I have been working on the upstairs at my grandparents house which will be 100 years old in 2011. Its an awesome and solid house that has three floors, the second having 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 offices, a sitting room, and 5 huge closests. With my Granddads cancer progressing, I have been trying to remodel the upstairs rooms that my granddad did not finish, that being the living room and the kitchen. Here are some pictures after we stripped the 4 layers of wallpaper off and got back down to the plaster and cracks.



this is just the living room, and you can see where I began to paint the ancient stone color over the 2 coats of Kilz.

Now here comes my hangup, I bought a 9x12 bordered area rug that is basically gray and black. The pine floors are painted brown throughout the second floor and i hate the brown so I pick out a dark grey floor paint, and the rug/carpet goes in the middle of the 14x16 room.

I dont really care if the color on the wall is in the brown family and im putting drak gray on the floor because you wont be able to see it that much. Basically i need someones opinion who has some sense of what looks good because I dont want to go through all this work and it not look right

Also I think ive found a grayish couch for the room

5/21/2007 9:51:11 AM

are you talking about painting the pine floors gray? your post is a little confusing. I'm guessing they're too old to refinish, or is that too much work? I've never seen wood floors painted-are they wide planks (4 inches) or skinnier? I think wide planks would look better if you were to paint them.

5/21/2007 11:13:34 AM

can you strip the paint off the floor and refinish them? I think that would look nicer than painting them

5/21/2007 11:16:55 AM

they are pine floors that have been painted numerous times, after pulling up the shoemolding you can see the original pine floors which would look great but i cant begin belt sanding them now (too much dust and time)

I think I am going to take back the carpet and get something with a brown in it and exchange the gray paint for more brown like it is now.

That takes care of that problem, now i have to get some advice on couches and such stuff

do yall think that floor scheme with the walls will work?

also, the kitchen is going to be the same color walls with white trim, you can see it in the 1st and 5th pics.

5/21/2007 11:18:35 AM

Quote :

"they are pine floors that have been painted numerous times, after pulling up the shoemolding you can see the original pine floors which would look great but i cant begin belt sanding them now (too much dust and time)"

if you are going to do it, do it right

sand the floors and refinish them

your value will increase, especially if they are original

5/21/2007 11:25:07 AM

i understand that, but we arent selling the house, its going to be mine eventually

my main concern is it looking nice and not breaking my bank this summer

i can always pull all the stuff out and sand the floors

its a little late in the game at this point to decide to sand, when weve been set on painting all along

if anyone has a belt sander and would like to lend a hand i would do it

but I dont fancy having to buy a belt sander at the moment and I dont know much about staining floors

but trust me, i would love for the wood to be showing

5/21/2007 11:30:38 AM

if it's something you may consider doing in the future, I would suggest not painting the area where the big rug will go. You can then paint the border part from the rug to the wall. have you tried liquid paint stripper on a small area. It's messy as hell but the paint may come up easy.

5/21/2007 11:41:02 AM

haha, yeah it was painted like that before

just to the border where the rug would be (my granddads signature)

and thats what i was planning to do again.

but there are about 4 layers of oil based paint down there, it will take a belt sander

yall almost have me talked into it

5/21/2007 11:44:12 AM

probably some nice lead paint throughout the house, too. that paint looks great around the fireplace. as far as the couch, that one you're thinking about looks fine. you can always add throw pillows for cheap to give the room color.

5/21/2007 11:48:32 AM

You can rent the belt sander and it will probably be cheaper than the paint you already bought. You don't have to take up all the paint. It would look very good if you sand just enough so that 98% of the floor is natural pine, but you can still see varying colors of paint in the scratches, grooves, etc. Floors with petina, paint, etc. have a lot of character.

Be careful with the belt sander. Never let it sit still while it is on...Even for a few seconds.

You can choose to stain them or leave them natural after the sanding. Just put down a couple of good coats of polyeurathane to seal it up when you're done.

5/21/2007 11:49:08 AM

refinishing the floors will be a lot of work, but will be the most rewarding and satisfying completed project over just repainting the floor again

5/21/2007 11:51:29 AM

hunter this is easy:
rent a floor buffer, stick some low-grit sandpaper on the bottom and go to town. work your way up to some really fine shit and you're golden.

or, if you want to do it right, rent a commercial machine. if they can level old concrete they can sure as shit take off paint.

5/21/2007 11:52:15 AM

yeah, i have some experience with belt sanders and hardwoods

the floors would look great, and now i really want to do that instead (its what I wanted to do before but my dad talked me out of it )

anyone want to help that has more experience with it

and thanks for the paint compliment, ive been working hard to get that room sanded and the cracks filled

5/21/2007 11:53:22 AM

Alright, I spent my lunch break going to Sherwin Williams to get the other gallon of wall paint

then to the rental place (the main sander, edger, and paper will cost over $150) so im not going to uncover the floor at this point in time, sorry, id love to

I went and got the new floor paint in brown, and i will be taking back the carpet and getting one that matches the brown and tan in the room

next up, couches and chairs

5/21/2007 1:25:34 PM

Me and my Uncle finished the last coat on the walls yesterday, and I put the semi-gloss on the doors and trim. I started around the edges painting the brown floor paint, right up to under the baseboard.

You can see the brown/white/ancient stone contrast in the first pic, the second is the finished door frame and walls into the kitchen area.



It looks really really good in there. I cant wait to finish up the kitchen and get the floorings down

would anyone see a problem with put the white on the trim and ancient stone on the walls in the kitchen as well? We are going to match the countertop to the white and tan.

5/22/2007 7:56:48 AM

Looking good. I bet this house is beautiful!

5/22/2007 11:49:02 AM

So the living room is now finished and I got a different carpet to put down that matches the tan and brown really well. Yesterday I painted the first coat on the walls in the kitchen and painted all the trim in the gloss ultra white.

The paint schemes will be the same in the den and kitchen, here are some in process pictures.



I painted the walls all the way to the trim last night so i can slap on a second coat today and be ready to take the sink out and rip the counter top off and paint the base.

Then we are going to install the stainless steel sink and new counter top



Its sort of like that one, but a little lighter. All thats left then is deciding what type of flooring to put down??? i dont really know

5/24/2007 8:43:31 AM

it's gonna be a super bitch to redo the floors later

5/24/2007 8:46:37 AM

i dont even know if it would be worth it to uncover an of the pine floors upstairs.

with all the gaps and cracks, it would be very difficult and im not sure if its worth the time

i think it would be nice to have in some rooms, but i found that the paint isnt that difficult to get up

it will require someone who does it for a living however, I do not feel I could properly do it

5/24/2007 8:52:33 AM

looking good...I like the color on the walls

5/24/2007 11:57:17 AM

We tore out the kitchen sink and counter top last night. Yesterday I bought the new counter and Dad brought me home a stainless steel sink and a nice chrome fixture. While the top was off I Kilz the inside of the cabinet base, as you can see the before and afters here.



I took the doors off so I can re-enforce them and make them look a little better. Besides that the paint is done on the walls and trim so the only thing left is to set the sink and counter.

5/25/2007 8:07:08 AM

damn you are a busy lil bee!

5/25/2007 9:37:26 AM

I think i will cry at the thought of you painting the floors. Just promise me that when you are rich you will redo them to wood. Staining floors is not that bad.

We had ours refinished and the guy used a sander that had a "dust catcher". The dust was very minimal and did not require the walls to be wiped.

5/25/2007 10:30:08 AM

these floors dont look all that great anyway, thats why they were painted

however, hopefully one day I will have some more money and can uncover them

but for now, id rather take that $200 + dollars I would be spending on the floor and put it toward a bad ass tv

because I know which will make me happy

5/25/2007 1:11:09 PM

Got almost everything done in the kitchen except the floor and wiring



Pics coming tomorrow with the new couch and chair in the den. Also the cabinet doors in the kitchen and the flooring.

5/29/2007 12:56:43 PM

Looking good! Doesn't even look like the same cabinet in the kitchen!!! Good work!

5/29/2007 3:14:34 PM

Finished the cabinet doors and I'll get pics up of those

also started in the bathroom (plumber redid everything) and here is a pic of the tile i started in the kitchen



[Edited on May 29, 2007 at 10:34 PM. Reason : >.<]

5/29/2007 10:28:50 PM

damn son, you been busy

5/29/2007 10:40:23 PM

So when is the Open House??? LOL

5/29/2007 11:31:53 PM

^ in 2011 when the house is officially 100 years old

Alright here is the pic of the finished cabinet and the bathroom, the plumber has already cut the floor out and replaced it and put down the tile. That is a brand new toilet and sink fixture as well as the shower fixtures. Yesterday i took off the sliding glass doors and now its time to scrub everything down and paint.

5/30/2007 8:56:50 AM

awesome, brush ur teeth and take a crap at the same time...

also, any reason why you started in the corner with the tile in the kitchen?

5/30/2007 9:07:17 AM

yeah, it was the only square corner

its hard working with something as unlevel as that house

i saw you in Arbys the other day by the way

5/30/2007 9:13:34 AM

i figured that was why, probably hard finding anything square in there.

i thought that was you! i was kinda out of it that day (and week) running on about 8 hours of sleep in 5 days.

5/30/2007 9:19:43 AM

yeah and it means i will only have to cut one set when i reach the other wall rather than cut parts for every side

yeah, I was eating with Dad then heading back over here to the plant

5/30/2007 9:25:53 AM

Quote :

"in 2011 when the house is officially 100 years old"

We all expect invites

5/30/2007 11:38:37 AM

Quote :

"We had ours refinished and the guy used a sander that had a "dust catcher". The dust was very minimal and did not require the walls to be wiped."

From what I've seen, companies that use the "dust catcher" that you're referring to charge out the ass. Some companies will even offer it to you at a substantially higher rate and they typically tell you that it's just not worth it.

Dust still gets everywhere, so you still have to clean everything; it's just that it is less dust than if they didn't use it. You're better off just covering/removing everything and being prepared for the cleanup. Also, make sure you change your HVAC filters after any major work like flooring, sheetrock, etc.

Quote :

"also, any reason why you started in the corner with the tile in the kitchen? yeah, it was the only square corner"

Walls are almost never square. Typically you find the center of the room and tile out from there. That way the imperfections in shape of the room are evenly distributed throughout the room. You're going to end up with one side of the room being perfect, but the other side's imperfections will be more noticeable. Hopefully it is a small room so it won't be as big of a deal.

[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 2:02 PM. Reason : s]

5/30/2007 2:00:50 PM

yeah the room is about 9x9 with a spot for the cabinet

I thought i should have started from the middle as well, however, when you have other people standing there that have done things like that before, you take their word and just keep kicking

so, no big deal, if it doesnt look right and there are huge gaps (which there will be some small ones) then ill pull it up and do it again. the tile is Armstrong and it was $20 for a 30 sheet box (30sq ft)

5/30/2007 2:06:40 PM

I've foregone the whole "start in the middle" theory as well and been very glad I did. I tiled a small bathroom with two doors (one bedroom, one hallway) where I could effectively line it up so that it is straight with the two doors and the imperfect spots would be under the vanity and behind the toilet. It just made sense to do it that way even though everyone was stuck on the notion that you have to start in the middle. The point is that it is good to be creative at times and break the rules when it's right for the space in which you are working.

5/30/2007 2:18:23 PM

The floor worked out fine, I didnt think it would have taken as many tiles as it did. Here are some pics with the couch and chair. We put up a 4ft light in the kitchen and a fan in the den as well.



The brown you see in some spots on the floor are where I havent cut tile yet. Im waiting until I get the hall painted and lay the floor in there to finished those five little halves

6/1/2007 8:06:31 AM

are you going to put base boards or 1/4 moulding around that tile?

6/1/2007 11:25:12 AM

yeah, ive got 1/4 round to go all the way around that room

but those big gaps you see havent had any tile put in them yet

i didnt want to cut the whole ones up until after i finish the hall to be sure i have enough

6/1/2007 1:04:44 PM

Good job hunter. It looks great. =)

6/7/2007 2:41:34 PM

I used the styrofoam-type 1/4 round in my old kitchen. I seem to remember it splintering all the time when I cut it.

6/7/2007 2:43:41 PM

yeah weve got a chop saw to get it with. hopefully that wont happen

I need to put up the pics of the ceiling fan and completed floor with thresholds and paint

since I dont have to go to Mexico next week I should be able to finish the bathroom and start tearing some barns down outside

Julie, you need to come and see it

6/7/2007 2:50:04 PM

there might be some good wood in the old barns. some of that stuff is worth $$$

6/7/2007 2:53:27 PM

nah the ones we are tearing down have already fallin in because of hurricanes and such

we are breaking them down and burning as much as we can then setting the metal to the side to sell

there is no way for me to explain the giant pile behind that house. Some barns are good and we keep things in, the rest, need to be gone. So thats the next project.

6/7/2007 3:00:56 PM

oh yes, bought this last night



and it is awesome

6/8/2007 9:40:57 AM

Nice face... yeah I would like to see it actually. Let me know when I can get permission.

6/12/2007 1:38:33 PM

whenever juju

we are still tearing down and burning barns outside, so i'll be all sweaty and nasty, youll have to let me know when you wanna come over

were you talking about the TV or the house

6/12/2007 1:40:13 PM

The TV's nice too... but the house.

6/12/2007 1:47:08 PM