Day 24. Day twenty-four. For some reason it seems like a long, long time ago that we started. We are almost at the end of five weeks of actual, constant work, and six weeks with no kitchen. Here, at the (almost) midway point in the renovation, I can start to feel the shift toward finishing. We’re sampling floor stain colors, talking about logistics — where to move our furniture, when to move our furniture, making space in the garage for a workshop — the final flooring phase of the project, discussing plans for a maybe-sometime-next-week cabinet delivery (!), and hoping to get to bathroom tiling started early next week. Things are starting to feel final, pieces of the puzzle are slotting into place, and the house is starting to feel like it will be finished.
Of course, we have soooo much to do before then, so many challenges to overcome, mini-puzzles to solve, sub-contractors to schedule, bills to pay, etc. But we really will have a beautiful space when this is all finished. One we can enjoy, and feel proud to leave behind for future families who will undoubtedly occupy this home. And it is just that. A home. The Team feels like extended family, friends who you want to cook dinner for, people you want to see in the future, people who you will miss when this is all over. I am so glad that we are lucky enough to have such a crew, and to have so much love and care being put into every inch of this building. It truly radiates love over here. (Sniff, tear.)
But, on to the facts of the case. The antique floors were sanded. And sanded. And sanded. Yet, because of their entombed life for at least the past 70 years, the floors have had their original finish basically baked into them, so the sanding will need to be a bit more aggressive, and a bit more burly (Eric’s favorite word) to get the grain to open up enough to take the stain evenly. (Better to start off mild, and then end up strong, rather than go too far with this process.) So, the guys hope to have a first coat of stain on them by day’s end tomorrow. Just how that stain takes on the two different aged floors remains to be seen. Dave also laid the closet floor, which also needs a few good grinds with a sander (I believe he’s going to use the power planer in this tight space). That floor is expected to get a coat of something (poly?) tomorrow, too.
In other news, Brad worked on finishing out the living room outlets, outfitting a closet with light, and putting in a switch for the recessed lights in the master bathroom. We’re less than a week away from having our whole house re-wire done! I can’t believe it! Brad’s got some loose ends (quite literally) to tie up, finishing out the basement, the outside outlets, doorbells, and the front door lights, and then voila! Done! It’ll be sad, though. We’ve gotten so used to seeing Brad almost every day. What will Bec do every morning? Who will she greet? Who will play DJ for our technology challenged carpenters? Who can say. Good thing we know we’ll see Brad at the finish-finish to complete hanging and installing all the lights and outlets in the kitchen.
It’s amazing to see things in real life that have, until now, only existed in your imagination. I suppose seeing the wall color go up was somewhat anti-climactic for me since I had envisioned those colors in my head for a long, long time. It just took some time to actually find them. I think seeing the floor stain go on will be different, somehow, since the floor really does have its own life, one that we can only influence, but not change. It’s really happening, y’all! Can you stand it?
