What Was I Thinking?

[whitwolf]

Short synopsis: The wife and I were looking for a new house. At the start we had three things we were looking for; 1. move-in ready. 2. We wanted no carpet as we both love hardwoods. 3. Lastly, something a bit smaller.

 

We ended up with an old farmhouse that we so far have painted every room in the house sans the bathroom, painted the shed and original house(built in 1900) on the property, and at the moment I'm sanding down the hardwood floors in 4 rooms and a hallway. The floors I'm sanding In the main house were put down in 1952 and while at first glance didn't appear to be too bad, are rough sawn oak(beautiful red oak) and cupped. It took me 3 days of sanding against the grain just to get them to a manageable level so as to sand them properly with the grain. I will finish  with the edge sanding today and apply the poly starting tonight.  At 54 years old this has been a chore. lol 

 

It's the last house we will ever own and the end result will be fantastic. It's been a lot of work and In hindsight I kind of wish I would have hired some of this out. Oh well, what's done Is done. I will post before and after pictures of the floors when finished.

[Catch 22]

Wow ,this brings back memories good and bad. Between work,raising two kids,t ball,every other kind of ball,fishing,building a pond and other chores,I worked on a similar home for 17 years  and never did finish it. No regrets,it was a great place to raise a family.

Looking forward for some pix

C22

[Trek]

  I'm 56 and have learned it's just as easy to hire it out. I figure I go to work and do what I do best and let them work at the house and do what they do best. It's a wash. Plus they bring in a team and have it done in half the time. I will say when you move hire a mover. Your back will thank you for it. Enjoy your new home.

[Oregon Native]

Sounds like its going to be awesome.  We moved from Oregon to Tennessee and it took three U-Hauls.  Moved into a house in the country with an unfinished basement.  Has been a lot of work and have done everything ourselves also both inside and out.  Will be glad when it's mostly done...getting close but seems so far away.  Oh...and I'm 65 and I feel it some days.

[Senko lover]

That's awesome. Just make sure you have some close access to fishing water. 

[slonezp]

I feel for you. If you had asked ahead of time I would have told you to RUNAWAY!!!!

 

We spent 7 years of weekends gutting and rehabbing a home built in 1910 which is our summer home. New plumbing, electric, insulation, drywall, hvac,floors, carpet, fixtures, cabinets, roof etc. Still needs siding and windows. I would never wish that upon anyone. The home is 3hrs north of where we live and for what we spent in travel costs, I'm pretty sure we could have had contractors complete the job in just a couple months rather than 7 years.

[Dwight Hottle]

Enjoy it when you get finished. You earned it.

[RAMBLER]

I decided to remodel the kitchen in our old single wide trailer.  Now, it's worth more than the entire trailer was worth.  I've got advice for anyone else that want's to think about doing that.  "Match"

[gardnerjigman]

I feel for you. If you had asked ahead of time I would have told you to RUNAWAY!!!!

We spent 7 years of weekends gutting and rehabbing a home built in 1910 which is our summer home. New plumbing, electric, insulation, drywall, hvac,floors, carpet, fixtures, cabinets, roof etc. Still needs siding and windows. I would never wish that upon anyone. The home is 3hrs north of where we live and for what we spent in travel costs, I'm pretty sure we could have had contractors complete the job in just a couple months rather than 7 years.

I hear that. Just did all that to our home 2 years ago, then moved for work....

[LuckyGia]

I have remodeled every house I have owned and nearly doubled my money in 5 years with every home.

Doing the work yourself is the ONLY way to go. Save huge amounts of cash that way.

I now own 2 homes free and clear from the money I made on those houses.

If I had paid someone else to do the work, I would have 2 mortgages.

Now that I hit 55 y.o. I have slowed waaayyyyy down, find it hard to get motivated to do the work.

Glad I am done flipping houses.

[Al Wolbach]

Short synopsis: The wife and I were looking for a new house. At the start we had three things we were looking for; 1. move-in ready. 2. We wanted no carpet as we both love hardwoods. 3. Lastly, something a bit smaller.

 

We ended up with an old farmhouse that we so far have painted every room in the house sans the bathroom, painted the shed and original house(built in 1900) on the property, and at the moment I'm sanding down the hardwood floors in 4 rooms and a hallway. The floors I'm sanding In the main house were put down in 1952 and while at first glance didn't appear to be too bad, are rough sawn oak(beautiful red oak) and cupped. It took me 3 days of sanding against the grain just to get them to a manageable level so as to sand them properly with the grain. I will finish  with the edge sanding today and apply the poly starting tonight.  At 54 years old this has been a chore. lol 

 

It's the last house we will ever own and the end result will be fantastic. It's been a lot of work and In hindsight I kind of wish I would have hired some of this out. Oh well, what's done Is done. I will post before and after pictures of the floors when finished.

Glad I read your post. I have been thinking about refinishing the hardwood floors in two rooms of our house. I'm 68 and not in great health. Think I will rethink this plan