Sally's photo shows the true colors of the flooring, or as true as I can get. Clicking on the photo enlarges it. You can make out a scratch she made with her toenails to the right of her left paw. Durability will be something I will be working on. Reviews did not say this happened to their floors, no matter how many coats of sealer. hmmm....

Sally was fresh from the doggie beauty parlor. They conditioned her coat, making her look more like a Pomeranian instead of a fuzzy tator tot.







This is the first half of the living room. One seam is apparent, not as much as the spare bedroom's. With all our furniture, you do not even "see" it anymore.

I had painted the insides of my huge bookcases, which brightened up the room, even with the darker flooring. On the finished house photos, next month?, I will take photos showing what that can do for a room.





I took a before photo, before I stained and sealed the floor.

The glue sometimes leaves dark "edges".  When staining and sealing, that disappears as the floor "ages". Some of the torn shapes take darker, some lighter. Why? I have no clue. I read that some of the brown papers have two sides. That may be the cause. How one would keep track if they wanted a less varied floor without a lot of hidden marks on which was which would really slow one down. I tear the paper on the days the sealer is curing along with catching up on chores. I would not have time for the latter or any time to catch up on other things if I did!


The second half blended in well. The color variates, though not as splotchy as in the photo.

You can see the edges to an area I had to leave access to get under the house if our water heater bites the dust. The other area is too small. I will be going over the edges to blend them in, painting the tops of the screws with a bronze color and covering with a rug for now. When we install the wood stove, the couch will cover it.

My trick for blending in the second half worked well. I overlap paper onto the first part of the finished floor by an inch or more. I wipe off the glue on the edges to within a half of an inch over that gets onto the finished part as I stick down the paper. This gave something for the Varathane to cling to when sealing. When staining, I take the color to within an inch, then use a wool pad to rub and spread it to the edges without bleeding into the first half and the glue "bled" onto that area. This keeps a line from forming, showing where you stopped and started. When sealing, I go over the glue that went past the edges of the paper and a touch past that. It blended nicely.

The flooring, with 5 coats of Varathane, is not handling Sally skittering around on it. The scratches are not cutting into the Varathane layers, though they are light, like stain was removed. Maybe the stain moves into the sealer? I put my face down on the floor, looking at the sealer and there is not one gouge. Is that weird or what? I will be trying a scratch stick test to be reported on later. The floor is so slippery, I do not want to wax them. Or does wax add some stability? I will try a test on that too.

Sally will be less skittery on the flooring once we finish the place. Dogs do not like change. Moving furniture in and out, changing what door she can use every week as I progress through the house and other "disturbances" has her a little off from normal. She is learning to deal walking and playing on a floor without carpet, a new experience for her. I will be adding scatter rugs as I find them. that will help her a little, too.

I finished papering the kitchen floor, except a small section where we moved the fridge, stove and the huge curio cabinet. Sunday, when we can move those items back, the kitchen will be functional and we only have to avoid that area I will be finishing next. I put down paperback books as a "barrier line" that Sally and Himself avoids so the sealer can process correctly. Sally has been very good, not walking on the flooring until they are done.

The refrigerator has been a problem. Correction, the copper-line that fed the ice maker and water dispenser inside of it has been a problem. Himself went under the house and shut off the valve. Or maybe he did not get it tight enough. He is not big on donning knee pads and crawling under there, though he may have no choice. It leaked. We put a old coffee can under it until he could get down into town. Himself had a heck of a time finding the proper parts for 1/4" copper tubing. The shut-off valves are now made for plastic tubing, not the copper. Argh! The better-made items are almost all gone, replaced by badly-made plastic junk. It is frustrating. Anyway... Himself found a valve that seemed to work, until it started a slow drip. He got out the tools and tightened it down well. It is back over the coffee can, checked periodically. He will add a sealer on all places possible so it does not leak again. The other end is under the house and tapped into a water pipe. Only I can fit into the area to shut off the water main. It was put into a stupid place big enough for the little and thin body types instead of an area easily accessed. A plumber would have to re-do the pipe it feeds off of the properly get rid of it the line. Down the road. We will keep a watch on it for now. Himself will also remove the unwanted ice maker. That will free up almost a third of the upper half of the freezer. We rarely need ice. I can use ice trays if needed. I rather have more storage in the freezer section.

The bedroom will be worked on as I work on the remaining kitchen section. Sleeping in the remaining room with carpet is really messing with the sinuses. I can then finish the craft room and get my stuff back inside. It is mummified in tarps under our carport. Fall comes quickly here and I need to start on canning and processing the garden. I am pushing it, trying to do so much at once. We next will, or may, get the wood stove, the chimney (with triple-walled pipe) and surrounds installed. I am doing the fire-safe surround and pad to go underneath. Tiling is easy and something I have done before, though not partway up a wall. Getting everything done the best way possible and within our budget will be the challenge. I hope we can do this for this coming winter. We may have to wait until next Spring if the costs mean I have to save up a bit more money. poo...

Important note for while gluing the paper- Remember to wash your hands before using the bathroom. I do not think I need to explain why...