uncovering floors

So the past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic, despite being on summer break. I still had a couple of graduate classes, but those are both finally over! I'm working DC's Migrant Camp, which I love. Also, the loan is officially permanent, despite a couple of slightly large and ridiculous roadblocks that popped up...As a 90s child, I would compare it to kind of like being on Rainbow Road in Mario Kart, slipping on those infuriating bananas, then barely escaping a turtle shell one of your friends threw at you, only to get eaten by one of the evil chomping bombs. Anyway.

 The loan finally did go through. It is done!

So our first project was nothing too drastic. We started uncovering all of the hardwood floors, which includes the side door entryway leading to the stairs, the hallway, and the upstairs bedroom that used to be the second kitchen when it was an apartment several years ago. We have also started on the kitchen floor, but I'm going to wait and include that in the post about the kitchen :)

So we started downstairs in that side entryway. I must preface with the fact that no one--Leo, my Dad, the hardwood floor refinisher, nor the interior designer we invited over for an hour---believed the floors would be worth saving at all. I would also like to point out that, for the most part, they were wrong. Which doesn't happen often!

This is the before of the side entryway. The tile really wasn't that bad, it was just broken. Plus I am quite partial to hardwood and as you can see there is some peeking out. Under the broken tile. And plywood subfloor. Oh, and it is blue. Gotta love the 50s (I'm sure someone will be saying the same thing one day..."geeze, what were those people from the 10s thinking??)

I convinced my Dad to take up the tile AND the sub flooring (instead of automatically laying down new tile) and he agreed since it is such a small space. Here is the after:

Again, it is blue. I get that. But that can also be sanded out :) The important part is that it is in pretty good shape. Besides a few nail holes. But that is all part of the character! And I'm all for character, as I'm sure Leo is tired of hearing...but hey, it will also save a lot if we can reuse it! He likes hearing that part. I'm learning.

All went pretty well. Then I decided to go to the house by myself to clean up and get one of the boards back down. We are trying to save on the utilities, so we haven't been turning on the air conditioning, instead electing to open windows. In this case, I opened the door. Like my Dad does ALL the time when he is there. Without anything happening. But of course, that's not possible with my luck.

So I'm working away, once again feeling quite proud of myself (I'm seeing a pattern here), and then I hear a loud banging noise. I really wasn't alarmed at first. Then I looked up and saw it. A bird. Banging itself against the window and flying around the entryway wildly. The same 3X3 space that I am in. Terrified and trying to escape. In turn, he terrified me and a running I went. Thankfully no neighbors were out to see my ridiculousness. 

Within seconds I'm out of the door, around the porch and on the front yard. Safe but wondering why the one time I open the door, a bird has to fly in. Hopefully my Dad isn't busy at work :)

Then I realize I have left my phone in the entryway. I stand there. And stand there. And then work up the courage to run, quite recklessly and waving my arms like an idiot, into the house grab my phone and run back out. I call my Dad, and he doesn't answer. My next idea is to text my friend Rachael who lives around the block and see if her fiancé is home (sometimes he works nights, so he is there during the days). He wasn't. She offered to call her mom to help, and its then that I realize I'm being ridiculous. I am (kind of) a grown woman! I can handle a little bird. I grab the broom and go inside. No bird in sight. I start hoping that he flew out as I was running out. 

I slowly walk up the stairs to check the second floor, and my Dad calls me back. Birds of course do not like the Lollipop song blaring loudly right next to them and it was quite clear within two seconds of my phone ringing that the bird had not exited earlier behind me like I hoped. Thanks, Dad.

I ran back out of the house. Like a chicken. 

I eventually went back in and found it cowering at the end of the hallway, behind a window screen that my Dad had taken out. I slowly laid down the broom. I went to open the window so that it could fly out and not stay in my house, pooping all over everything. And honestly, after it stopped hitting itself against the window and saw it cowering behind a screen, I felt sorry for it.

I still didn't trust it though. I didn't like opening the window because it meant that I had to turn my back on the bird. But I got it, and the screen open (actually, it fell out...turns out I'm not the most skilled at opening window screens--Dad not happy) and turned around victorious...and the bird just sat there. And sat there. And we just stared at each other. I went down the stairs to give it some space. Still nothing. 

This is ridiculous. Over 30 minutes has passed over this silly bird ordeal. I don't have time for this. Time is precious to me and taking it up for ridiculous things is one way to either anger me, or apparently get me to put my big girl panties on and fix the situation. I walked up the stairs and just started running down the hallway at the bird. Within two seconds it was coming at me. I ducked into the bedroom and it flew straight out of the window. 

Another "crisis" over. I closed the door and the window (which doesn't currently have a screen) and just worked miserably, sweating like a stubborn pig. But no more birds were getting into my house. Nope.

I went upstairs to work on the floor in the upstairs bedroom. We need to get this up, even though it isn't staying, because we need some extra wood to use in the master where the wood needs to be repaired. And they don't make this kind of flooring anymore.

I'm trying to get a head start for when my Dad and Leo got off work. There was one window that I could open up there. But it didn't help much. And my 100 pound frame didn't get much done. Except I'm now on my way to pro status in using a nail puller. Whooo hoooo. 

The real work of course happened when they got there. Here is the before and after:

It is in really could shape! I would even say better than the other bedrooms because it was preserved under all of that! Of course there is a lot of dust and dirt in this picture and I don't have an up close. I do have some up close pictures of some old newspaper we found! Most of it wouldn't come up in one piece. I thought these were cute, especially the "bellies" article! Maybe thats just my dorky love of linguistics coming out, but I wish they still wrote cute articles like this in the newspaper. I also didn't realize that it was okay to talk about menstrual cycles and cramps in public in 1963...maybe I placed an unfair stereotype of the early sixties in the Bible belt.

That's it for this super long blog! A big thanks if you made it this far and read the entire thing...but even if you just glanced, I still appreciate it! I hope you all have a great Monday! The kitchen is almost done being gutted, so I will be posting on that. It's already unrecognizable...which makes me nervous but definitely excited for the months ahead!

-katie