Sanding the Hardwood Floors

Today Phil spoke to Steve, the sanding guy.  Turns out that he is pretty reasonable, so he is going to sand the pine floors in the living room, dining room, upstairs hall and bathroom closet and Katie's bedroom.  Included in the price is putting on the first coat of varnish.  Phil will put on the other 2 coats saving up about $700.  Steve came Jan 5 & 6, 2009.  The first picture is the stairs with carpet.  Photo #2 is Phil taking a break. Photo #3 shows the marks left from Phil pulling stables.

We had to prep, which meant ripping up the carpet and padding, removing the staples and of course before we can do that, removing the furniture.  So my job while Phil was in California wass to clear out the bookcases and everything else I can so when he gets back, we'll work together moving the furniture and doing the above prep work.

We were not sure what to do about the stairs, which Steve says are oak - at least the treads are oak and the risers are probably pine like the floors.  Phil lifted up the carpet on the lower stairs and is currently pulling out the staples.  Mind you, the carpet installers stapled every inch or so. Many staples to pull out.  We are thinking about sanding the stairs lightly and varnishing them ourselves.    As you can tell, this post is out of order, but when I originally wrote, it - couldn't figure out how to add the pictures.  

Putting House up for Sale

Hi everyone,



Phil and I have made the decision to put the house up for sale. I had hoped that my neice and her boyfriend could rent the house while we are away cruising, and if their situation changes and the house isn't sold yet - then they still can, but I think the chance of them being able to do that with the worsening ecomony is lower than we initially thought.



Last night we had a real estate agent, Linda - the same one that Phil had used to sell his last 2 houses - come a look at the house and give us suggestions for getting the house ready to sell. Of course there is a lot to do - clearing aware the clutter - but she also recommended that we finish the hardwood floors under the carpet in the living room and dining room. We had hoped not to have to do that as it's a big job and we usually do this ourselves- but have a call in already to get a quote for the sanding. Phil wants to apply the varnish himself.



Sunday, Phil and I replaced the ripped screens on the back patio door in 44F weather. Not fun, but it's only going to be colder once he gets back. Thankfully, Phil put up reinforced plastic over the screen walls of the patio, so that shielded us from the wind and rain.



Phil is leaving tomorrow to visit his daughter, Vicki, had her husband Nick, sons Henry and Calvin for a couple weeks. While he is gone, I hope that I can get the 2nd floor attic packed up. This is the room that I keep most of my fabric and lesser used sewing/quiltiing books and sewing machines. Maybe I'll take before and after pictures of the rooms. That way I have a way to tell just how much we have done. As Linda said one room at a time.



Our target date to put the house up for sale is beginning of February before the spring rush starts. It's discouraging for me that the pricing for the house is going to be a lot less than I want, but with this market -if I price it too high, it will only sit a long time and then we'll have to decrease the price anyways.



Lorraine