Works in Progress

So, since I found out some people actually DO read my blog (thanks, Hannah!) I thought I'd post pictures of our works in progress!  We actually did start sanding the floor in our front bedroom and are making slow, but steady progress.  We had to go out and buy a handheld drum sander because the glue was so thick.  We have actually had to use 36 grit sandpaper and the glue cakes on the paper very quickly.  It is hard to believe that anyone could do such a travesty to their beautiful oak hardwood floors.  Hopefully we can get things sanded and stained and sealed this weekend.  I would also love to get to our office as well, so I can have a nice, quiet, designated spot to read and study, but we will see.  Our first priority is the bedroom and then we will go from there. The good news about the office though is that the hardwoods were already exposed.  They have a few stains, but no glue, so they should be much easier!

Here are some pictures of the progress.  I can't figure out how to put them in better order, so I apologize, for them being out of order.

Here is a comparison of the sanded vs. un-sanded floor.  Look at the difference.  Unfortunately we still have a lot more sanding to do to get things even.

This is a picture of the whole room with most of the black stuff scraped off.  Getting the light green carpet out really brightened the room.

A close up of the sanded floor along with a collection of some of the sanded particles.  We are going to use some of this to make a paste to fill the nail holes in from where the tack boards were nailed in.

Horrible picture quality (we have no overhead light in the room...another story for another post) but you can see the sandpaper and how thick that glue gets.

This is a picture after all the black stuff was scraped and before the sanding began.

This is as far as we got on Sunday evening.  We were tired and running out of daylight.

Hopefully we can complete this project this weekend.  It will take a lot of time, but we are eager to see the finished product!

Lastly, since I titled this blog post "works in progress" I will also give a small update with the dining room.  It is the only room near completion, but we still need to hang things on the wall.  Here is a sneak peak though:

This is a picture of the dining room before we moved in, so this is the previous owner's furniture.

Above is what it looks like without our furniture.  I tried to get most of the room painted before our furniture arrived so we could move the china cabinet (my favorite piece of furniture) into the house.  We now have furniture, but nothing on the walls, so I will update once we get everything complete.  Also, I think a new chandelier or at least some coverings for the lights are needed too, don't you?  We also need new window treatments, and I have NO idea when that will happen or how to pick those out!  We'll see.  Suggestions are welcome!

Bedroom Before

So it's been a long time since I have updated anything.  Marc and I are VERY and I mean VERY slowly unpacking and we have so much work to do on our house.  We are trying to do most of the work ourselves to save money.  It started with ripping out carpets.  There are hardwoods under all of the carpets in the house with the exception of the family room (previously a garage) and the "three season" porch.  Here are some before pictures . . .

As you can tell, the room (minus the paint samples) was pretty drab.  We have now ripped up the carpet, but still haven't decided on  a paint color!  It has been QUITE a process though, and definitely more than what we bargained for!  Under the carpet was not only carpet pad, but also this horrible linoleum-like layer with a felt-like layer that was GLUED to the hardwoods. 

Look at all these layers (and please excuse the ugly toes!)

After the carpet and carpet pad were removed, we had to remove the tack-board that was nailed into the hardwoods.

We had to then scrape the third layer off.  This was very laborious and took DAYS since I had to do it a bit at a time as my work schedule and integrity of my hands allowed.

This was after one afternoon of scraping.  It took another round of scraping to get the black stuff off, but just look at those beautiful hardwoods underneath! We have now removed all of the black backing that was glued to the hardwoods and now it is time to sand and refinish.  We are hoping that we can do it all ourselves and THIS weekend.  I am so eager to get settled!  Wish us luck.  Will update soon once we are finished!