House update. (Are you tired of it yet?)

[mrs.jacinthe]

We got the keys this morning.  While we were there, I went into the downstairs bathroom (with ugly 1994 wallpaper) and peeled some to see how well it was attached.  It was done properly, so it came off easily.  It'll take me 30 minutes to peel it all off.  The only downer is that they installed the wallpaper, then put up the trim.  So I'm going to take the utility knife to it under the edge of the trim and call it a day - I'm not taking down trim attached who knows how just to get a little wallpaper edge down.

We also pulled up some carpet corners upstairs and found ... wood!  Painted wood floors, to be exact.  Interestingly, they're painted I don't know how many different colors - we found brown, sage green, cream, and red, so far.  So we're going to have to bring in someone to sand and refinish.  Good news is I'm pretty sure sanding and refinishing will be cheaper than buying new.  I hope.  Because of the age of the floors and the still-unknown condition, we'll hire out.  I'd DIY if I knew how many times the floors had already been sanded, if at all - but I'm nervous about the paint and what's underneath so I think a pro might be better.  (Not to mention that I'm just not sure I want to take that much time to get it right when I could be doing other things.  We only have 2.5 weeks until we have to be completely moved in)

[bunnymendelbaum]

I will never tire of updates!

That's great about the wallpaper and the wood floors. What color are you thinking of going? Are they oak?

[mrs.jacinthe]

Bunny, we're not exactly sure what kind of wood is under the paint. Whatever paint they used is thick (or REALLY layered on) because there's barely any grain visible. SO it's hard to tell if it's oak with tons of paint or something less grainy to start with. R is guessing oak, though.

We're thinking about going a medium-range color. Darker than honey oak, but lighter than the woodwork. Maybe a chestnut-y sort of color?

[TBM]

Trim usually pops of easily. I would try that first, just because it is easier to paint without the trim on. I suck at cutting in....it would take me longer to cut in than to take off and reinstall the trim.

[sailorgray]

I am excited to hear of all of the little surprises you find along the way. PICTURES!!!!

[Deleted]

I have to differ with TBM. Some of our trim came down OK. Some of it, if it's really wide, old, and dry, and depending on how it's attached, it may split rather than come down. Our DR was especially bad because some plaster was gluing it down and we had to come up with a work-around when re-habbing the windows. Maybe do an as-concealed-as-possilbe test piece if you want, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not an easy thing to do.

[TBM]

Feb 8, 2013 14:43:19 GMT -5 @juno said:

I have to differ with TBM. Some of our trim came down OK. Some of it, if it's really wide, old, and dry, and depending on how it's attached, it may split rather than come down. Our DR was especially bad because some plaster was gluing it down and we had to come up with a work-around when re-habbing the windows. Maybe do an as-concealed-as-possilbe test piece if you want, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not an easy thing to do.

I just figured since hers was applied over 90s wallpaper it would likely not be as difficult as if it had been inplace for a hundred years.

[wawa]

Feb 8, 2013 14:43:19 GMT -5 @juno said:

I have to differ with TBM. Some of our trim came down OK. Some of it, if it's really wide, old, and dry, and depending on how it's attached, it may split rather than come down. Our DR was especially bad because some plaster was gluing it down and we had to come up with a work-around when re-habbing the windows. Maybe do an as-concealed-as-possilbe test piece if you want, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not an easy thing to do.

Yeah, a lot of our trim came off with nice big chunks of plaster attached or just cracked right in half because it was old and dry and my house is newer than yours mrsJ...I'd be inclined to stick with your current plan.

ETA:   Just saw TBM's response.  The fact that the trim is OVER newer wallpaper hadn't really registered.  So n'm.  I have no opinion because that could totally go either way.

[cajungal]

This is great!! Hope you can get the wallpaper down without messing with the trim. I'm curious to hear how the floors turn out once all the layers of paint are removed.

[boiler717]

That's awesome about the floors!! I can't wait to see

[FoxInFiji]

Well that's good news about the floors! I agree I would hire out all that sanding because it can be hard look right when you're going through a lot of layers. Since your going to stain the wood it's ten times more important to do the sanding just right. You might have to get the paint tested for lead though because of the age of the house.

[susieq]

We defiantly need pictures!

We had floors like that at our current house. We ended up taking them up b/c some rooms were just carpet and others had the hardwood that was painted. We wanted cohesive flooring throughout so we pulled them up but the wood floors were cherry! We saved every last piece of it and DH plans on making some furniture out of it ... one of these days.

[emoflamingo]

I'm only saying this because I am bitter but hope you have a good floor man! (Still not able to laugh yet.)

I can't wait to see pictures!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Oh, emo. I hope we get a good floor man, too. We're looking at Angie's List now and will probably call some guys on Monday, as soon as we've got all the carpet up and know exactly what we're staring at.

[Deleted]

BTW, are you going to post lots and lots of pictures very soon? I don't care if they have text, context or explanation, just give me pictures!! Lots of them. I love pictures so much. In fact, I encourage you to start a bio for it and just post pictures of every detail

[ktzmoh]

That's great news! How exciting! I can't wait for pictures.

Be careful with the floors though - our friends had an older house with painted wood floors. The contractor who came out to sand/refinish let them know that the paint was lead paint and sanding would have been a disaster. Make sure they check for lead!