Tiny Victory

It's been a while since I last posted and I am sorry if I've left you on pins and needles. To catch you up, we stopped just short of finishing our floors before a much needed Christmas holiday away with family. Now, it's the new year and as cliche as it may be, Nathan and I both feel a sense of newness on the horizon.

If you know me then you probably know I am not one to live my life on autopilot or become stuck in a rut (for long). The same thing inside me that gave me a wanderlust through my twenties is the same thing that inspired me to jump on board with my love and move into an old church in Colorado. This is the same thing that causes me to periodically reevaluate my choices to-date and make sure I am (we are) still on the right path for us. We cannot help but wonder sometimes if this church house plays such a key role in our story because it is our idol or because it is our calling. We hope and pray it is the latter.

Regardless of where we've been or where we'll end up next New Year, this place is our home and I am excited to show you what's new.

As of today, Nathan has finished the last coat of wax. If you are interested in the nerdy details, the wax protects the sealer, which protects the concrete, mostly from scratches. They also help to bring out the rich color of the stain.

During this process we talked to several people who had never seen polished concrete floors, at least not in a home. I think we sounded crazy to them. I also think we Americans have a real hardwood floor fetish.

A guy at Bobcat of the Rockies in Golden, CO-- which was our lifeblood during this process, from machine rental to product purchasing to astounding knowledge bestowed-- told us at one point that if he were going to bid out our job it would cost $8 per square-foot and it would take a crew a solid week.

"You can install new hardwood for less than that," I said. 

But here's the thing. Even though hardwood flooring is very timeless and wonderful in its own way, and we will be using it in some parts of our home, it was worth it to us to restore this concrete.

First off, this was the original flooring and, come to find out, very true to modern design in the mid-century. To restore this floor is to bring back to life part of the original architecture of this building. That feels almost missional.

Next, the crew that first poured the concrete slab in 1959-1960, used a hand trowel to create this decorative diamond pattern as control lines (that's the part that looks like tile). This is a detail you just don't see very much anymore. Labor is so expensive and so custom details like that are all-too often neglected today. As they say. "they don't make it like they used to." To cover the concrete with any other flooring would be, quite literally, to bury diamonds.

Finally, reusing something you already have is the most sustainable way to design. No trees were harmed in the restoring of these floors.

Nathan and I love the finished product and a contractor friend even told us that it looks really good. That it's "not your typical homeowner special." That means a lot coming from a professional. Still, we definitely made compromises along the way and we can look at the finished product and see every single flaw. That's life, though. All you can do is the best you can do with the time and money, knowledge and skill you possess at the time. And I'm certainly not going to point out those flaws to you.

At this point you might still be unsatisfied with these "'after" pictures, taken at night, with a cheap camera. There's no stunning room design and it will take months to update everything that goes on top of these new floors. But that is what this process is mostly like. Tiny victories.