so…we didn’t quite make it. the painters fell behind, then caught up, but in the mean time we’d pushed the sanders back, and then there was a more extensive bedroom floor repair to be done, and we decided to add another step to the floor refinishing to better mask some stains, and then the floor guys made off with the keys and the painters had to wait in the rain…and the end result is that tomorrow we are moving OUT of our apartment, but we are not moving into the new house for another week. all of our stuff is going into the garage and basement, Eddie is off to live with our friends Chris and Carly, and Ben and Zeke and i are moving into the basement apartment of our friends Mark and Collette. where would we be without the generosity of friends!? (living out of our car with two cats who hate each other, is the answer). if all goes accordingly to plan (what could go wrong?) we’ll move into the new apartment the following monday.

this is what the floor looks like after the first pass of the sanders (the old color can be seen around the edges which hadn’t been touched yet). we had hoped to do a clear coat and leave the floor in the pale natural oak color, but as predicted, a 110-year-old floor has some stains and damage that is best masked by adding a deeper color. sunday i had the following conversation with one of the guys sanding the floor:

him: “see, there’s a stain here.”
me: “what is that, do you think? is it grease?”
him: “pee pee.”
me: …
him: “might be dog, or human, or cat. it’s pee pee.”
me: “right. can you sand it out?”
him: “nope, can’t get it out. it’s like a cancer. a cancer in the bone.” indicating his elbow joint.

most people are usually more euphemistic about the source of stains, but i appreciate his no-nonsense approach. however i admit that my first attempt to parse the cancer analogy just led me to think, “will this spread? is my house going to die?!” though i realize that he was actually saying, “don’t ask me to get it out because i can’t.” it’s not as gross as it sounds, like, there isn’t actual PEE soaked into the floor. the boards are just a darker shade and it goes so deep into the wood that they can’t sand it away.

still, stain or no stain, i continue to be amazing at how well the bones of this house – the wooden beams, the floor boards, the sandstone and brick – hold up over more than 100 years. even after all the work we’ve put in, and will continue to put in, this house will have it’s imperfections and quirks. i’m okay with this. pee stains and all.*

* seriously, don’t be grossed out by the floor. i promise it’s sanitary.