Share the joy: Hardwood floor!!!

13 years ago

I'm so excited about this it's ridiculous. Today I started to examine the flooring situation in our kitchen, which is covered in horrible grey and white vinyl sheet flooring. We've been planning on putting Marmoleum over this flooring, because anything thicker would make the height difference between the kitchen and other rooms too noticeable. What I really wanted was hardwood, but for that we would either have a ridiculous height difference or we would have to rip up all the flooring and spend a LOT of money getting a hardwood floor put in. And it would never really match, because every other room has 75-year-old oak floors and you can't get quite the same look from new wood. Sigh.

So anyway, a few months back the dishwasher installer accidentally messed up the vinyl and some of the trim at the edge of it, exposing a tiny bit of the subfloor so we could see there was plywood right under the vinyl. That explained why the kitchen was about 1/2" higher than the adjacent floors. We figured the plywood was about 1/2" thick, with, presumably, ancient decaying linoleum under it, or maybe even just the basic planks that you can see in the basement ceiling. So today I decided to get a better look.

I squatted down by the dishwasher, pulled back the loosened vinyl and saw that the plywood ended at the base of the cabinets. So I ripped off a bit of trim and shined a flashlight past it, back towards the wall. And I saw, between the dishwasher and the cabinet beside it... unfinished but perfectly smooth 2.25" hardwood flooring! It looked like an unfinished, dusty version of the hardwood floors in every other room on the ground floor.

So I got a screwdriver and went to the other end of the kitchen to remove the threshold between the foyer (hardwood) and the kitchen, and cleaned out decades' worth of grime that had collected under the threshold, and lay on the floor to see how the kitchen floor was put together. And yes--the hardwood foyer floor goes right on in underneath the plywood! The layers of kitchen flooring are sitting on top of... HARDWOOD!!! The same gorgeous golden oak floor that's in the foyer, living room and dining room is also in the kitchen! OMIGOD!!! We ALREADY HAVE the exact kitchen floors I wanted! They're just a little bit of sweat equity away!

Anyway, I'm so excited it's embarrassing, but I figured if anyone would understand, you guys would.

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Comments (19)

breezygirl
13 years ago
While I don't have anything as nice as that underneath my grimy vinyl floors, I can understand your excitement!! It's so amazing to me when dreams come true like yours did! Here's hoping the rest of the reno goes equally as well! Congrats!
flwrs_n_co
13 years ago
Wow!! With all the glitches that we read about, it's terrific to hear about such a wonderful surprise! Ditto on the congratulations!
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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We went through pretty much the same situation - our home had red oak flooring in the kitchen/dining area and ten years after we moved in we decided to install the same oak flooring in two adjoining rooms. We had the old floor refinished at the same time the new floors were finished and we decided to use a Swedish (Glitsa) finish, because it had held up well on the old floor. It was a major ordeal to remove all of our furniture (out to the garage), tape up all our kitchen cabinets and seal off the stairwell. We boarded our cats at the vet's office for the week, and headed out of town for four days; when we returned we threw all the windows wide open because the smell was awful. With the windows open it was tolerable, but unfortunately we ended up with the coldest day on record for July and had to go find someplace warm to kill time. I found no problem sleeping that night, with windows open, and after a couple more days (with the windows open) the smell disappeared. We waited a full week from the day the finish had been applied before bringing our furniture back in, just to be safe. In the end it was all worth the effort - it's been 12 years now and the floors still look great - just a few surface scratches in the dining area where a couple of my dining chairs lost their protective pads. I never wash the floors, preferring to spot clean with Pledge Multi Wipes and doing an occasional deep cleaning (only once or twice a year) with clean rags and mineral spirits in high traffic areas. (Windows open for sure when I do this!) I've tried floor cleaning products and never found one that didn't leave the floor looking dull. (We don't wear shoes indoors so that's a big reason why the floors stay pretty clean.) I would Google water-based vs. Glitsa to glean more info, especially from folks who use these products. You might also see if there's a paint store in your area who can show you samples of different wood finishes. In our area we have a couple of local shops who offer a variety of wood finishing products and they display a variety of woods with finishes. This might give you a better idea of what a water based finish would look like. Best of luck! :-)
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cardamon
13 years ago
What a gift. I'm happy for you, nice to hear good news and like you say a little work and it is what you wanted. I would love to hear the conversation about why they covered up the hardwood and put what they put in years ago. Glad your getting the good end of it. And it will all match. Perfect.
kitchenkrazed09
13 years ago
I'm so glad you are able to have an exact, authentic match to your other floors! Added bonus - no height difference!
attygirl
13 years ago
I am sharing your joy vicariously. Sometimes the most wonderful treasures are right under our feet!
Vivian Kaufman
13 years ago
What a great find! When we started gutting our kitchen (130 year old house), we found the original beadboard walls and ceiling behind the cracked and bowed plaster. Cleaned up and painted, it's beautiful.... Joy oh joy!
newcastlemom
13 years ago
What great news, Idea! That's simply grand. So glad you found just what you wanted, only a few layers away.
cat_mom
13 years ago
Joy, joy, joy!!!!!!!!!!!! (and yay! that's terrific!)
jejvtr
13 years ago
Score!

What a great find!
ideagirl2
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all!!

Oh, Vivian, that must've been amazing, to find the original beadboard under everything! It must look glorious now.
dianalo
13 years ago
Wow! Go play Lotto today because you are one lucky person!

I have a feeling I'll be posting horror stories about what we find behind or beneath the current layers in our house, lol....
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
Good job on the detective work. This will be a savings in achieving the aesthetic component as well as in money and in time. A triple play! Whoopee for you, Idea Girl!

Now comes the green-eyed monster: If only I had been able to say the same. [There's envious steam emitting from my ears as I write.] All we had was rotten plywood and floor joists.
User
13 years ago
That is what happened in our 120 yr old house. I looked under the dishwasher and found the original heart pine that someone po had covered with engineered wood floor in the 80's. It cleaned up beautifully.

I also was able to take out the floor vents in a couple rooms where po's had placed carpet and find the unfinished heart pine...but in the back hallway and 1/2 bath there was Pergo. I hated it so when they were doing all the other floors I asked them to pull all the Pergo out and look to see what was underneath. The floor guy refused...I waited till he and his help went to lunch and I used his prybar to start tearing it all up. I took off the Pergo and found plywood and then tar paper and then linoleum...and then drum roll...the heart pine. When he got back later that afternoon he asked " what the h^&* did you do?". I reposned with a smile as I handed him the prybar...I started what YOU are going to finish LOL. I still smile everytime I go out the back door ! c

Congratulations to you!!!!
kaseki
13 years ago
Here's hoping that the amount of sweat equity is modest, as it will depend on how well and with what the plywood was fastened to the original floor.

kas
rococogurl
13 years ago
I can relate. Last year, before we renovated the apartment, DH told me there were no matching hardwood floors in the bedrooms (which were covered in ancient w-t-w carpet). Very concerned, as you were, about having them match well.

Same screwdriver in the corner and, yes, same joy, hardwood floors covered for more than 20 years. Paint-spattered but otherwise in excellent condition with only a tiny bit of patching underneath the new radiators.

We refinished and it makes such a huge difference. You will love your results, I know!
cpartist
13 years ago
Now that is luck with a capital L. How wonderful.
catkin
13 years ago
How cool is that?!!!??!!
ideagirl2
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks again!
Trailrunner, I love your story!
rhome410
13 years ago
Hurray! Wonderful!! Congratulations, Ideagirl2.

C, so I have to wonder why the contractor thought he could refuse to do what you asked, then start to scold you for doing something in your own house! Wow.

Share the joy: Hardwood floor!!!

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