What can I say? Everything in the house rests on the floor – it’s the foundational element in any remodel. In fact, when we renovated our master bedroom, it started with the changing of our closet. It was too small and there was a section that was cut out and set aside for a vanity and chest of drawers. However, we didn’t need that and had the wall removed. That meant that there were gaps in the flooring: and lo-and-behold a whole room renovation was now required just from changing a small part of a closet.
That project took almost six months to complete in small stages in Spring of 2021.
Why are we talking about the master bedroom when the kitchen is all the rage right now? Well, they are closely connected. Quite literally, connected by the flooring.
Speaking of the closet, let’s throw a few pictures of the end results of the master bedroom & closet remodeling project:
New closet layout
Back wall of master bedroom – shiplap on rear wall, new baseboards and window casements, and new floor. Not just a new stain, but an entirely new floor. The old floor was a hideously blonde bamboo from one of the previous owners.
Old blonde bamboo flooring – now since burned with the fires of heaven. Well maybe not burned, but we wanted it as far away from us as we could get it.
Back to our current renovation, we are now connected by the floor in the master bedroom to the floor in the hallway, entry way, dining room and kitchen – they are all the same:
Here is the join – notice the different color. On the right, new flooring in the master is red oak (which we though the flooring on the main level was).
On the left, is actually white oak – not what we were originally told and had we known, we would have gone with white oak all the way through for a consistent stain color.
We knew this was a sticking point and wanted to be careful about getting the color right.
Fast forward a bit to the last couple of weeks.
Since we are changing the kitchen layout, there are parts of the floor which have never seen the light of day in 35 years, and some which have degraded or been cut for some nefarious purpose (and by that I mean some shoddy duct work and water line rerouting). There was a great deal of patching and repairs to be done.
The floor team was actually quite skilled at the repairs and finishing techniques and many holes and gaps were repaired and filled in.
Before repairs
Repairs being done.
Repairs and flooring sanded.
At this point, we are in a hotel – the sanding and staining are not pleasant to be around. The dust just makes me cough, and the stains and topcoats are somewhat toxic. We used a few free hotel points to stay at a nearby hotel for a few days.
Here is the result.
View from the back of the kitchen.
And ooops. The flooring does not match – it’s even worse at the steps into the living room.
While the rest of the floor looks wonderful, and the quality of the finish is great, the color is not what we wanted and looks strangely green in the area of the steps at the top of the last picture. We are not happy with it, but we are hopeful that our floor guy will be able to come up with a fix.
We’re not letting it delay us, though – cabinets are next for this week. Once those are in, we will start putting the appliances back and template for the counter tops.
We have the faucets on order to arrive soon, as well as the cabinet pulls and knobs. So many details to get done!
But we are close. Very close.
::: jeffphillips.org ::: 