The Great Flooring Debacle of 2010
If you ever doubted that we Loechners sure know how to end the year with a bang, read on. I mean, really, this year-long renovation was going all too well, wasn’t it?
If you tuned into this video, you saw a sneak peek of our situation. But for those of you who missed it, let me recap the events that led to sleepless nights and higher-than-necessary blood pressure levels:
1. Ken and I hired out our flooring project as a Christmas present to ourselves. We were tired, achy and really craving a hot cocoa + movie night rather than yet another ham sandwich + manual labor evening.
2. The floor team installed the hickory beautifully and Ken and I began high-fiving ourselves.
3. All hell broke loose.
I’m kidding. It wasn’t quite that dramatic. But what did happen was a minor setback to the tune of $800 and two weeks of work. Let me explain:
When Ken and I chose to order our hickory online, we were worried that the look would be a wee too rustic for our taste. We wanted Sweden, not Big Bear (no offense to cabins — we love them!) and were really going for a muted, natural look. The team at 360 Flooring (where we ordered our hickory) was super-helpful and assured us that the hickory would be the perfect fit if we promised to use water-based stain, rather than oil-based.
We (Ken) made a mental note and we (I) promised to convey this to our flooring installers.
Until we (I) forgot. And we (Ken) returned to the home to see this:
After apologizing profusely to poor Ken, we both decided the yellow tint of the oil-based stain just wouldn’t work for us. And rather than sanding off a layer of the hickory, we thought we’d get crafty and mix a bit of white paint in with a new coat of water-based sealant.
Until the team of flooring installers said whitewashing wasn’t part of the deal and they wouldn’t finish the project if we changed the rules. Understandable, indeed.
So, we were left with two options: (1) Whitewash the entire floor ourselves or (2) sand the floor, tackle the job with water-based sealant and hope for the best.
We chose door #2, because whitewashing our new hickory floors? The idea sounded glamorous enough, but we’re chickens and we immediately stressed out about royally screwing up our newly-laid floors.
And this is the part where I sing Ken’s praises, because that man is a trooper. Do you see the teeny sander above? He used that, plus a 3-inch belt sander on our entire house. How badly do you want to hug him right now? I know, I know. (Hand’s off; he’s mine.)
Four days (and a serious backache for Ken) later, we tackled the water-based sealant and looooved the result:
[#1. Raw, untreated. #2. Oil-based sealant. #3. Water-based sealant. Big difference, yes?]
This is the part of today’s program where my mother emails me to tell me I’m too picky and my husband is going to resent me if I continue with these antics. But I promise, we’re both to blame. Ken’s as much of a design snob as I, and although we made the project much harder than it needed to be, we’re now madly in love with our floors.
And isn’t that what renovating is all about? Doing your best, making mistakes and learning as you go. Besides, hot cocoa and movie nights are soooo overrated.
I went through the same thing when we installed our floors. Loved the hickory, but didn't like the warmer tones that happened with the oil based. Luckily I found water based and that's what they used on my floors. I loved them then, but was worried that I made get tired of the character-grade hickory with all of it's variations. I haven't. Six years later I absolutely LOVE them! Glad you went through the extra work to get what you want. You won't regret it!
Merry Christmas…
The floors are beautiful!
When I read this post, I thought, "Why didn't they rent a floor sander?." I mentioned this to my woodworker husband.
Him: "It took them a long time time, right?"
Me: "Yes, but why didn't they rent a floor sander?"
Him: "I would have used a random orbital sander, too. I've seen too many disasters with floor sanders."
Ha, your husband sounds like my husband!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, friends!
Your husband is a saint! But he is pretty lucky to be married to you.
xoxox
I cannot BELIEVE Ken did this all himself! Our husbands both deserve mad props for renovation work in December. I think Nick spent (collectively) 12 hours on tweaking our shower — first putting on clear caulk that should have been white. Then putting on white caulk. Then being told by a friend, "Hey dummy, you should grout first, THEN caulk," so tearing out the old caulking (AGAIN) and grouting and THEN caulking.
So we here in the Werner house tip our hats to you and feel your pain!
PS – THe floors are GORGEOUS
I just wish we could have gone back to the original recommendation (water based sealer) from the start… Oil based sealants ALWAYS have some sort of pigment and almost act like a natural stone enhancer does on slate and travertine to optimize the color output. The good news is the floors turned out great and they will no doubt be a topic of conversation for their beauty as opposed to their hardship once the project is complete.
Beautiful results Erin and Ken. Big round of applause for your tenacity and determination. I am looking at reflooring and now I want the same result/color/tone you have. Really gorgeous!
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Thanks, friends!
Looks awesome. Really does!
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