Late Night Destruction

Late last night, when we should have been getting ready for bed, we decided to pull up that plywood floor in the front hall. It's a tiny space, so we didn't think it would take too long.... Here's a view looking down the stairs as Pete starts to cut into it...



Look! The pine plank floors underneath were in really good shape! Thank God. We thought this spot by the front door would have water damage, but it doesn't. We very seldom use the front door - it's just too tight of a space. I guess all the previous owners felt the same way!



Note we had to remove all the door mouldings in order to pull the plywood up. The mouldings were new (1970's) and ugly and not right anyway... The only wonky spot on the floor is right at the bottom step, but even that isn't too bad...



There was this little piece of linoleum left by the front door! I cleaned it off to take a photo, 'cause I'm not sure I can remove it without ripping it... Looks like a funky starburst/floral pattern to me!




When we took off the cheap '70's door mouldings, we revealed the original door casement, and look! The original beautiful, ornate door hinges were still there! Broken, of course. I figure they just bashed off the door, breaking the hinges in the process. It's kind of comforting to know the house had nice features at one time. As I've mentioned, there's virtually nothing left. I bet the original doors were nice too. And the knobs...



I removed the hinges. I'll clean them up today and do something with them. Who knows, we might still find intact ones hidden underneath a different doorway! Wouldn't that be nice!


So, it was a fairly productive evening, even if we did keep the kids awake with all the horrible sounds of plywoodbeing ripped off! Pete was pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the floors, and is now excited about ripping up the t.v. room floor!!!

Here is the view into the hallway from the living room just before we went to bed. We are going to try and figure out a way to leave the original door casing exposed when we reinstall the moulding. I just can't bring myself to cover it up again.

Back to the House

Just in case you think I've been neglecting my house, a few photos for you...

No, they're not of the finished bedroom. (Still have to finish baseboards.)
No, they're not of the finished porch. (Still have to install ceiling and knee walls.)
No, they're not of anything that's finished!

My front hall:


Note the nice old wide pine plank floor in the living room at the top of the photo? Well, that's what is under the plywood floor in the front hall. I've torn off the linoleum, but that's as far as I've gotten. Now that the lino is gone, this floor seems to have a bad odour when it's damp out!!


This is the same plywood floor, but painted. This is our t.v. room. When we first moved here, we thought it would be smart to leave the plywood in this room because it was where the kids played, and it was pretty indestructible. Now, though, it's in bad shape, chipping, and giving people splinters... Plus, it is really ugly. So yes, I've started a new project!! I can't spend another winter in this room looking at the ugly floor.

Today I tore off the baseboards (cheap, ugly, new ones, don't worry!) and then pried off this little piece of plywood covering a vent that wasn't being used. It took me far longer than it should have to get this little piece off. Way too long. I swore a lot and sweated a lot. (It's really hot here today!) Maybe there is an easier method, or maybe I just don't have the upper body strength. I will ask around though, because there is an awful lot of plywood left to rip up!!