Electricity

Got the power upgraded today. My ancient 60 amp panel, with 8 breakers, has been replaced with a giant 200 amp panel, which should satisfy my need to consume energy. I'll take some pictures and post later. This will open the door to such services as central air conditioning, a dryer, plasma television, and (before I get central air installed) running more than one window unit A/C at a time. Woo hoo!!

In other news: during the course of the last week, I tore out all the carpets in the house. I had no idea what to expect, really. I had looked briefly before, and saw wood floors under some, and some kind of formica tiling under the front hallway carpet. That was somewhat concerning because those things are usually cemented with really nasty glue. I might have been looking at a lot of work to save whatever floor was underneath them. As it happens, I got incredibly lucky on the floors -- the tiles were "floated" on a backer on some kind, and only glued to the backer. I was able to rip them all off the floor in about a half-hour and scrape up just a little bit of residue that remained. There are a few places that are stained with the black cement, but I'm guessing it will sand out. Other than that, the floor in the front hallway is in great shape and unstained.

Upstairs, the floor is in slightly worse condition, and is stained dark brown. But overall, still a pleasant surprise to find hidden beneath a despicable carpet that's been there for at least 40 years. The stain should sand off without too much trouble and with some very minor repairs the floor there should also look great.

The stairway, which had not one but TWO runner carpets nailed to it, is the most problematic. There is significant wear on the edges of all the treads, and some of them have a good amount "rippling" on the surface of the treads, which is probably a result of the carpet backing rubbing against them for years and years as people used the stairs. Only one stair had a broken tread, though, and that should be repairable.

I still think I am going to save it, though. Even though they won't look perfect or even well preserved, I think with some sanding they will be fine, or good enough, at least. In the long run, when all the interior work is done, I'll have all the floors sanded professionally anyway - so I can decide then after living with them whether I want to do anything else. So for now, they stay.

Pictures soon.