7/1/23 - I finally got the courage to take up the old wall to wall carpeting. My parents installed it around 1988 and it was time to say good-bye. My brother and I took up the carpeting, pad, and tack strip that held the carpet in place. We then swept, vacuumed, and washed the floors with Murphys Oil Soap. Tomorrow we plan to tackle the carpeting the library and living room. The stairs and second floor hallway and bedrooms will need to wait.

7/2 Washed hallway and dining room floors a second time. Removed carpet, tack strips and staples from library and washed floors. I have a stains and paint on library floor that I will need to address. Moved all the furniture from living room and put in dining room, hallway, and library. Tomorrow I’ll removed carpet from living room. I know the hardwood was installed in the bay window when it was added but was not stained or varnished so I will have to deal with this.

7/3 Removed carpet from living room and washed floor. Have a few problems with areas where heat vents and cold air returns were shaped out. Hardwood flooring was installed when bay window was built but was not varnished. Its a different color so I need to figure out what to do to make it match.

Poor Enzo has been miserable these last three days. He likes structure and routine and that has been non existent during this project.

7/5 I couldn’t face taking old carpet to dump so hired a trash hauler. Expensive but worth every penny.

Bought stain to try and get “new” hardwood in bay to match the rest of living room. My brother and I did research and decided to use Minwax Ultimate Floor Finish to seal the floors. I ordered 4 gallons.

7/6 Bought 400 feet of 1/4 round, plugs for the holes from security system wiring, and finishing nails. Stained bay window floor and all the 1/4 rounds. Started removing plywood at heat vents to start figuring out how to repair with extra flooring.

7/7 Spent the morning getting more supplies: quick drying varnish for baseboards, paint stir sticks to use as shims, oxalic acid, foam brushes. Looked at for place for a applicator for the floors. Couldn’t find one so ordered from Amazon. Should be here tomorrow.

Repaired two of the three vents in living room. Only have enough salvaged flooring for one more vent. Need to find more.

Washed living room floor again. Sanded a few spots. Cleaned paint drips from floor. Used a little stain on bare spots. Applied first and second coats of varnish on baseboards.

7/8 Found extra flooring at Ballard Reuse. Bought tinted varnish for 1/4 round because Mark didn’t light flashing. Way too dark. Decided to put a second coat of stain. Brian stopped by to check on work and said he would come the next day and use paint remover to remove varnish around hearth to see if we can get rid of water marks. Decided also we like the reclaimed flooring better than the left over flooring we found in the house.

7/9 Bought more reclaimed flooring from Ballard Reuse. Mark fixed vent in hallway and replaced the first repairs. Brian used the paint remover on flooring around hearth. I put the first coat of varnish on the 1/4 round.

Tried oxalic acid on water stains around hearth and in library. The stains are not gone, but are definitely lighter.

Amazon canceled by order for 4 gallons of varnish for the floor because they were damaged during shipment. Tried ordering again but won’t be here for 3 weeks!! Back to the drawing board.

Stopped at 3:00pm because Kim arrived to wind her warp and I wove until dinner.

7/10 I ordered more floor varnish on Amazon. Turns out I needed to order only 2 gallons per order instead of 4, so I place two separate order for 2 gallons each. Weird.

Mark and Brian worked on area around hearth. Looks much better. Set nails on floor and filled with wood filler.

I put second coat of varnish on 1/4 round. Used oxalic acid on water/pet stains in library.

7/11 First order of varnish arrived! Another treatment of oxalic acid around hearth plus a bit of stain to even out color. It’s not perfect but so much better than before.

Washed entire living room floor in preparation of applying varnish tomorrow.

7/12 Applied three coats of varnish to living room floor allowing to dry 2+ hours between coats. Taking the day off tomorrow to let floor dry more thoroughly.

7/13 and 7/14 Took days off to let varnish dry.

7/15 Started installing 1/4 round in living room. Really hard to do with hammer. Got out Ben’s nail gun and went to hardware store to learn out to use it and to get nails. Nail gun worked great.

7/16 Finished installing 1/4 round in living room. Looks great!. Move furniture out of library and into living room. Will start prepping library floor tomorrow.

7/17 Had errands to do in the morning so I didn’t get started until 1:00pm. Moved all furniture into living room. Started touching up baseboards with stain. My kitchen is a staging area and a complete disaster!

7/18 Cleaned baseboard in entrance hall, dining room, and library. Touched up with stain and then two coats of varnish.

Patch some holes and sanded and stain areas where there was water damage, etc. Baseboards in library are painted but there is a rough line where the paint met the old carpet. I sanded these and will paint tomorrow.

7/19 Painted baseboard in library. Patched holes and washed floors of library, dining room, and entrance hall.

7/20 Applied three coats of varnish to floor of library and dining room.

7/21 Applied three coats of varnish to entrance hall floor.

7/22-23 Letting floor varnish dry. Also needed time to catch up on laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Kim came over Saturday for weaving.

7/24 Oh boy, is it hard to keep moving on this project. Only got the 1/4 round down in library

7/25-27 Took a mini break and visited Ben in Squamish, BC.

8/5-7 Realized summer is almost over so I took three days to explore the state.

8/10-14 Kim and I spent three nights on the coast. Poor Enzo needed a fun break after the disruption of the floor project.

8/16 I’m done!! I finished installing 1/4 round in entrance hallway and two closets.

Installed commemorative plaque.

I need to get a rug for the entrance hall and in the back hallway. I have to finish installing the trim around the new windows near fireplace and patching wall around new window in library. I want to take up the carpeting on stairs and second floor but that will happen another day. Too tired from this project but it feel fantastic to be done!!