The Work Goes On

The epic of refinishing the hardwood floor continued...yesterday. Is there anyone else who has taken as long as we have? Terry only gets every Sunday off and every other Monday off. Boy oh boy...we live 120 miles from the large lumber yards. Our local lumber yard does not carry rental equipment. The rental shop here has old and damaged stuff as far as floor sanders go sooooo... We went to a town 60 miles away to rent from a mid-sized lumber yard. We got the sander and found that the horror stories we have heard were exaggerated.Terry decided that we would start with 60 grit paper instead of the roughest stuff. Our floor is in good condition so we didn't need the roughest. The floors look good. The next step is staining and then varnishing.One tip I think is worth knowing: Do rent the edge sander or get rough grit for an oscillating sander if you have one. It takes at least 40 grit to cut through the residue on the edges. Don't let the largeness of the job intimidate you. If we can do it, you can too. I will let you know how the staining and varnishing go...stay tuned...this may take some time. Hopefully all will be back to normal by Thanksgiving. That is my hope!!! and Terry's semi-promise.

Tearing out part of the original hardwood floor

Today Terry was out of hours for driving his truck so he was home. After these few months, this was his first opportunity to really get into working on the hardwood floor since he patched the hole from the floor heater opening. He studied and studied the condition of the floor and even took out his belt sander and sanded the rougher spots and the spots with large gaps between the boards. He determined that the portion of the dining room that was in the worst condition had to come out.Yes, come out! He also said, "Boy, this is almost as bad as the can of worms I opened with the bathroom floor."I responded, "THIS IS THE CONTINUATION OF THE BATHROOM FLOOR!!!"We had a big laugh over that. He did find a store/dealer for hardwood that is 3/4" thick and 2 1/2" wide. It is either red or white oak. (kind of a bear to find) Anyway, after the dust and sawdust settled, we have a sub floor showing over 1/3 or the dining room floor. Such fun trying to keep the house presentable.This reminds me of the job of getting a book published. After it is accepted for publication, the work begins. One thing leads to another. First you write the book, then write the synopsis for the back cover. The next step is to get people to write reviews, then write acknowledgements, and dedications. There really are a lot of steps to it. It is a fun process.You would think that writing a synopsis of a book would be much easier than the book itself. I have to say that it has been a bigger challenge for me than you might think. Also, the author biography is a soul searching experience. "What have I done with my life?" or "Where have I been?" I find that I am so terribly ordinary.Now, let me tell a goofy story about Terry and I...THAT'S EASY AND FUN!!!