This week has been (and I daresay will be) sort of discombobulating.
Late last fall we discovered that we had hardwood floors hiding under the ratty wall-to-wall carpeting in Casa Free-Ride. We also found out from our friend who refinishes hardwood floors that if we were to refinish ours in February, we could get a deal on it. February, being part of our rainy season (to the extent that we have anything describable as “seasons” in the Bay Area), is part of the slow season for floor refinishing.
Given that we have held the carpeting in contempt for some time (did I mention that it was ratty?), it sounded like a great idea to us, even though it would mean completely clearing all the rooms in which carpeting would be pulled up and floors would be sanded and finished. Yeah, it meant boxing a lot of stuff and moving a lot of furniture, but we’d have time to get on that …
After the holidays.
And after the kids went back to school.
And after ScienceOnline.
And after my semester got going.
Yesterday was the day of reckoning. The rooms were not quite cleared by 7:30 AM, but we had the last one emptied by 11:00 AM. By the end, we pretty much abandoned organizational principles in favor of getting it done, which means some of these boxes will be … interesting to unpack.
We are lucky enough to have a place to stay within a couple miles of Casa Free-Ride (which is especially convenient given that the rabbit is still holding court in her backyard run, and demands regular water, kibble, carrots, and watercress stems as tribute).
I keep hearing how going carpetless leads to a remarkable decline in airborne allergens. I expect I’m likely to experience our return to Casa Free-Ride this way whether or not it’s true; the place we’re staying for the duration has enough residual cat in it (possible in time-release form) that my eyes have been scratchy and my throat itchy for the 30-odd hours we’ve been in residence. When I get that stack of papers today that will need grading, maybe I’ll take them to the cat-free cafe. However, the cafe has wifi, which our current lodgings do not, which might make the grading harder.
In any event, I’m hopeful that the sock-skating we’ll be able to do when the floors are finished will make the trouble of being dislocated totally worth it.
Going to 100% tile 15 years ago was so totally worth it. Allergens, check. Insect life: check. Cleaning: check.
Cool floors in the summer, aaaahhhhhhhh.
But tile is probably harder to sock-skate on, yes?
The great part about the hardwood is that it was already there, just waiting to be refinished. So, we didn’t have to agonize over choosing tile (and the horror of different tile for different rooms, etc.).
We did, however, find that disassembling a bunk-bed that needed to be removed from one of the bedrooms was less feasible than actually hacking it up. Which means we’re probably destined for an Ikea run when the floors are ready to have furniture on them again.
Depends on the tile. The stuff we picked is as nonskid as we could get, so you can’t go all that far — although the cats do pretty well.
As for discovering hardwood, I’m in that very situation now. I just bought a new house in the town I’ll be moving to, and it’s an adobe built in 1900. Hardwood floors somewhere under the carpeting. Not critical for the time being, but somewhere down the road I hope to let them see daylight again.
Glad for the update. I was wondering whether the refinishing plan was really going to happen.
Consider the unpacking segment of the project kind of like an Easter egg hunt. (There will be many specific items that fail to appear from where you expect them when you first look for them).
Take care of yourself in the meantime. You’ll need all your strength.