Here are pictures of our new house in Kitchener, taken at various stages.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The floor that came with the house (main floor). It was in worse shape than we thought; you can't see from the photo that the tonuge-and-groove is coming up in places.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The previous owners had a big rug here; the last time they refinished the floor, they did it themselves, and didn't bother to do the part under the rug. There were also huge roofing nails used to nail down the floor; they were still there under the rug, and everywhere else, there were big putty-filled holes.

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Another shot of the part under the rug.

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The putty-filled holes.

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The nails.

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The floor between the dining room and the kitchen was badly patched, assumedly when the doorway was created.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 20 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

Between the front and back kitchens, there's a little step. This wood's in OK condition.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The floor in the back kitchen's also in OK condition. We decided just to refinish it.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 20 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The stairs could also use refinishing.

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All of upstairs (except the bathroom) was covered in vinyl tile. Blech. Luckily, it turned out that there was wood in good shape under it, so we had the tile (and the plywood it was attached to) ripped out, and refinished the floor underneath it.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 20 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 20 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 20 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The main floor couldn't be saved. So out it went, to be replaced by all-new floor. Here you see the subfloor after the old floor was removed. The wood for the new floor is still packaged.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 23 Jun, 2006)

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The floor was removed all the way into the front kitchen.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 23 Jun, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

The wood under the vinyl tiles upstairs. In one of the closets, the wood had been cut my a plumber to get access to some pipes in the adjacent bathroom. It was patched up.

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More of the floor under the tile.

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This is the actual colour of the wood, after the paint was sanded off.

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Some sample stain colours.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 23 Jun, 2006)

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We went back to the showroom to pick a colour for the main floor.

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Laying the main floor.

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The floors are done! They look great! The new living room (where the under-rug catastrophe was before).

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Looking into the dining room.

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They did the front hall closet, too.

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The stairs were refinished.

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As were the step between the kitchens, and the back kitchen floor.

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The back kitchen.

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Upstairs, instead of the vinyl tile, we have wood!

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Another room upstairs. This is actually the same colour, with different lighting.

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 5 Jul, 2006)

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Comment on this picture (Last update: 6 Jul, 2006)

An upstairs closet.

This page last updated: 6 Jul, 2006