Like Gold Beneath Our Feet

This past weekend, Handy Husband asked me what we should work on. I responded with, "Whatever you'd like to." He said, "Let's tear up this floor!"

So that's what we did.

Here's a Before shot. The linoleum was stained and discolored SO badly, that no amount of scrubbing would EVER result in a clean-looking floor. Plus, it was chipping where they had seamed it. It was just downright UGLY:



It was slow-going at first, till we got the hang of it. As with most of the demolition jobs we do around here, Handy Husband did most of the grunt work. My job was to constantly bag up and carry out the debris. Keeping up with the mess WHILE we're making it was a great idea!

It wasn't long before we could really see what we were uncovering. And we LOVED it!

Just for fun, I swept and wiped down an area with a damp rag, just to see what it would look like. We still can't figure out why they stained the outer edges a darker color. If it had been done in a straight line around the entire room, I would assume that it was an intentional border... but there were areas where the stain was kind of in a "here, there, wherever" pattern.

The "finished, unfinished" floor.
Even as is, we think this is SO much prettier than that nasty, chipping-off linoleum that we removed.



This floor actually extends over the ENTIRE original, ground floor of the house... all the way down the halls, the boys' bedroom, and we *believe* it's probably extending into the kitchen as well, though that will have to be uncovered at a later date. I cannot wait to refinish it! This is just one more reason why I absolutely adore old houses! The treasures waiting to be uncovered make all the hard work worth it!