Just twelve hours ago this was my dining area with my beautiful parquet floor. Now it's a semi-floorless area, covered by this board. Otherwise I would fall into a hole that contains the pipes that connect the water lines in the my bathroom to my kitchen. When this building was first built in 1911 there were two thirteen room apartments on each floor. This was the era when well-off families gave up their single family brownstones and moved into large apartments with enough space for big families and servants. My family, recently arrived in America in 1911, did not live in a building like this. Over the years the big apartments were cut up into smaller ones and kitchens were created where no original pipes had been installed.
This was news to me. My super mentioned on Friday that the neighbors in the apartment below me had a major leak and the plumbers might have to cut into my floor to repair it. I spent the weekend praying this could be resolved with no floor damage, but alas, the pipe under my dining room table, was completely corroded. I thought I had my share of plumbing issues after the Christmas plumbing disaster, but that must have been for 2013. I learned to appreciate functioning plumbing in 2013 and in 2014 I am learning to appreciate a fully functional floor. If I'm not careful I could step in the wrong place and the temporary floor might not hold.
Why I learned to appreciate floors
Happily, the floor contractor will be here either tomorrow (I hope!) or Wednesday and will begin the process of rebuilding the wood platform and then putting the parquet back together.
I am grateful for my wonderful super, the plumbers, who worked quickly and professionally and for taking pictures during the work. Otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't remember where the floor had been taken apart. I've spent sixty-three years taking floors for granted, but you can be assured I will never do that again.
I cancelled my card making class for tomorrow in order to be available at home for the floor contractor. I did a lot of decluttering today, and caught up on magazines and blog visiting. Still lots to do -- always lots to do -- but I feel pretty productive. I've got a Sue Grafton mystery, "W is for Wasted," to keep me company tonight. It's a long book, so I think it will keep me company tomorrow, too.
As always, thanks for visiting. Keep cozy and take good care.
21 comments
Oh, I hope you get that taken care of so you won't have to worry about it again. Enjoy your book and stay warm! Hugs!
Thanks for stopping at my blog today. Your flour is beautiful and will be all the better when it's all fixed up!
Oh no:( At least you are getting it fixed and hopefully it will be put back together quickly! Enjoy your evening dear friend, HUGS!
How interesting to imagine your apartment once being a part of some grandiose living space! If walls could talk, eh?
... Meanwhile, if floors were just whole once more!
Hope you'll enjoy the "W" book. Sue Grafton is one of my favorite authors, and Kinsey's my make-believe soul-mate - lol!
What a problem! Hopefully all this will be put back right before too much longer!
Dear Carol. I understand. After Hurricane Sandy you certainly appreciate everything in a much deeper way.
Please be careful where you step and stay cozy and warm this week.
Blessings dear. Catherine xo
I'm sorry you've got all this going on. Be careful! I hope the floor people can get there soon and fix it for you.
I love Sue Grafton, and "W" is one of her best. Enjoy!
I hope you don't sleepwalk and drop in on your neighbors unexpectedly.
Oh my plumbing problems can be a nightmare. I'm glad yours are on the mend. Good luck tomorrow.
I hope that all will be fixed tomorrow and you will be walking on air.... I mean walking on your new floor. Hugs, Lura
I hope the floor is able to be restored to its former glory, Carol, with no glitches. There's nothing like having something made temporarily unusable to make one appreciate it. My basement floor is now dry where it was wet; my hot water tank was replaced yesterday.
-Karen
So sorry to hear about your flooring woes. It seems you are handling it well though. A good book can cure a lot. Glad you had one on hand and don't have go go out. Many have had plumbing woes in our area with freezing pipes. It is below zero here again.. Take care and keep warm.
I'm sorry you've had to deal with this! I hope everything is back to normal soon. Enjoy your book!
Good luck with the floor repairing and enjoy your book!
Well that was interesting to learn about the flooring and how it was done back then. I'm sorry you are going through all this but hopefully it gets resolved quickly and your floor will be back to normal as soon as possible.
Oh the things we get to learn with home repair - - that we never had an interest or desire to learn until forced to do so!!! So glad your repair people are nice and also quick to resolve problems.
{OH Buttercup}--I am so sorry. We are dealing with frozen pipes (24 hrs now) and now we just a got a phone call from the city about having to boil water due to burst pipes and the extreme weather.---- SO SORRY!!!!
“…had a major leak and the plumbers might have to cut into my floor to repair it.” - This was unfortunate. And it’s a relief that you didn’t step on it, it would've been a bigger problem if it collapsed. Anyway, plumbing-related job is really challenging. Good thing you know a good plumber that you can count on with this kind of problem. How is it now? Still having any problems with that particular area?
Evon @ Athens Plumbing
Sorry about your floor and the mess.
On the plus side your floor will need to be replaced, sanded, stained, and sealed with polyurethane. The coop will foot the bill and make then use wood and not the prefab parquet.
On the minus side, you will need to remove the bookcase and furniture.
Well, if there's something you learned from this, it's the history of the place you're living in. And that floors are awesome. You won't have to entirely foot the bill on your own, right? Also, you could install something you actually want on that floor. At least the weather's warming up now, so those pipes won't have reason to burst.
James Warren @ CapitalCarePlumbing.com
It seems this problem was due to a plumbing situation you have had for a while. I hope the floor would be the only casualty. Well, I’m sure the plumbers did an excellent job of fixing the leaks and your floor afterwards. Hopefully this does not happen again. Take care!
Lovella Cushman @ Perfection Plumbing
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