Upstairs Remodel!!

We love our upstairs room. It's pretty funky, with slanted ceilings and dormer windows. But, the paneling and industrial carpet? HAD TO GO.


We knew from poking around that there were original plank subfloors UNDER the carpet, UNDER the padding, and UNDER the particle board subfloor. Yes: Two subfloors. And, the particle board on top of the plank subfloor (with no padding in between) made a LOT of noise. We knew that if we were going to redo the upstairs, we'd need to remove the particle board subfloor.


So, one weekend while Bob was at a conference, I went to work. Crowbar and hammer and chisel. Piece by piece (and by piece I mean small pieces), the particle board came off. Bob came home to original plank subfloor and the old floor (and carpeting) being hauled away.


We decided not to replace the paneling right now. Someday, if we use it as an actual bedroom everyday, we'll put drywall in. We just didn't want the extra expense right now. So, we had to make that paneling work.

Making the paneling work involved joint compound, sanding joint compound, putting on textured paint, and then painting the textured paint. We also took off all the trim on the paneling, so that meant using some extra caulking an compound to make the joint cracks disappear.

Let's just say that sanding joint compound? Overrated.


But, check out those textured walls! Yes, that's really the old paneling. While we love color, we decided to paint most the room in a light cream. The room's ceiling height and lack of huge windows prohibited a bolder color (but we might choose to do something different in the laundry room area).


We also took off the carpeting on the stairs. And, scarily enough, when we took off the carpet, we found a split stair!! I am so glad that we took off the carpeting and found this. If we had left it on, it could have easily broken, and that would have been a bad slip and fall. I popped out the old stair and put in a temporary one for right now.


But, while the old stair was off, I couldn't resist a photo of Bob's hands popping out through the bottom of the stairway. How often will we be able to get such a photo?!


Right now, the project is stalled until this weekend, when our housewarming party is over. But, we're in the middle of putting in the new flooring. We also have a rubber, super noise-insulating, barrier between the subfloor and new flooring. It's amazing how much quieter the room is. And those walls? Yes, that's the old paneling! We love the color and the fact that they don't look like panels anymore.

We'll update soon with more photos, but I thought I'd post photos of the massive project upstairs!