Flooring 101

Dear Reader -  The floor has officially become an archeological dig, revealing itself stratum upon stratum.

I'm just kickin' back, letting the Beneficent Mr. Ted explore the layers of his building with Danny (Contractor to the Stars) Wilson and figuring that it'll become apparent what we're supposed to do next. (It's worth remembering, dear Reader, that this space hasn't been empty in decades - so this really is a golden opportunity to find out what's going on under there.)

Just for fun ('cause we take fun where we can get it here at Casa J&C), here're some of those layers for your consideration . . .

This, my friend, is the effect that tar paper has when it sits on hard wood for a few decades:

And this is what it looks like when damage to the floor is patched with old shelves and other scraps o' wood:

And here's a tiny spot of rot that's probably representative of what those patches replaced:

Now, my family's had a run of mathematical geniuses (really, truly . . . I know it seems hard to believe with the limits of my brain . . .), so I'm gonna trust in the calculus of the universe here to let us know if it makes sense to proceed with doing something more lasting, like attempting to infill and refinish the hardwood (or replacing it with that spiffy barn wood that I found) vs. going with one of those floating floors (have you walked on one of these before? [I did for the first time yesterday - does have a certain "floaty" kinda feel]). Here's a sample of a Shaw product that I borrowed from the folks at Air Base Carpet Mart:

 

I feel massively grateful to be in such a gorgeous 19th century building (it really is true: they don't build them like this any more), and I'm equally grateful to have such a great team of folks to work with in sorting all of this out. I'll let you know what comes next. In the meantime, here's what we're listening to today (thanks to Mr. Boxed Set):

 

Happy snowy Saturday, Reader!  - Jen