The Upstairs Bowling Alley

Thursday Pete and I continued to work on the flooring upstairs. We came out even at the two doors down the hallway, and then worked into both of the girls' bedrooms.


Using the same technique that we did to start, we set a single board across each room at the beginning of the doorway by snapping a line parallel with the far wall, and then gluing and screwing it into place. We then worked completely across one room, into the hallway and into the other room. This makes for a 34 foot run through the doorway. If we could only find the kids' plastic bowling pins and ball!




After finishing the door way section I carried the hallway to the threshold of the master bedroom door.


In theory we could now set all three bedroom doors, as well as the bathroom door as all the floor around them is complete. Lisa did a test patch to clean off the old finish. She wiped a 50/50 mix of laquer thinner and denatured alcohol over a small area with steel wood pads. When the time comes to do all the floor we rent a floor buffer and get nylon pads. I really don't ever sand a floor if I can possibly avoid it.


On Friday Pete came to work a couple of hours and he got the stairway area ready for flooring. Since we had added a quarter inch plywood deck to the original subfloor, we had to remove the top stair and put a quarter inch piece under the step so that the floor boards would come in level to the step and not create a tripping hazard. He then started to cut plugs to fill the holes for the counter sunk screws in the hallway and the two bedrooms. He did the plugged the hallway, cut and sanded them down, I plugged the bedrooms and started to cut, if I have time today I may get them sanded too.
Here are the plugs sticking out of the holes:


Cut nearly flush with the floor:


Sanded to level:


As he worked on Friday morning, Pete listened to "The Dottie Ray Show" which has been an institution for more than 45 years in Iowa City on radio station KXIC. Dottie started her daily 15 minute show in which she interviews visiting artists, educators, community activists, and other interesting people when she lived next door to Foxcroft. Until she moved in 1986. and her daughter and family came to live there, the shows were broadcast from her study at home. We can see that room's window when we stand at the kitchen sink and wash dishes. She now broadcasts from her condo just down the street from us.

Dottie's guests were Rowan and Laurel, commenting on Christmas and life in general. Since it was radio, they were dressed to the nines in their new Christmas outfits. Thankfully Lisa and I stayed off microphone. Dottie is a delight, and a faithful reader of this blog, who will no doubt be embarrassed by this post!

With Christmas Eve today we will get ready for family to come over tonight. We will have 17 for dinner and then the grandkids (the next youngest after our two is a senior in high school) will get their presents from my parents. Dad came and hid envelopes the other day and everyone will have clues as to where theirs can be found. In reading them over I think there will be some very interesting intergenerational discussions about what you notice in your environment.