Two and a quarter inch oak

Today we heaved and pulled and tried to get clever about removing a wooden console from near the front door. The fellow who built this big wooden console thingie with shelves, doors, and bannisters knew what he was about.

There were 6 wooden bannisters up high like jail bars. We could rotate them, but there was no obvious way to remove them. We looked under the console for screws, but none were there. We tried prying them out, but they just kept rotating in an appealing but useless way. No discernible way to get them out from the top. So I got to take the cordless sawsall to 'em! 5 seconds each, and they were toast. Crack the last bit in half and pull the two halves off the top and bottom screws. It was like opening up a window to remove those bannisters.

And then we tackled the rest of the console. Eventually we reached floor. Most of the floor is honey-colored wood laminate, which our contractor friend tells us probably won't take a refinish. Something about funky waxes used in the process. So the top layer of laminated wooden floor goes right up to the edge of the console, and then stops. Then goes all around. And about half an inch below that level, in the space formerly occupied by the big wooden console thingie, is a possibly lovely oak hardwood floor. There's only about 5 square feet to see, so you can't quite tell. I think we'll probably rip out the rest of the laminate and uncover the wood to see what we've got. The truth is, hardwood is more sexy than laminate. But we're hoping that we're not seeing false promises of sexy wood, only to rip the laminate off and uncover ratty wood.

New unfinished oak hardwood costs about $3 per square foot, and once we've uncovered the wood, the next step is finding out what type of oak it may be, so we can buy replacement pieces for any buzzkill ratty wood. After that, we get to figure out how to repair an interlocking floor. I can't wait.