PROCESS: FLOOR
Early on, shortly after removing the contents of the house, Mark was left wondering if the wood floors could be salvaged. The leaking plumbing and faulty roof had taken its toll. Encouraged by the flooring contractor’s confidence in his ability to re-use the floor, Mark went about patching the portions of the floor that were overly compromised. He was able to recycle some of the flooring that he removed from the two bathrooms in order to patch other gaps. In place of the wood flooring in each bathroom, Mark put down a layer of 1/4” cement backer board under tile using Thinset.
Sanding the floors changes everything… it’s the divide line between the rough dirty work and realizing the finish is in sight. The images document the contractors’ process as they use the floor sander, edger, pour the polyurethane from a pail and spread it on. A huge volume of finish dripped through the cracks, but thankfully there was an abundance of sawdust on hand to soak it up. Mark’s favorite room is the back bedroom, where the years of water damage yielded some great color and lends an additional richness of character to the floorboards. Adding to the circular motif of the house are plugs in the floor that Mark cut to create injection points for insulation on the first floor (see PROCESS: Mechanical).
VIDEO: PATCHING THE FLOOR
