A story about an old guy and his oak floor

I was doing a tear out on a house in Spokane about five years ago, pulling up this old, beat up carpet. Underneath was this solid oak floor, but it was covered in black adhesive and looked like a total loss. The homeowner, this retired guy named Frank, came down and just stared at it for a minute. He said, 'My dad laid that floor in 1958 with a hand saw and a hammer. He'd be sick to see it now.' We ended up spending two extra days saving it, and Frank just sat on the stairs and watched us work the whole time. What's the oldest material you've ever been asked to save for a client?

4 comments

4 Comments

kellyr205d ago

Had a client in Tacoma who wanted us to save the original 1920s plaster walls. Full of cracks and horsehair. Told her it was a nightmare to patch. She insisted. Took us a week just to prep.

brian_hart3d ago

It's that horsehair plaster. Once it starts to go, it's a real fight to keep it. You end up doing a skim coat over the whole thing, and even then it might not match the original texture. The prep is everything.

the_leo5d ago

Man, that gets me right in the gut. Frank watching from the stairs gets me. You can't put a price on that stuff. I saw a crew once trying to save these old, handmade bricks from a chimney that was coming down. The mortar was basically dust, and they were cleaning each one by hand. The owner had a picture of his grandpa building that chimney. Makes the extra work mean something.

adam4145d ago

Look, I get the emotional pull, but sometimes you have to be realistic. Saving that floor cost two extra days of labor, which the client probably paid a fortune for. That old plaster and those bricks are the same deal, a huge money pit for a bit of history. Most people would be better off taking a picture and moving on with a new, safe, up to code material. Sentiment doesn't fix a house.