Floors - Phase 1

Okay.  The best part of the house, is the floors.  Well...  Most of them.  Some of them need a complete overhaul.  First up, is the intended family room.  The wood floors were covered with vinyl flooring, of some kind.  Really big pain in the rear!

So let's begin!  I did a little research, found a few ideas on removing this stuff.  Everything from toxic chemicals to WD40.  Even boiling hot water.  I was thinking, YEAH RIGHT!  This stuff is stuck good. Water would never work for this...

First, the vinyl had to be scraped up off the floor.  Inch by inch.  And of course the glue wouldn't come up with it.  That would be far too easy...

Some disappointment by one of the doors.  The threshold seal was toast, and leaked pretty good.  Floors were water logged, dried up, and splitting.  Not good!  I'll have to start looking for some narrow oak planks.

Well.  As it turns out, boiling water WORKS GREAT!  Several people said to boil water and lay out a towel on the areas where the glue was left behind.  That would take forever, so I went to Home Depot and bought a nice little wallpaper steamer for cheap.  30 to 45 seconds, one section at a time, a putty knife, and it slides right off the wood.

And now I can get a better look at the hidden surprise.  A fireplace hearth, and sure enough, some patch work in the wall and trim.  A sure sign that there's a fireplace, in some condition, behind that wall.  Tile is in poor shape.  Several with cracks.  Probably cannot be salvaged, but we're starting to find places with salvaged tiles and reproduction tiles.  Maybe we can find what we're looking for.

And finally, after weeks of picking at this flooring glue, the end result.  Still a ton of glue residue, but anymore water will surely ruin the floor, so the rest will be left for the rough pass of the floor sander.

Awful job with the ductwork.  Appears it was put in with the carpet padding in mind.  Sits up really high.  They'll get repaired and lowered, and/or moved to another location.

And now we can see the floor rot.  Oofa!  BAD!

A circular saw, wood chisel, and some careful work, and the rotten oak tongue and groove flooring is chipped out.  Had to be careful not to damage the surrounding pieces that were still good.

Unfortunately, the subfloor is rotten as well.  So, more planks will have to be pulled to do a proper subfloor repair.

That's it for now on the floors.  Great start!