You've been very patient. After weeks of waiting, my new old floors are complete. Welcome.
This is the story of an old house with old floors that do not match. And that's O.K.
After weeks of ripping up floor boards, crying, repairing and repatching I finally have the floors I wanted. And yes, I am very glad I ripped up each and every layer until I got to the last layer even if it meant a lot of work, some reinforcing of the floors and going to bed every night worried a disrupted centipede was going to crawl in my ear.
All of it was worth it to get to the original layer of flooring in my 1840 cottage. Imagine my surprise when I realized after the floors were sanded that - my foyer floors aren't the original floors.
Yep.
After all that. Don't get me wrong. The foyer floors I was so conflicted over revealing are olddddd floors. They're secured with square nails which means they were laid in 1890 or earlier.
They just aren't as old as the floors in my living room.
The wood planks in my living room are a different colour (darker meaning they're older) and wider. They're also secured with square nails. Who knows how or why these foyer floors ended up in here 50 years after the living room was laid. I can tell you I'd love to know.
It's very upsetting the people living here didn't have the foresight to develop the Internet, learn coding and start a website documenting everything at the time.
The replacement boards I got from an antique show to patch my little hallway are darker still. They're hemlock which tends to have less orange and yellow tones. The boards are probably even older than the living room boards. The hemlock came from the sides of a barn that was torn down in Ontario.
After everything was done and I was taking a few pictures to send to family I noticed something. I didn't notice it in real life, I noticed it in a photo. Looking through them I stopped at a picture I had taken of the foyer from my front door.
My floor. Had its eye on me.
As soon as you walk in the front door there is a knot in the wood that looks exactly like an eye staring at you. It doesn't sort of look like an eye, it isn't an optical illusion. It is an eye. There's even a light fleck where the iris is that looks like a highlight. No matter what angle you look at it from, there it is. Even looking at it from the side, you can see it's an eye.
So yes. It gives side eye.
I told a friend about my wooden eye and she asked right away if it looked like an evil eye or a kind eye. I think if I had to pick I'd say it's a kind eye keeping watch over me and my house.
I'm so glad I removed all of those cover up floors to reveal this. Now that it's all done I can't imagine what my hesitation was. I'm sure the eye thinks the same thing.
Sometimes you have to peel back the layers in order to see things clearly.
I still have a little bit of work to do with heat registers and such, but for all intents and purposes the floor is done. Which is good timing, because at this point ... so am I. Photos of the rooms filled back up with furniture coming soon.
Now. Onto the dining room floor.
Have a good weekend. And by good weekend I mean don't go ripping up your floors.
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Christine Francoeur
Wow better than I thought in my brain eye.
Sorry. They look great!
Heather
Lovely! That house is infused with your soul. I'll bet people will feel it for generations to come. :)
Edie Marie
All I can say is... WHAT A WOMAN!!! Incredible results from all your hard work Karen! And the "eye", how cool is that? It gives your house great insight and a vision for many happy years ahead! Looking forward to see all your treasures back in place.
Blessings in all your endeavors, Edie Marie
Karen
Thanks Edie Marie. Wish me luck (and another eye) in the dining room! ~ karen
Debbie
Fabulous! BTW, the eye is facing the front door, protecting those within and keeping evil out.
Bronwyn
Beautiful. But I'd be slapping a rug over that eye sooner rather than later!
Karen
LOL! ~ karen
Paula
Awesome, simply awesome! My floor have wide gaps like lots of old floors do and string has been added to fill the gaps and some sort of filler putty, too.
Karen
I'll see if there are any problems throughout the winter with cold, but there shouldn't be since these floors are over my basement which is always incredibly warm for some reason. If there are issues, I'll be going with rope. :) ~ karen!
Kim
Oh. I just love them. Love. Love. Love them. They are beautiful. And the fifty years older floors? I love them too. They have a story to tell, even if you don’t know it. And the eye? Oh. I enjoy that so much.
Your home is beautiful. I am so glad you ripped up those floors. It’s all so perfect. Good. Freaking. Work. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Laura
All the blood, sweat, tears, time, energy, effort and love shows!!
Gwen Humphries
Your floors look beautiful.
Georgia girl
Congratulations Karen! I am so happy that this worked out well for you. I had my doubts about your sanity and I’m sure you did too. But you got through it and it’s mahrvelous!
TucsonPatty
They are gorgeous! Congratulations on finishing the first part. Finishing the next room is only sanding and refinishing, yes? I have awesome wooden ceilings with crossbeans in my 1955 house. When I am in bed looking at the ceiling, I see, footprints, a wolf, eyes, other dogs...knotty wood is awesome!
Karen
The dining room floor also has to be ripped out. Actually it's already ripped out. :) At present it needs to be sanded and refinished, which I think I'll be doing myself as soon as I get time. ~ karen!
Kailee
My bathroom door in the house I grew up in had knots and wood grains that looked like Jesus. I only ever pointed it out to a couple people. Only as an adult did I realize that we could have gotten rich or famous by exploiting the Christ door. Oh well.
Karen
Devine.
Auntiepatch
Beautiful!
Suzanne LH
Did you have to tinker with the front door, or just live with the higher threshold?
Looks terrific. Whew. Makes me tired just thinking about it all. Done ther been that on a much smaller scale in a 1909 house in Colorado..
Karen
Oh, there was no changing the front door. :) Not unless I wanted to do some major brick work etc. I'm leaving it as is. The threshold was always elevated a little bit so I'm used to it not being perfectly flush. Haven't tripped on it once yet! ~ karen!
Lois M Baron
You are fabulous.
Karalyn Faulkner
I am SO impressed. Great work. Love your house. Reminds me of my own, even though mine is from 1950. My floors need refinishing and I am dreading it. Thanks for the motivation.
Judy
Oh my gosh, that is funny. As paranoid as I can be, I would think it was looking up at me from the basement. But it does look like a nice eye, and the floors look fabulous. Wish I had even new wooden floors instead of carpet. GOOD JOB!
Marjorie Kramer
A friend bought an eye amulet in Turkey, saying it's a good luck charm. The internet confirmed that just now, so, your floor eye must come from that genre! Your floors are warm and welcoming, just beautiful. Congratulations!
Marilyn
They look absolutely perfect..I love them and it’s a very kind eye ..sort of saying what took you so long ?.
Karen
LOL. Well, it may have taken me a while but it can see the world free and clear now. ~ karen!