A Story about Floors

Our approach to finish the floors has had many twists and turns since we purchased our home. From what they were (almost entirely painted throughout the house), to what we thought we wanted (stained), to what we have decided to do in the end (seal with a clear water-based matte sealer), the floors have involved quite the journey of discovery. 

The room shown above had not been painted but for some reason, but did have different flooring (probably Douglas fir) from the rest of the house. We had some extra boards left over from the kitchen so we ended up replacing those narrow boards (we are perhaps cursed with thoroughness) to match the wide white pine boards in the rest of the house. 

These are the new white pine floors with the stain we thought we'd use to 'age' the newly sanded wood. Thankfully, we only did this room and the hallway before we realized that it wasn't what we were quite looking for after all. 

Mike just sanded off that stain over the weekend, getting ready to seal them with a clear matte sealer.

The bathroom, as it was when we purchased our home, had several layers of flooring covering the old boards. All of those boards had to be removed to update the plumbing and electrical, some needed to be replaced entirely due to rot. 

Here are the floors today, nearly ready to be sealed. And I have to say 'hello' to our mystery window, for those who remember that post (and here).  

From that same bathroom, looking down the hallway, you can see the old brown painted floors. 

And here's the hallway today - closet doors have been removed. 

Here is that same hallway, looking now towards the bathroom, with the stain sample we tried (and did not like). 

Here it is with the stain removed, ready to be sealed by the clear matte sealer. 

Our move-in date is soon. There will still be much to do, but we can at least say that all the dirty work is behind us.