Flashback Friday: Downstairs subfloor installed
For today's Flashback Friday, we will be showing you the first step in our process of installing new hardwood floors downstairs. This was one of the biggest and most emotional renovation decisions we've had to make.
Although we had the flooring purchased for a while, the decision to cover the original floors with new hardwood didn't feel real until we actually started covering the original floors. I'll admit, it was a little sad to say goodbye to the antique fir and maple. Maybe it was because this was the very first project that began this whole renovation process. Maybe it was because the excitement we felt when we first tore out the carpet and found the hopefully coveted hardwood floors was still fresh in my mind. We almost felt guilty giving up on restoring the floors, but with all the material required to not only finish the floors, but also address the many elevation changes from room to room in such a small space, restoration just wasn't the desirable option. The process would have required sanding and finishing the hardwood, installing significant floor transitions (a look we weren't fond of), and installing another flooring in the kitchen (making the grand total of 4 different flooring types in our 700 square foot downstairs) - an amount of time and money we were not excited about spending. In the end, installing a single flooring throughout the entire downstairs was more cost effective while allowing us to correct some of the more troubling issues, such as the one inch floor slope in the kitchen and 3/4 inch gaps between rooms.
The major lesson in this project for me was learning to let go. I'm usually pretty good at going with the flow, but when it comes to something that I've planned for and envisioned for a long period of time, I sometimes get too attached to easily diverge from the originally intended path, even if it's for the better. While we weren't able to save the old floors, we can appreciate that they served a long-lived purpose and enjoy our new floors at the same time. Appreciate the past, plan for the future, and enjoy the present, my friends!
