Hardwood & Beadboard :-)

So....I had to break a little promise. Perhaps I didn't share that little promise previously. I promised...after making the discovery I'm about to share with you....that I would not mess with the floor until the ceiling was done. Welll.......during the weekend scrapefest I had to move the oven out from the wall to clean up the dust behind it. Well....while I was back there a little piece of the vinyl floor just HAPPENED to be sticking up....inviting me to look underneath. Well....it just so happens that our kitchen floor IS NOT plywood, as I had previously, for the past six years, assumed. IT IS.....

Gorgeous....beautiful....wonderful hardwood. Covered by a layer of, what I'm going to assume is asbestos tile and a layer of leveling compound. Yay me. However, I'm happy to report that the tiles come right up. They do, however, leave behind a sticky residue.

Thank the universe for Google. Based on what I read my two options were mineral spirits or duct tape. (and a bunch of other options that I did not have on hand....so I had two options because I am not a patient person and live a jillion miles from a place that might sell the multitude of other options) I tried the duct tape first...it worked really well....but VERY slowly. I just rolled a bit of it back on itself and blotted all over the floor....like I said, it worked....but I would still be there unsticking the stick when my grandchildren come to visit. SO.....let's whip out the chemicals. The mineral spirits did a great job of getting the majority of the sticky off. Now there's a little sticky left...but nothing another treatment wouldn't take care of. Oh...and I also washed the areas I "spirited" with soap and water afterwards.

My little guy helped me install some beadboard today. I was almost giddy with delight.




A little section for your perusal. Still needs primer and paint....but WOOHOO it's up!!!!



Can you see my giddiness? So giddy I forgot to put down my dustmask before taking my selfportrait. Safety first folks. ;-)