Blisters and Polyurethane

      Last week Micah tore out the last of the carpet and padding in the house we are working on. He then started pulling the staples and the nails in the wood floors. Automatic staplers are a bane. It allows carpet layers to staple down the pad every 2 inches. We have to pull all those staples before we finish a floor or put down new flooring. On Monday I finished pulling the staples. I thought Micah was about finished but he wasn't. I was down to the last section when I noticed the skin on one of my fingers was moving. Oh no, I had actually gotten blisters on my fingers pulling staples. I am going to contact my state representatives to have automatic staplers outlawed. It is the only solution to this dangerous situation I can think of.(Although if we are putting new flooring over the old I have been known to take a hammer and just drive the staples all flat and floor over them.)

     The decision had been made that this blue was not the color we wanted this bedroom. I am sure whoever painted this room was thinking this was the best color ever put on a wall. They would be wrong. Now if you have a room painted this color don't take it personally. I am sure it is lovely, in your house. The key phrase there is "in your house".

     Same room our standards for rentals. Walls a more muted color, carpet piled outside and the floors with a new coat of polyurethane. 

     This is the other corner of the room before we rehabbed. You are missing the pleasure of seeing the back side of the doors painted that dark blue that is on the walls.

     It took 4 coats of paint to get the doors white. When we started rehabbing houses we would replace all the doors. Now we look at a door and if it is sound and can be painted we leave them. We can replace them later when a tenant has an "accident" and "falls" into a door and breaks it. Funny how we have never broken a door in our own home yet it occurs quite often in rented houses. Maybe there is an inner ear problem with some people and they lose their balance easily and just fall right into doors. And those solid wood doors just break so easily when you fall against them. I am thinking of setting a door up sometime and having people just fall against it to see how easily they break in pieces because I am sure no-one would ever be shading the truth as to how doors get broken, and I want to lay my doubts to rest. "Oh rest in peace you doubter" is what I tell myself.

     Next up was the living room. I am sure Sharon would be horrified that I swept the room and started to brush on the finish. If she had been around I am sure that floor would have been mopped first. Maybe even mopped twice. Not in my world, time is money, have a schedule to keep, want a rent check January 1. Brush away my friend and keep a hammer and pliers close to pull the staples that were missed.

    Living room finished and ready for the dining room. That fireplace came in handy. When I found a staple I could pull it and just throw it into the fireplace.

     Last strip and the floors will be finished except for the rooms that need new flooring. By this time I was needing to stand up and ease my cramped back every couple of boards.

     Hot Dog! all done. two days later Micah told me the dining room and the living room need a second coat. Even though I know he is right, it did not brighten my day. Schedule, schedule, schedule. Can't fall behind now. 

     I was checking a light in a house. I had the ceiling fixture off when I looked at the wall across from me. Hanging on the wall they had that Bible verse. I was stunned. I know the life style they live. What does it mean that they have "This is the day the Lord has made" on their wall. Do they have faith, and I can not see it in their actions? Is it just a nice saying to put on the wall and doesn't impact their lives? 

     Made me wonder. I see a lot of rooms that look horrible to me but they have sound walls under ugly paint and hardwood floors under the dirty carpet. In the house we are working on now there was a new electrical breaker box but when I started tracing the lines I found old dangerous wiring. Looks good but is a disaster.

    So I wonder. The couple with the Bible verse on the wall whose lives look sinful to me, do they have Jesus as their savior? Do some I know who look like they are serving God and living a righteous life, not know Jesus as their savior? Only God can see the heart but I am quick to judge.