More Linoleum

When we bought our house, there was carpet throughout the upstairs. We were really, really hoping that underneath was pristine hardwood; protected from decades of abuse by the wall-to-wall. What we found when we peeled back the carpet on the landing, however, was....more linoleum. Only this time, it had been glued, very securely, directly onto the wood floors. "Oh well", we said. "We'll just have to scrape it off - how hard can it be?". Several months later, after painstakingly scraping every inch of the hallway by hand, we were ready to sand. Luckily for me, this was a job my significant other tackled alone :o).



After removing the carpet from the landing, we started on the stairs. What was underneath the carpet on the top step? Of course it was...linoleum! At least these tiles weren't glued to the step. The rest of the stairs, thankfully, were only covered with layers and layers of oil paint; the last layers comprising the faux-wood finish...because, of course, it's much more practical to paint on a wood-like finish than it is to strip the old paint off and reveal the actual wood.

Removing Linoleum and Plywood from Floors

We've contemplated and discussed many times the peculiar early 20th century practice of putting linoleum on floors in upstairs hallways and bedrooms. We like a good surprise as much as the next person, but try as we might, we just can't seem to get inside the mind of the person who enjoyed the thrill of hopping out of bed on a frigid February night and landing on an ice cold lino floor. So, when our parents bought a 19th century limestone farmhouse a few years ago, we all pitched in to help remove the linoleum tiles that covered the entire upper floor. As usual, it turned out to be a bigger job than we had imagined it would be. Apparently, the linoleum of days gone by was a very temperamental material that required a good strong base of plywood nailed down at 2" intervals.


We used an ice breaker tool and various crowbars and hammers to help us pry the tiles and then the plywood off the floor. The original floor underneath was in pretty good shape, but of course, needed sanding and refinishing. We donned our state-of-the-art dust protection gear and got started...

A bathroom reno to look forward to...a repair gone wrong.

The wood flooring under the tile is rotten beside the tub. On the crawl space floor and stuck within the white glob of filler used to try to repair the rotten area, are pieces of the floor tile.

Also notice the cheap replacement for the wall sink that was original to the house. It's got a plastic sink, and the cabinet has a cardboard back.

Bathroom Reno

Our house was built in 1916, and we are trying to be as true to the original style as possible, while keeping our modern conveniences. So, needless to say, the avocado green bathroom suite from the late '60s was high on my demolition list. I kept imagining how great it would be to swing a sledgehammer through the faux-marble covered half-wall that I kept hitting my elbow on while I was brushing my teeth. Well, I finally got my chance...(it was just a regular hammer though).



Once we had pried the tub and toilet out, we discovered that the previous "renovators" had put chipboard down underneath the vinyl flooring...and the toilet had a slow leak that seeped into this chipboard, and the plywood underneath. Why, you ask, would anyone use chipboard on a floor, especially in a bathroom? We haven't come up with a satisfactory answer, but we have our theories... We were very thankful for our respirator masks when we first caught a whiff of the rotten chipboard aroma.




I happened to snap this rare moment of frustration (of course, not my finger) when the old fittings didn't seem to want to budge...



















After many trips to the hardware store to buy stuff we didn't know we'd need until we needed it, and several different drains, and with the much-needed help of the father (aka Captain Safety - more on that later) we had our finished bathroom. Here's a shot of the new toilet/tub: