Step on It! PHASE 1 - Demolition and Repair
- Andrea Ridout
- Jun 8, 2017
- 2 min read
When we began our restoration project on Washington St. in Garland, the floors were in pretty sad condition. We were initially stumped by a mysterious soft area in the middle of the kitchen linoleum. It turned out that the entire floor had deteriorated from a slow-leaking kitchen faucet – and the hall bathroom wasn't much better, also caused by leaky plumbing. Soiled carpet covered most of the bedrooms and there was a hump in the middle of the "man cave" at the back of the house.
In the first week, we began by demolishing everything that would need replacement. First, all of the carpet was removed which was a major task. Since both the carpet and padding were soiled, it was very heavy. My son, Frank, and I had to cut it into small sections just to be able to drag it out.
All of the hard work was worth it though – as we discovered gleaming hardwood floors underneath all of that mess. Hiding under many years of dirt and grime, most of the planking was in pretty good shape and would only require refinishing to bring it back to its original glory. A few areas would have to be replaced, which we will address in the next blog post.
Next, the softened floor and subfloor in the kitchen and bathroom had to be replaced. Luckily, there was very little damage to the structural floor joists themselves, though we added a few new 2x4's just for strength. Most of the sponginess was in the 1x4 subfloor and plywood that covered it. Installing new lumber was a relatively simple repair. Of course, that's easy for me to say as Bob Helton and Trevor Starring did most of the work!
Finally, we had to address the hump in the man cave. That section of the home was an early garage conversion, so the original floor had been raised approximately 2' to make it level with the rest of the house. Once Trevor cut through the room's subfloor, he was able to determine that the hump was caused by simple settling of the room. Within a few hours, he and Bob shortened some of the 2x12 "beams" that held up the joists and the whole room magically evened out. That was a good day - and Trevor was positively ecstatic!
Next, we'll refinish the wood floors and install new flooring. Click here to read on...
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