Learn From My Fail

Seth and I spent Memorial Day weekend sanding our parquet floor. It was in pretty rough shape after years of neglect. There were scratches and uneven edges covering the entire floor so it required a lot of TLC to get every bit of it smooth and ready for the finish.

We rented a big orbital sander from Lowe's to do the main parts and bought a small hand sander for the edges and such. After sanding the floor with three different grits of sandpaper (36, 50, and 80 for those who are curious), the floor was finally done. It already looked so beautiful. We left for the night to let the dust settle and planned to come back the next day to vacuum and apply the finishing coat.

The floor after it was all sanded

On Tuesday evening just as I was about to leave work, Seth sent me a text. Included in the text was the following picture:

While sanding the floor we'd unplugged the fridge so it wouldn't suck the dust in. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the ice maker was full. After sitting there unplugged for over 24 hours, the ice in the ice maker melted and leaked out onto the floor. With no protection at all, the floor absorbed the water and buckled in several places (you can see the worst of it there in the center of the cabinet). Swears were uttered by both parties.

As of last night the floor was still drying out. We're not sure if we'll be able to get the tiles to lay flat again and/or if they'll be too damaged to use. Here's to hoping. So, in closing, if you're planning on refinishing your floors, make sure the ice maker is empty before unplugging your fridge. Eff.