Month: February 2017

Ugly Floors Be Gone! Refinishing Our Hardwood Floors

One of the biggest things I loved/hated about our home were the hardwood floors. I loved that the ugly, nasty, smelly carpet was gone, but I hated that the wood floor left behind had discoloration, stains, and a lot of water damage. I tried to overlook it and we didn’t invest in the floor being refinished for about a year. It was a good practice in patience.

We knew that having the floors refinished would be expensive, so we hoped to do them ourselves. After doing LOTS of research and asking others, we decided to have a company do it for us professionally. We hired Cardinal Flooring who had done some of our friend’s homes in the area. They were a Christian-based company and they gave us a good quote. Our entire house (all floors, closets, and stairs) would be $2,500. This is a BIG amount of cash, but we were certain that we would see the money back when we sold the home. Did I mention it NEEDED done?

I made sure to take lots of “before” pictures. Here are some of them:

The previous owner had caulked the window closed and water had gotten between the wall and onto the floor. The water damage looked more extensive than it was, but it was still super ugly. When friends came over, I tried to hide this ugly-ness. But, it was what it was, we were in the middle of the process.

Upstairs there was this massive stain. Later, we found out what it was. (Long story short, an elderly woman fell and laid here for a few days. She was found and taken to a nursing home, but she had urinated and it ate through the wood. Yuck.)

Above: general damage from water/use.

We had left all the paint splatters on the floor as well. We had hoped we would sand them away. Later, I was embarrassed when we hired out the project. The men didn’t even blink and said the sander would get it all. It did indeed! A few more pics of before:

 




We knew after talking to Cardinal Flooring that it would be best if we weren’t in the home while they were working. It would be more expensive if we needed to break the project up. So, we stayed at my dad’s house and closed our three cats into the basement. The trickiest part was getting all of our belongings off the hardwood floors! It was like tetris! Between the kitchen, the basement, and the bathroom, we shoved all of our closet contents and furniture into the spaces.

Yep, that’s my wedding dress in the bathtub!

Our mattress was shoved into the small bathroom.

The first step of the 3-4 day process was the sanding. The men came and got to work. Within hours the entire house looked different. The wood was sanded down and looked amazing. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The floors looked brand new.

I’ll admit, we were tempted to keep the natural wood color. All the stains and discoloration was gone. The men also patched up the water damage. They offered to keep the stain light, but I knew from lots of Pinterest searching I wanted a dark wood stain.

The main man on the project brought out different stains and swatched them for us. I was a little back and forth, but in the end, knew what I wanted. The man was pained to see us cover the beautiful wood, but we felt it would make a dramatic, modern aesthetic. (It ended up being a great choice). We left, and let them do their magic.

What’s the darkest you have?

Do you see where the water damage had been under the window? It’s gone!

Awkward large stain from elderly woman’s urine? GONE! It looks pristine!

My mom had to help me wipe down the walls/other stuff. There was a ton of dust, but not as bad as I imagined. Cardinal put two layers of clear polyurethane. The smell wasn’t too bad, but I’m glad we didn’t sleep there. We couldn’t walk on the floors for a few days. We snuck in and visited the kitties and made sure they had food/water.

At the end, we were shocked. This was one of the best investments we could’ve made into our property. I was very happy with the stain color as well. Many people said it was a bad choice, but once they saw it, were convinced it looked great. The only bummer was we had to re-paint all the baseboards. This was tricky because we had to protect our nice, new floors. Cardinal Flooring said to only use warm water to mop the floors. I’ve stuck to this and they still look great! We get many compliments and have referred three people already. (Not everyone went as dark as us.) My sister is remodeling a farm home in Plymouth, Ohio and had her downstairs done for $1,500. They look great as well!

Love & Laughter,

Tiffany

Ending Our Day In Vienna

The day in Vienna, however, was long from over! Daddy and Jutka had purchased tickets for us to see a performance. The performance was held at the palace and was not at all what I expected! We walked into the palace’s side entrance and everything was very formal. The seats were set up and there was a concert hall. There weren’t many other people there, as it was a smaller event. I assumed stadium seating or something like that. It was intimate, and classic. There were musicians who were breathing hard to make sure they hit every note on their instruments, ballet dancers, and an opera singer. Each session of the performance was startling and beautiful. Although I don’t know a lot about music, I could tell that music was these people’s lives. The main man who led the group seemed like a brilliant genius. It was hard to take my eyes off the group. But I did, to look around the beauty of the space. I had to keep pinching myself. “I’m in Europe! I’m in Vienna! I’m watching a performance of Mozart in a palace!”

Afterward, we walked back to the train. The lights of the city were so special. I tried to remember it all in my heart. The smells, the sounds. Dustin stopped and purchased a vienna sausage (hot dog) as we walked. Once we were back at the hotel. I slept really soundly.

Love,

T

A Day To Remember In Vienna, Cafe Central

I was tired and needing a break. Dad suggested a special place called Cafe Central. Cafe Central has been a part of Vienna’s culture forever. This cafe is one of the most magnificent places I’ve ever had the privilege of eating at. As we walked through the narrow streets of the city, dad pointed out the Hofburg Imperial Palace. The palace was just standing there, right beside you as you walked the street. What shocked me was the quiet. The city was so quiet and the only smell was from horses, the imperial horses, that is. A little bit about the palace: “The Hofburg Imperial Palace has played an integral part of the Austrian government scene since it was built in the 13th century. It has been home to some of Europe’s most powerful royalty over the centuries, including the Hapsburgs and rulers of the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian empires. Today it is a museum and home to the president of Austria.”

The Lippizan Stalions are also from Vienna, as we walked, we did pass where they were kept. It was dark in the arena, but I pushed my nose up against it to get a glance at some of the horse’s feet. The inside of the performance space for the horses looked like a palace itself. The Spanish Riding School is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses that offers public performances in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg. “The Riding School calls these performances classical dressage, but most viewers would call it magic. The school has been training horses like this for more than four centuries. The 68 stallions – their ancestors came from Spain – have trained and performed at the Winter Riding School since about 1735. Horses and riders both undergo special training that lasts for many years.”

Finally, we came upon a unique lit up building. It looked like a picture from a travel magazine. Once we walked in my jaw dropped. The architecture! The royal red material! The paintings on the wall! Oh and the desserts! Cafe Central was so special we ended up eating there again later in the week on our way home. “The café was opened in 1876, and in the late 19th century it became a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene. Key regulars included: Peter Altenberg, Theodor Herzl, Alfred Adler, Egon Friedell, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Anton Kuh, Adolf Loos, Leo Perutz, Alfred Polgar and Leon Trotsky. In January 1913 alone, Josip Broz Tito, Sigmund Freud, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, and Trotsky (the latter two being regulars) were patrons of the establishment.” It was so weird to think I was in a building where Freud had coffee or Hitler met with imperials!

Well, the desserts and coffee were delicious. I tried some mini desserts that were the cutest thing in the world. We also had an apple danish with homemade ice cream. Each time you ordered a cup of coffee in Europe, it came with a glass of water “with gas” meaning carbonated. I would ask for it without gas because I liked still water best. The coffee would also come with a small mint. I liked this place so much that I purchased a book with recipes and the history. It was truly magical, even though we had to wait a bit for a seat.

Delicious!

Love & Laughter,

Tiffany