

Below as the last coat was drying.
I went for the satin finish but since
it was still wet it looks quite shiny.



The finished room




Below is the master bedroom.
I did NOT want this to be our room
as it had pull down stairs to the attic
which was right over the bed!
Plus it only had two windows so
was quite dark.

We took the stair out and filled in 
the hole and since my hubby works 
nights and split sleeps in the morning
and the evening...it works perfectly!



The floor in here is different than the rest of
the house. Most of the room is fir but
one small area in this corner is cedar.



I didn't use the Waterlox in here since it
is a natural finish and I needed something
that would blend the two different colored
floors together. I went with a slightly 
tinted polyurethane. 

You can still see the difference between the 
two woods but not as bad. 



Below is the finished room. 
Well the painting and floor is done
but the decorating is not.

Why is it that our own rooms are always
the last to get any attention?!

Oh...if you go back a couple of photo's you'll 
see the old ceiling fan. That thing was
wired with a typical electric extension
cord hidden in the attic and wired to the wall switch!

Hubby re-wired it and installed a new 
ceiling fan. I'd rather have a pretty light
but with our hot summers the fan
is greatly appreciated. 


The photo below shows the dark stain
and varnish that was on the window trim and doors in our bedroom. Also see that un-primed corner
behind the door? That is where the bare 
metal furnace vent went up through the 
bedroom from the basement to the roof!




Above shows the living room walls after we
took a sander to them. One of the previous owners
had tried their hand at texturing the walls and 
there were GLOBS of this stuff that stuck out
nearly an inch with sharp points. We had to sand 
it all down to where we liked it and then we
primed and painted it. 

Oh...Henrietta and Romeo sneaked in the door
as we were airing out some of the dust.


Above is looking towards that same corner...the floor 
has the last coat of finish that is still wet.
Ceiling walls and trim have been painted.
We replaced the solid door with this single 
French door.

Below is Romeo peaking into the future 
office/craft room.
See how bad the floors were!
You can also see a more true color of the 
walls although
they were darker than the photo shows.




The blue scaffolding above around the corner
was our computer desk for a while
and the cooler was my seat.

Good thing I was only following one blog at the time!



The living room floor before and after applying
the Waterlox. Dining room to the right.
The pecan floors run through both bedrooms and the dining room and living room with no seams at the doorways.

I forgot to mention that when we bought the house
the living room floor was covered with plywood
and then 12 inch white tiles with dark grey grout.
Hubby and his brother scraped the tiles off
and tore up the plywood and I filled all the nail
holes. Also if you look to the right in the above
photo you will notice a patch of light boards.
Once the plywood was torn from the original 
floor we found a huge hole where an 
old in-floor furnace had once been!

When hubby recessed the tiles under
the wood stove he had saved some pecan 
boards. We patched the floor with them.




The finished living room.


Dining room floor below looking towards 
living room.


Finished room below.


Another view of living room floor looking
towards the dining room to the left 
and office/craft room straight ahead.


Below is how the first coat of the Waterlox
changed the color of the pecan wood. 
This is a natural finish. 



If you are thinking of re-finishing your floors yourself
I would advise you to think it over carefully.

Our floors were in really bad shape with lots of 
cuts and gouges to the wood so even after sanding 
they did not turn out perfectly. 
More sanding would have helped but my husbands
bad back and my bad shoulders did not
allow for the amount of sanding needed to achieve 
a really smooth finish. 

If you don't mind imperfections then I say 
GO FOR IT.
Otherwise...bring in a professional. 

We're thrilled with our end results :)

Next to be renovated...kitchen, back porch/laundry.
Eventually ;)

28 comments:

Country Gal said...

Lots of work but WOW!!! it all looks beautiful ! I love your home ! Have a great day !

Chris at Red Gate Farm said...

Thanks for the tour! I love seeing everything in the before and after stages! I must say, this is what I wanted to do when we moved into our house but my husband was so intent to move in that we had to take it one room at a time... of course some of them are still in progress!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your floors, even the mismatched bedroom floor! I love old wood floors and wouldn't mind an imperfect end result! How has the Waterlox held up? I've heard of people using in on butcher block counters but I wasn't aware (or thought) of using it on floors! We actually painted our floors since some had been painted, some patched, some small fir, some large fir, etc. but if ours had been as nice as yours I would have looked into a finish like this!

Can't wait to see more projects,
Chris

PS I cannot believe how much brighter and lighter your rooms are in the after pics!!

John Going Gently said...

LOVE your wood burner... it looks quirky in that corner but works so well...... I guess us Brits always have them inside an existing chimney!

Hosanna said...

WOW really nice! We're going to be doing the floors in our 1920s farmhouse soon - hopefully this Spring/Summer, when I can open windows to air out the dust and smell. All our floors are black pine, and have been painted a drab, chocolate color floor paint. Eww. Thanks for inspiring me to attack it!!:)

Elizabeth Edwards said...

oh, my ... you have been busy. what a lot of work ... & it looks just beautiful... i love hard wood floors. wish we could have it all over the house. with my allergies & so forth. we have it in the bedroom. i've had some say that prefer carpet in the bedrooms but i love it. less to clean up. you enjoy that home. love it!! (:

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Hi Maura: What a job. I really appreciate your floors as I know all about refinishing floors. Your's are especially beautiful. But that's how I feel about everything you've shared about the Farm and your cottage...Judy at GoldCountryCottage

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

You've done a lot of work and it looks beautiful.

Marilyn said...

Those pictures truly show a labor of love for your home. Everything looks so nice now! Beautiful.♥♫

Marilyn said...

Those pictures truly show a labor of love for your home. Everything looks so nice now! Beautiful.♥♫

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

What a tremendous effort, but what glorious results.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

What a tremendous effort, but what glorious results

Mary, Windy Meadows Farm said...

Absolutely magazine-worthy! How lovely each room came out. We put new floors downstairs about 3 years ago. I so wanted to preserve the old ones, but in the kitchen, carpet had been glued down and the glue was impossible to remove. The rest of the floors had been painted, and with the paint so deeply in the grain, we were told it just wouldn't sand out. I was sad to cover the old floors...to me there's something nice about walking where there is so much history. And so, new floors went in...same size, same wood. I'm crossing my fingers on the upstairs floors...hoping to save them!

Betsy said...

Your rooms are so pretty and floors are gorgeous!
I have heard of people wanting imperfections in their wood flooring. My nieces friend put wood floors in a brand new colonial home, the owners wanted the floor more aged looking, so he came in with nails, threw them on the floor, hit with hammer here and there to give an aged look. Its very nice.
Love your bedroom!
Betsy

Shirley said...

Hi Maura, I love the pictures of your home. I am very partial to hardwood floors. When we built our home many years ago, I had them to put in hard wood floors. They didn't much want to, but that was what I wanted. I love them. You have all done a beautiful job. Have a great day. Your Missouri Friend.

Muffy's Marks said...

Wow, that took a lot of hard work. Your efforts have paid off; your home is absolutely gorgeous and so cozy.

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

Henrietta and Romeo are too cute! I don't think they liked the wall texturing either! That picture is too cute :)
Love your home so much!
xo, misha

GardenOfDaisies said...

OHo my goodness, what a LOT of work!!! Bu such beautiful reslts! I LOVE the interior of your home!

Neesie said...

Oh Maura what a lot of time, effort and dedication both you and your hubby have given your home. No wonder it looks so loved. I bet it smiles it’s so happy that you came to rescue it.
I adore wood so I'm in raptures about your floors. I would love to do something like this if I had a suitable property but my hubby (shall we say being kind) isn’t the most proficient in the DIY department ;D
Unfortunately I’d have to bring in the professionals I’m afraid.

It looks a happy contented home.... thank you so much for letting us in to have a peek. I always enjoy my visit xoxo

valerietilsten59.blogspot.com said...

How absolutely lovely.. your choice of colour for the finished walls are super..
It adds charachter, when one works on restoring a house yourself.
You have both worked so hard.. It looks beautiful.
I love returning to Lilac Lane Cottage.
your photos of your animals and your children..
Thank you so much for sharing Maura..

best wishes.. val..
hope to see your face as a follower on my Val's alentejo
http://valerietilsten59.blogspot.com

Oh.. and your music is perfect. an excellent blog

Kath said...

I did enjoy these photos Maura, but then you knew I would after going through it all here (and still not finished).
I love your style I think you have a real flair for making beautiful rooms. I particularly like the colour you chose for your sitting room, it looks like pistachio in the photos- I know colours don't come true very often when you try to photograph them.
A home to be proud of that's for sure.
Kath x

traci said...

a lot of work but well worth it. your home is gorgeous. i LOVE your floors. wow. we hired someone to come in and do ours last spring. they were in and out in a couple days. i would still be working on them. thanks for sharing.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Dear Maura ~ You and your husband have created a home of beauty, refurbished and filled with love.

Imperfections can and do give certain things character.

Thank you for sharing the hard work you both did. Before and after pictures are wonderful.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

Beatnheart said...

Look at what you have done! You and your husband make an amazing team. Love the chickens cruising through the rooms.

Ann@A Sentimental Life said...

Hard to believe it is the same house. It seems so bright and cheery now. The floors are gorgeous...I think it was worth sleeping in a camper for 3 months to have it all so right!

Tara Dillard said...

Floors aren't for sissies.

Packing up, moving everything.

Time, time, time.

A joy to see your pecan floors.

My next 'thing' is turning a pair of windows into French doors.

Did I mention keeping the cats away & safe and not down the duct work?

Ooooops. Took 3 men to get the kitten out of a floor vent.

Took another man, on another day, to get all the duct work fixed.

Budget? What budget?

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

Robin Johnson said...

You've truly produced a lovely home for yourselves. You should be so proud of all you hard work.

LOL! Love the chickens in the house.

Anonymous said...

LOVE THE FLOORS! You have a very beautiful home! =)

MaryO said...

What a beautiful blog and beautiful home. Just discovered this blog and am delighted by the pics and...everything! Too sweet. Especially the pics of animals (I'm a big animal lover) and bless your sweet heart for adopting...was it Daisy? The 20 year old horse. I've always wanted one and never owned one. Can't imagine anyone neglecting their horse, cat, dog. etc. Thanks for giving me a wonderful reading experience. MaryO

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...