Removing Old Flooring and Applying Paint & Varnish

  One of my mentors, not in person but via books and the spoken word, talked about the importance of cleaning away rubble before attempting to rebuild. Dr. Jay Adams was talking about counseling, helping people build a better life, but like any good illustration, the concept works on both ends. I found it true in my own life, and vicariously in the lives of those I counseled. I have found it equally true in dealing with various remodeling, fixer-upper projects.

Not to argue with the good Dr., but there are times when the old is useful and can be used in building the new. Not only does this save labor, sometimes, incorporating the old into the new and improved project can sometimes actually make the new better. Sometimes. Wisdom is required to decide when. One way or another I've been fixing, modifying, and trying to improve old things for about sixty years. As I look back I find that I have made more mistakes concluding that something is good enough, "Just leave it be," than I have by tearing out and fixing or replacing it. Still, I come back to that need for knowing when. 

Often economics enters in. How much money can I afford to spend? How much time do I have?  Making the decision is almost never a sure thing, and often there is an element of risk involved. My seventy-one-year-old wisdom leans toward, "Better safe than sorry."

Until recently I had been planning to keep the old flooring, original--fifty-four-years old. A couple of weeks ago I changed my mind. The Frolic will have a new floor. Leaning on the wisdom above, that meant the old was coming out. I soon found that the old floor liked being stuck to the subfloor. The eviction wouldn't be easy. 

The membrane that makes up the top layer of the sheet-flooring came off fairly easily, though a good bit of elbow grease was required. That left a layer of black fibrous stuff. A stand-up scraper and a putty knife didn't faze it much at all. I tried a wire brush on my grinder. It sort of worked but made a horrendous mess. The belt sander was of little use. As far as machines, my oscillating tool with a scraper blade did pretty well, but it was still slow going. 

Finally, I thought I'd wet the stuff down. At first, the H2O ran off the stuff like water off a duck, but I found that if I rubbed it in--I found sort of painting it with a broom worked well--the nasty black stuff would mostly surrender to the stand-up scraper. This was much appreciated by my old back and knees. What remained could be cared for pretty quickly with the oscillating tool. 

I have overcome.

As to the paint and varnish, I'll have pictures soon. In this case, I was able to make use of the old. The cabinet frames will be painted white. The old doors and drawer fronts were in pretty good shape. Some light sanding and new varnish is making them look pretty nice. I've got the cabinet that goes over the front windows about ready to go. It's looking pretty good. 

As I sit in my easy chair writing this, I'm sure both decisions were right. Please don't tell me otherwise.

Stay tuned.