Priming and Patching

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, we have been very busy. We are currently sanding the floors, ( more in our next post) but wanted to give a little description of all our prep work that has prepared the house to sand the floors.
Before Simon did his last pass with drywall compound, he suggested that we prime the walls since a white wall will show imperfections much more than raw drywall. Zanna did a prime coat and in some cases two coats for the entire first and second floor. It was truly amazing what a coat of paint has done for the house. It really makes the spaces feel finished and the whole house additionally feel cleaner. Also, Zanna has started priming and puttying the trim and window sills bring new life to some of the old woodwork. While Zan has been focused on the walls I have started to patch the floors.
There were large holes in the hardwood flooring where the existing chimney came through the kitchen and master bedroom, also there were places to patch where there used to be old floor registers that are no longer in use. Finally we gouged the floor quite a few times when we were removing the old mastic compound that held down the old synthetic tile flooring in the kitchen. We have two types of flooring in our house; white oak in the living room, dining room, hallway and master bedroom and red fir in the kitchen, bedroom and study on the first floor. To patch the oak we pull up the existing boards from the new master bath where we plan to place tile. This has given us plenty of stock for repairs. However, to repair the kitchen I had to find some red fir that would match the existing wood in the house. I found a guy in Scappoose, Oregon that is a hardwood salvager that has a couple warehouses full of old reclaimed flooring. He is a very eccentric guy and was able to provide old fir at a very affordable price. Patching the flooring is quite labor intensive but proved to be not so difficult. It is quite uncomfortable working on your hands and knees for days on end. In any event I have to say I’m a pretty good wood worker and the patches look good. Please see the pictures below.