Step 36 - Sanding and Wood Floor Finishing

I did all the wood floor work on The Cottage myself. 
I had a super tight budget... plus I wanted to give it a try. 

Sanding and finishing the wood floors (if you have them) is one of the last steps.  This scope takes a few days and you need to plan to vacate the inside while this work is underway.  This can be tough since the end of the project is typically  crunch time with a lot of punch list items.  However, the fumes of the polyurethane are strong and the floors are wet which adds up to leaving the home to the crew inside and being sure not to schedule any other interior work while this scope is being knocked out.

I'm not saying the house has to be totally off limits, but no one really needs to be in there for too long.  When we were filming some of the final scenes of Restoring Charleston in the summer of 2016, we tried to shoot some dialogue in the front of The Appleby House while they finished the wood floors in back.   We thought we could squeeze in some work despite the poly going down, but we were wrong.  The entire production crew felt the effects in a big way and we had to take a break to recover.  For a half hour we laughed and moaned some Cypress Hill lyrics as we cleared our heads on the front porch.

Finally, before I even schedule Step 34, my interior trim is 99% finished.  The only thing not done is the shoe molding (or quarter round).   This is completed after the wood flooring work is done since the edging sander can only get within 1/8" of the base molding.    Words of Advice:  Keep in mind, that if you have a deadline (for example a final inspection), you may want to consider postponing this little bit of trim until after your home has been checked off.  You need the shoe molding, but it  can eat up some time to install, caulk, and paint properly and it's not critical to receive a Certificate of Occupancy. 

Don't rush  Step 34.  Be sure to allow the necessary time and do it right the first time.