Post Thirteen: Dust to Dust

We had finished with the new hardwood floors.  Beautiful.  Dark, warm, wood.  And, maybe I am sentimental, but, a bit more special as the creation of people I have come to respect and admire as fellow Scouters and friends, as well as their talents as craftsmen and their professionalism.  And, I knew that they enjoyed their time working on Madrone Haus, taking a full week and a half to install the wood floors in the living room, dining room and hallway of the new house. (See Post Ten)

 They left very little "dust".  And in the time in between that effort and the installation of the new tile in other areas of the house, we optimistically cleaned it away.

Enter the next round of flooring renovation.  For the kitchen, pantry, office and bathroom areas, we had selected some stone tile; a warm tan for the kitchen and a wonderful mix of grey, tan and almost dark green shades for the bath.  A scouting colleague of our hardwood floor master came with his wife to the house and without a second bid from anyone else, was given the go ahead to do the work.

Because we needed to relocate the kitchen appliances and move the roll-top desk from the office, remove toilets and tear out the old flooring, they could not start until after Easter, several weeks from our decision to go forward.  (See Post Eleven) But they assured us they could do the job in a day and a half, and when the date came, Barry was there to witness the quick and (apparently) efficient team at work.

Kitchen, pantry BEFORE

AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

They indeed got the floors in on a Friday, and returned the next morning to set the fancy epoxy grout we were convinced would be an investment we would be happy we made, for it's durability and ease of maintenance.  Barry emailed pictures back to Novato, and it indeed looked beautifully done.

The next morning, Barry was supposed to be able to have full access to the new floors, and proceeded to go into the kitchen to do the usual morning routine.... but a light epoxy residue was evident on the floors.  Boo.  He came back to Novato that night, but not after letting the tile folks know they had some more work to do.  But, a return trip by one of the tile team from Petaluma to Nevada City a few days later, and the problem was solved.

Master Bath AFTER

Powder Room AFTER

The next weekend, Clint and I went with Barry to replace the appliances and generally put things back together.  All went very well, until on Sunday morning, when Barry went to replace the heater vent register in the office that he realized.... uh.....  where did the vent go?  Bah, they had tiled over it!  Another message to the tile team, and another trip back up there....

But in the mean time, I got to get out my microfiber cloths and dusters and repeat the dusting exercise to remove the evidence of the construction that had gone on.  Who knew that tile installation would generate more dust than hardwood floor installation!  But, there it was.

As it is now, I still have some cleaning to do, and have a plan in mind that involves steam cleaners and other tools from the mother ship. Put the dust to rest.  It's all been very worth it, as the wood and stone are helping make Madrone Haus take on a persona more in connection with the great outdoors it is surrounded by.