The Floor from Hell (Contruction 2020 Part II)

After months of hibernating and isolating in my house, I decided the living room needed to be less dark and more cheerful. I thought one can of low-voc brightly colored paint would do the trick and not cost too much. The dilemma was the dark green floor. How to match it? Or should I eliminate it? Old photo:

I failed miserably at assessing the work and the cost...then it snowballed into the project from hell! 

When I first moved into this house, the rug was so smelly and toxic I ripped it out. I thought this was a good idea spying a corner of the floor - Oh, antique fir floors! They are beautiful. The first rip of carpeting I realized beyond the one foot perimeter, the rest of the floor was covered in 1920s thick, black, hairy glue on top of petrified wax. 

Long ago people used real wax to varnish their wood floors. Rugs were held in place with mohair pads and they were glued right to the floor. One hundred years later and it was an ugly mess! I couldn't figure out how to remove the hair and the glue let alone the wax so instead of hiring someone at $1800 which I could not afford, I sanded the whole room (which did little but gum and clog the sand paper) and then painted over the whole thing with porch and floor paint. A can of paint cost $36.00 and at the time it was a good, temporary solution. This painted floor has lasted fifteen years and would have lasted longer if I hadn't decided stripping it was a sane idea. I loved the dark green floor and earthy, woodsy tones (see photo above). For a while anyway....then my couch was set on fire which changed my attitude.

So the floor...is stripping it even possible? Would refinishing it poison me? It's always been my dream and with all my free pandemic time, I felt brave. I started with a half can of Jasco Paint and Varnish Stripper. This stuff is nasty. A drop on your skin and it feels like it's burning down to the bone. But the stink. I didn't think I could use this inside my living space. I tried a sample just to see:

I meant to strip just a square FOOT section as a test, but I couldn't stop. Oh, lord, the floors are so gorgeous even with the glue discoloration! It was like discovering buried treasure. The stripper removed not only the paint, but most of the glue. But stink was asphyxiating! I can tolerate Jasco if used outside with protective gear, but inside it's nasty. My lungs hurt and it stunk up every inch of my house for hours even with the rooms sealed and all windows open and fans on full blast. Then I read on the label Jasco can spontaneously combust and it shouldn't be used on large surfaces...such as floors. Damn. What to do?

I searched online. I found some non-toxic, absolutely safe paint and varnish stripper. Wow! It's even half the price of Jasco! When I saw the demonstrators in the videos spreading it around with their hands I nearly jumped out of my skin and screamed! But it's really safe! It's called MAX Strip.

It still has a faint smell so I wore all my protective gear. Sometimes non-toxic products don't work as well as their toxic cousins, but I was really amazed. Much more efficient than Jasco as it annihilated the glue. 

I compulsively stripped, working long and hard, and then I was hit with exhaustion and full body pain. I totally overestimated my energy levels and ability to scrub on my hands and knees. I slowed down and was able to only do little bit at a time in between resting for days. It took about three weeks to get it all stripped: 

Then to sand it. I tried my little hand sander but it would have taken me months. I tried my friend's belt sander which ate my floor removing chunks of wood in the process.  Because I had such a difficult time sanding the last time, I sought professional advice. I was told the wax will clog a sander and to wash the floor with mineral spirits. Water should never be used on wood anyway. It stinks so I wore gloves, mask, and goggles. It dries in about thirty minutes.

I rented a large random orbit which is the only kind to use on fir which is too soft and splinters easily. It was five hours of hell wrestling to control an exceptionally heavy machine that seemed to have a mind of its own. My lungs, sinuses, and eyes burned for days from the dust. Dust on every thing covering the walls, window ledges and floor. Never mind the cost of renting a professional sander which was about $91 for 24-hour rental including all fees and taxes, and another $100 for three different grits of sandpaper. It goes through a lot of sandpaper!

Oddly enough sanding seemed to accentuate all the problems. The floor sanded almost to white, but the damage was dark. Everyone kept telling me, "It's OK! "Stressed" floors are popular now!" People actually install brand new floors and take heavy chains and beat them to get the look I have. Hmmm...I do like the history of the house is in the floor. I can see where one owner dragged heavy furniture across, another burnt the floor with a wood stove, along with nicks, scratches, gouges, and bruises from a century of heavy use. Did you know fir floors "bruise"? Amazing, like a human. But after five hours, I was done. No more sanding no matter what the floor looked like. In the words of one hardware salesperson, "It's a good thing "stressed" is in." LOL.

Patching holes was problematic. I wanted some kind of clear resin or epoxy, but was told the finish would not adhere to it. I've seen where people use wood filler and it dries an ugly off white so the floors look like they have ugly white stains all over. I hate that. It was suggested to take wood filler and mix some of the wood's sawdust in it so the color almost matches. I tried this and it was still too light so I dug it out all but one hole. I probably should have dug it out of this one, too, but it doesn't matter much. Someone at one point filled in two little holes with I think wood putty which is startling white. I tried digging that out and it was hard as rock so I left it. I considered getting one of those color pens or painting it, but I wasn't sure how to match since the floor wasn't finished yet and I knew it would darken. Finally I just figured it's part of the floor's history and left it all. 

Two white dots of wood putty and top right
is the wood filler/sawdust example.
Better but still too light. Thankfully they are
along the edge of the floor.

Now for the finish. I was told fir doesn't need stain as it has its own color so I was happy to avoid that poison. I found several "nontoxic" floor finishes online. Water-based Varathane by Rustoleum, which is normally really toxic, has produced an "odorless" floor finish. Odorless doesn't necessarily mean safe for a chemically sensitive person. It means they added extra chemicals that turn your brain off so you can't smell the toxins. 

A friend just used it on her rental house floors so I went for a visit a few days after she applied it and...no smell! Then I went to check again while she was applying it to her stairs, and yeah, there is a little smell. I felt my head spin and pinch with one breath and I quickly readjusted my mask. 

While I applied it on my living room floor, I wore protective gear, of course, and after four coats of glossy, I was thrilled! It brought out the amber of the wood and evened out so much of the floor's "wounds." I kept getting up all night and gazing upon the beauty and shine! It took about 9 days for the offgassing. It says on the can normal use after three days, but I waited a week to walk on it and tiptoed gingerly in stocking feet. I wanted to dance vigorously!! So beautiful.

Daytime with Sunlight

Night with Light

Now on to the walls. I can see a bright and happy living room in my future....to be continued.

Garden Rehab

Last fall I did a total reconstruction of my yard, but I didn't get to this last bed in the backyard: the former Moon Garden, Veggie Garden, Sun Garden, and now Daisy Garden. Due to ignoring it for years, it was an overgrown mess and unfortunately, I didn't take any "before" photos. Too embarrassing, but now I wish I would have.

I dug up the whole thing! 

Behind the soon-to-be Pink Garden will be the Yellow Garden!
To the left in the sun is the raised bed Veggie Garden.

I removed weeds, transplanted the daisies out to the side garden, transplanted the African daisies to the adjacent (yellow) garden, saved the pink yarrow, and transplanted the pink asters from the dog garden to the pink garden. I saved the pink lilies, pink foxglove and the pink gladiolas. I also dug up all the snowdrop bulbs, but they are so small I doubt if I got them all. I replanted them in a section of the pink garden with the lilies. I like snowdrops. They are the first sign spring is close.

I did leave the new starts of Evening Primrose. Although they are yellow, they didn't bloom this year so next year they should and then I'll transplant them out.

It's a lot of work, but once it's done it's so clean and beautiful. I'll get some mulch to keep it that way.

This winter I plan to get a load of new gravel for the outside and next spring find some pretty pink flowers for some joy and happiness! 

If you have any pink flower suggestions, let me know!

Porch Painting (Construction 2020 Part I)

 After a season of illness, fatigue and fear, I came back in full force tackling home improvement challenges. Well, maybe not full force, but I tried.

First, was the porch. The paint job was worn and peeling. I figured painting was the least exhausting and demanding of all my projects so the first to be tackled. I initially thought I'd do one color, no design, and no effort until I realized I didn't have enough of one color. A pattern usually doesn't show every spot of dirt or muddy footprint so I opted for a simple checkerboard. It was anything BUT simple! The precision was exasperating. But it's done. Does the pattern camouflage every footprint and speck of dirt? No. It shows every spec of dirt, every footprint. I should have done something wild, but I didn't think I would have the energy. I like that it looks like FUDGE!!

Next was the annual fence repair. The constant issues with this fence are relentless and never-ending. Every year parts of it fall down, break or need to be replaced. This year two posts broke and I replaced almost twenty boards. This was a challenge because supplies are difficult to find. Home Depot was constantly out of everything. I had to make several trips. Then I had a moment of doubt. Do I have enough energy to be able to dismantle twenty feet of fencing AND dig out the cement plug AND put it all back together. 

I received some quotes at the beginning of the summer that were outrageous. Then at the last minute feeling like the summer was almost over, I ended up hiring gardeners who claimed to also do things like porch construction and fence building to just replace the two posts. They quoted almost as much as the construction workers, and it was still an ENORMOUS amount of money. When did prices get so high? I said, "No." They tried to tell me it would take them all day. I should NOT have hired them. I hate liars. I know perfectly well how long it takes. They came down and I agreed only because I had to get it done and didn't trust my energy level. I had second thoughts. Once I dismantled the fence myself, I figured I already did most of the work. 

If my phone hadn't died, I would have called them back and cancelled. They arrived on time, but did the cheapest, quickest job possible. It took two hours. Granted it would have taken me all day, but two hours would be normal. As long as I am able, never again will I hire someone! Then I stained all the boards and reconstructed the fence leaving it very tall to save myself some work. It's not a fence...it's a wall. It celebrates the distain I have for my neighbors and made me wish I would have replaced all the boards on that side so they were all six feet high! I love the extra privacy. By doing most of the work I saved myself nearly $1,000.

Next, the deck is rotting. Unfortunately, it also had a hornet's nest under it and before I even started the project I got stung. I poisoned the nasty little beasts and waited. I replaced seventeen rotting boards along with steps and handrails.

Whoever constructed the original deck used the wrong kind of screws and they were rusty and disintegrating. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get the screws out of the wood and it was a challenge forcing me to hacksaw, hammer or break the boards to dislodge them., but I did it. I saved myself hundreds of dollars in labor. Supplies were still scarce and expensive. Next year I'll replace another dozen boards and I'll have nearly a whole new deck!

I felt very accomplished.

Then I got a little crazy....to be continued.

Where Did Summer Go?

Summer now seems like a dream. I know it happened, but I must have been in a fog after the hell that was the coronavirus spring. Or it just went too fast. With all the isolation time, I spent most of it in my garden.

Last fall in an attempt to downsize and eliminate so much of the work and weeding, I ripped out a lot of beds, covered the bare dirt with cardboard, and spent the winter tromping on it to flatten it all out so weeds wouldn't grow. It was a lot of work, but I had confidence this would in the long run make my life less exhausting and more enjoyable. A friend of mine not too long ago exclaimed, "Don't you love strolling in your garden?!" I looked at her in disbelief, "When? When would I have time to stroll when there is always too much work to maintain it?" I made a point to let her know her husband tends to do all the "work" for her.

Then this spring I removed the cardboard, dug up what weeds attempted to grow and covered everything with bark. THREE LOADS of bark! But I love it:

It's such a clean look and it worked! I spent very little time this summer pulling weeds! Hooray!

I did add one plant last year that didn't do much, but I was told it would bloom the following year. Asparagus:

And it did once it grew to eight feet tall!

The bees went absolutely crazy. I don't have photos of them, but during midday I'd see up to five bumbles on one blossom. It was a spectacular plant.

The apple tree went crazy with apples. All the organic spraying I did all winter really helped. Beautiful apples, but then they started dropping about fifty every night. I fed them to the deer and gave them to a friend who has pigs.

The Italian prune tree also went crazy. I gave lots of plums away to friends and sold them to strangers. I counted 1740 plums, not counting the ones the family of seven raccoons ate every night.

Then there is the fig tree! I've never had figs. Last year I transplanted the fig tree out of its pot and into a garden outside my fence that gets sun all day long. The tree is loaded, but it's October and they are still green. I don't know anything about figs so I'm not sure when they ripen. We'll see.

I also grew basil on my deck, and onions, beets and spinach in my raised planter. 

The summer war started and ended with a hornet's nest. I check the eaves of my house and outbuildings all the time in the spring for the start of nests, knock them down, and feel safe. Not for one minute did I ever expect hornets to make a nest UNDER my deck!

One day while I was walking over the deck on the way into the house and wearing sandals I felt a pinch on my foot. I rubbed my foot not sure what that was and continued. I came out the door the second time and a hornet stung me on top of my foot. OMG! The pain was so intense. I had something in my hand and swung at him, he dodged, and came back for another attack. I ran in the house fast. After treating the sting to the best of my ability, I watched from the safety of my glass door and sure enough, baby hornets crawling on the deck just outside the front door and disappearing between the planks. I had not noticed them before. At dusk I peeked under the deck and there was the nest about sixteen inches in height. Holy mackerel! It must have been there for a while but I never noticed. I got some spray. It didn't work. I went through two cans and even after I poisoned the nest, knocked it down, hornets still hung out on the deck. So I began watching for them and when they appeared, sprayed them directly with the spray. There was one hornet that I'm sure was the leader, relentless and mean.

The deck needed repairs so it was important to get rid of them. Even as I started working on the deck two months later, one hornet buzzed too close, but after being swatted left never to return. So scary.

My sting swelled and turned bright red. The pain was intense like an electric shock and lasted for days. After a few days I called the doctor to find out if I should be concerned. They suggested I outline the swelling with a pen and watch to make sure it doesn't grow. People die from these stings. In another twenty four hours the swelling went down. Nasty bugs!

My fall project is cleaning out the daisy garden. I'm going to make it a pink garden. It's the last one to be redone for downsizing!

Hooray!