Floors

In the last post, I mentioned damages from hurricane Ike.  We were fortunate and had very little damage.  Aside from being without power for nine days, we had some water damage near an external door and some other issues resulting from a large branch falling from a neighbor's tree.

After such events, insurance companies are hard pressed to respond to all of their clients requests, so for awhile, anyone with a pulse can perform the role of insurance adjuster. None of our damage was bad, so we decided to hold off on our repairs, knowing that all competent contractors would be scheduled for some time to come. Truth be told, we waited until we could get a second look by competent adjusters too.

The first adjuster reported four cracked joists in the roof; my untrained eye saw six. We were probably already due for a new roof in 2008, so when the time came in December 2011, we used the insurance funds and replaced the entire roof.

The first adjuster reported the damage to the hardwoods and included enough to sand and refinish that room. The second adjuster knew that you couldn't stop sanding at a doorframe if there was no break in the flooring. Also, that you would never get a perfect color match again during the refinishing. Also, that you'd have to remove/replace the shoe molding and do some painting.  So, basically, we would be sanding and refinishing 70% of the house as a result of a minor leak near the back door.

The kitchen was tile. Ugly tile. Really ugly, cheap tile. While we're replacing the cabinets, why not get new floors in the kitchen?
The bedroom had carpet. Cheap carpet that's had been destroyed by the ex-husband's dog and occasional cat vomit. While we're doing all this other work, why not replace the horrid carpet in the bedroom?
...and like that, we're doing something to 90% of the floors in the house. Only the bathrooms have survived.

The hardwoods were the original hardwoods from the 1920s. They showed all the character, impurities and wear you'd expect from ninety year old hardwoods...and by wear, I include several previous sandings. One floor expert informed us that these floors had enough depth for two or three sandings remaining. Also remember that in the 1920's, they did not employ a subfloor. The only thing between us and the outside is that 3/4 inch of wood...less than 3/4 inch.

Niether of us want to seem them go, but wouldn't it be nice to have an extra couple layers of wood providing insulation? Wouldn't it be nice to have a single surface throughout the house? Wouldn't it be nice to have the floor replacement behind us, rather than in front of us?

Keeping, sanding and refinishing the floors would involve packing up everything we own and moving out for about two weeks while the work is done.  The cats don't pack well, so they would come with us to a hotel. Replacing the floors will involve moving as much as we can into a POD in the driveway, moving furniture around as the work progresses. We're halfway through but it feels like we've been camping in our own home forever. I know we made the right call and that this is the choice-of-least-hassle, but I grow weary.