Current Remodel-Past, Present & Blown Up

Yes, two front doors again. We like to confuse people-especially delivery guys.

Our realtor called this house another ‘turd’.
I love our realtor. She is so truthful.

This poor house had been made into a mockery of a home. Something had to be done.

We basically had to tear it down to build it back up. Just like the army. Go Army! Go Greimans!

ONE MOMENT FOR:
A few weird facts about this house….
1.One entire bedroom and bathroom (including the ceiling) had been painted mauve and pepto pink.
2.The electrical panel had two inches of water sitting in it. YIKES!
3.After closing, we found a second secret electrical panel that even the inspector missed. Double YIKES!
4.We pulled up a brick pattern linoleum in the kitchen to find….the exact same brick pattern linoleum underneath it. What the heck?

But what takes the proverbial cake was that this house had FIVE exterior doors. Now, you know my stance on buying houses with at least two front doors. But do we really need five? We removed a couple, just for fun.

This one…

…and this one. Pay no attention to that man. I have no idea who that man is.

Now, a little twist. See this pretty barn? (Stick with me, I promise this has something to do with our current remodel.) My hubby grew up on this farm. His Grandma Greiman grew up here, and so did her father. The farm & the barn were built in the 1800’s. It has seen horse and buggies, flapper dresses, the Great Depression, World War I & II, telephones, airplanes, men on the moon, the Vietnam War, hippies, the internet…

I think you get the idea. It’s been around awhile.

The barn resides on the Greiman farm, which is referred to as a ‘Century Farm’. It’s been in the same family for over 100 years.

This is the haymow of said barn where generations of farmers stored their hay. And did other things in the haymow that maybe you shouldn’t be doin’. Wink, wink.

The barn was built with wooden pegs to hold it together instead of nails. The supporting beams had roman numerals carved into them, allowing the barn raisers to know which beam went where. The barn raisers handiwork survived tornadoes and fires and storms.

But, one summer we had to tear it down. That wasn’t easy for any of us.

Especially for these two: Kayle’s Grandpa and Grandma Greiman. They came by often, since they only lived four miles away, bearing cookies and ice cream and watching our progress.

Although much loved, the barn had become unsafe. This is one of the four corners of the barn. Notice it’s leaning on a little iron peg-and that’s all it’s leaning on.

We were able to recycle and save as much of the barn as possible. The foundational rocks are now in my garden. The haymow floor….

….is the flooring in most of our house. It was a pretty nasty sanding process, releasing 100 year old barn-ness into the air-but totally worth it.

The floors are my favorite part of our home. It’ll be hard to ever leave.

We made a ridiculously huge dining room table out of the barn’s stable wood. We can comfortably seat 10, and squeeze in 12 if need be. I wanted it wide enough for our plates and a huge amount of food in the center. Both sides of the family are big eaters…

This is one of the four legs to our dining room table. Notice the roman numeral carved into it?

But enough about that.
Let’s talk about injuries.

During ‘Insulation Day’, this guy Beau (who blew up another of our houses) decided to get creative. Anytime Beau gets creative, someone is going to get hurt.

He set about making a prop out of scrap wood to hold up the insulation that I was stapling to the ceiling. And sometime during the process….he shot a 16 penny nail through his finger. If you don’t know what a 16 penny nail is, it’s about 2 inches long.

Things I won’t repeat began to creep from Beau’s lips. I thought he was pulling my leg and had taped the nail to the backside of his finger. I told him to quit goofing off and get back to work.

Hubby took Beau to the hospital instead, nail and all. Big oops on my part.

But then, what do you expect from someone that looks like this and who sniffs paint fumes, old dust and fiberglass all day?
You shouldn’t expect much, let me tell you. Just pour her a glass of wine and call it a day.

‘How to do it like a Woman’-Finishing Your Hardwood Floors-Part Deux

I bet you’re a little sore today after Part Uno.
Don’t fret, today is an easy day. A fun day. You are going to make those dusty floors look brand spanking shiny and new!
HURRAH!

From our list in ‘Part Uno’, this is what you will need today:
Shop Vac
Rubber Gloves
Polyurethane
Stain (if desired, I did not desire)
Paint Tray & liners
Foamy Brush
Lambs Wool Applicator
Pole Sander & 220 Grit Pole Sander Pads
Mineral Spirits/Paint Thinner and rags
A good attitude

First things first; using your shop vac, suck up all of the dust particles from every square inch of your newly sanded floors.
This step sucks! heh heh.
I recommend dust mopping the walls and vacuuming off ledges and shelves, as well.

Spread a generous amount of the paint thinner/mineral spirits onto your rag and take a big wiff of it. Now that you are dizzy, wipe the entire floor with your smelly rag. This removes the fine particles left behind by the vacuum.

Guess what?! If you want to apply a stain, this is the time to do it. Use a lintless rag to apply your stain evenly to the floor.
If you are like me and aren’t applying a stain, it’s time for Round 1 of polyurethane! Grab your rubber gloves, make a bird out of them (shown above) and get pumped.
You can skip the ‘bird’ step if you like.

Gently stir your poly in a clockwise rotation with a clean stir stick.
Don’t pull up from the bottom or stir quickly. This will create air pockets in your poly. And that is not good…
You will want to stir your poly (both in the can and in the paint tray) from time to time throughout the application process.

Pour your poly very gently into your paint tray. I recommend using a liner in your paint tray or you will have a sticky mess on your hands and everywhere else.
Dip the Lamb’s Wool Applicator gently into the poly, pulling back until the applicator is full.

Start in the furthest corner of the room and plan how you are going to get out of the room. (Don’t poly yourself into the corner. That’s just embarrassing.)
Using even strokes, gently pull the lamb’s wool applicator towards you, following the direction of the wood. Repeat this until the floor is coated with polyurethane.
It’s easy to miss spots or leave puddles. Review your work as you go, using different viewing angles.

Let the first coat of poly dry. Follow the amount of time recommended by the manufacturer.
Every poly is a little different. I’ve always said that.

After the floor has had enough time to dry, use your pole sander and your 220 grit sand paper to smooth out any bubbles or high spots from pooling poly (can you say that 10 times fast?) following the direction of the wood.
You can also rent a buffing machine, but I like to get a shoulder workout. And, I’m cheap.
Vacuum the floor thoroughly after you are done sanding.

Now, it’s time for Round 2 of polyurethane!
(Follow the same instructions from Round 1 for applying the poly).

Let ‘er dry. YEAH!!!!
You are finished. Look at that floor! And you did it all by yourself. Follow your manufacturer’s instructions on dry time. Usually you can walk on the floors 2 days or so afterwards.
You did a great job.
And THAT’S how a woman does it.

‘How to do it Like a Woman’-Sanding Hardwood Floors-Part Uno

GO here to see Part Deux!
There are so many projects to be done around the home, had I waited on Hubby to do it all by himself, would never have been done. You may be apprehensive about tackling something as ominous as hardwood floors. I am not apprehensive about almost anything, so let me be your guinea pig on things such as this.
You can sit back, sip some tea and learn from my mistakes.

When I first heard of this task, I ran the other way and hid in a dark corner for several hours. There was whimpering involved.

I mean, we’re talking scary, noisy machines that could inflict pain.
I could permanently damage the wood by sanding too deep.
I could pick the wrong stain and have to live with it that way FOREVER!
And, then I realized….these are just floors. Boo-hoo if I screw it up.

What you’ll need (get a pencil out):
Knee pads & dust mask for your own comfort
Polyurethane
Stain (if desired-I didn’t desire)
Pole Sander & 220 Grit pole sander pads
Lamb’s Wool Applicator (bahhh…)
Palm Sander and 110 Grit Sand paper
Mineral Spirits/Paint Thinner and rags

This is a belt sander. I recommend testing this 500 pound machine out before you leave the rental joint, haphazardly load it up into your truck, drive 45 minutes to your destination, haphazardly unload it and somehow get it inside, attach a new piece of sandpaper and realize it doesn’t work right…

You’ll need to rent a belt sander and an edger.
You will need to also buy three grits of sandpaper at the rental place. Usually they’ll start you at 100 grit, then 80 and finally 36.
For new wood you can start at 80 like we did and then move on to 36.
You’ll also want:
Paint trays and liners for the poly
Rubber gloves to apply the poly
Foamy brush to get the poly in small places
Wood fill & applicators for wood fill
Sheets of Plastic & Blue Tape

Let’s Get STARTED!!!!

Tape off all doorways, cabinets and anything else you don’t want completely covered in a thick, fine layer of icky brown dust.
I would recommend blue painter’s tape-however, when you run out, you may use masking tape as I did…

With the belt sander UNPLUGGED, insert your first piece of sandpaper. Since there are so many different kinds of sanders, ask the rental company how to put the sand paper in. Or, you can email me and I can show you how with this particular model.

Always sand in the direction of the wood grain with the largest grit sandpaper first. Because this wood was new, I started with an 80 grit.
Gently make contact with the floor while the machine is in the ‘ON’ position and you are moving forward. Walk slowly towards the other side of the room.
When you are a foot or so away from the wall (or another end point), lift gently up on the machine while still moving forward. Turn yourself & the lifted up machine around like you are mowing a lawn. Head back, baby, in the other direction. Do this until all of the floor is sanded.
Transitioning gently onto the floor with the belt sander will prevent large dips/ruts from being taken out of the wood.

Now, that your floors have been sanded all the way through….time for the edger! Strap on your knee pads and get ready to bulk up on your forearm muscles.
You will use the edger to get right up against your walls and inside of your closets. This thing is a little tricky, but with the right positioning, it won’t get away from you.

Use your palm sander to get into those tiny places even the edge can’t get into.
Don’t I look lovely? I had brown boogers. Gross.

Because we were sanding new floors, after the first sand at 80 grit, we were able to wood fill all of the nail holes and knots in the floor next.
If you are sanding old wood floors, you will do wood fill after you have sanded/edged twice: once with the 100 and then the 80 grit.
After the wood fill has dried (read directions on the packaging), sand and edge the floors again, removing all of the wood fill with your last grit of sand paper.

This is how you will look after all of the sanding is completed. Now, go to bed and get some rest.
Blow out the brown boogers as much as possible.
Tomorrow is a big day-we’re going to finish this project and make your floors so shiny and new!
GO here to see Part Deux!