Monday, June 27, 2011

The only thing we have to fear is laminate flooring!

We have gone back and forth on what to do with the kitchen flooring. Originally, we had decided to leave the current laminate flooring in place until we were ready to do further kitchen remodeling, but then decided on Saturday that we should remove the old flooring.

On Sunday afternoon, I spent about an hour removing no less than 5 previous layers of laminate flooring which revealed more original pine floors. To our surprise, the floors in the kitchen are probably the best conditioned of all that we have uncovered in the house.

The multiple layers of laminate were like a geologic fossil record in our kitchen. When I got down to the final layer, I uncovered one of our most interesting finds in the house. A Saturday edition of the Washington Daily News from March 25, 1933. FDR had been president for exactly...3 weeks! He had been inaugurated on March 4, 1933 and said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Consider the events that have occurred since our kitchen floor last saw the light of day. FDR had another 12 years as President, and another 12 Presidents have come to DC since him (two of which weren't even alive at this time). The Great Depression seemed as though it would never end. World War 2 was six years from starting. Jet aircraft and space travel were only ideas.

Those who would have laid that original laminate flooring could not have known that a guy whose grandfather was just about 2 would remove those layers in 2011. Renovating a house that was built in 1911 has caused us to remember the past, and consider that while we may think of this home as an almost "permanent" part of our lives, someone else could be making similar discoveries another 80 years from now.

-The Husband of Domestic in the District

5 comments:

  1. that is really really cool!!! i love stuff like that, i want to discover something!!

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  2. Well I think you guys should hide some artifact somewhere for the folks in 2111 to find. Do you have new counters in?

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  3. That is amazing! Very neat.

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  4. We actually did not get new counters- I took some "Barkeeper's Friend" to the existing counters, and they cleaned up beautifully! It's one of my favorite products... exhibit A.

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