Last spring, we heard in a roundabout kind of way that Camp Lejeune (the Marine Corps base near us) was renovating one of their gymnasiums, and the old flooring was just hanging out in a dumpster waiting to be pitched. The boards appeared to be in good shape, and although it would take some work to clean up, they were there for the taking. So Lisa and I, along with one other family, rented a U-haul and spent an entire day pulling floorboards out of a dumpster. Between our share of the U-haul, gas, lunch, and the steel-toed boots we needed for the construction site, we got about 250 sq. ft. of solid maple flooring for about $60. Not bad.
It has been a lot of work though, and is not easy to lay when there isn't a perfect piece in the bunch. Almost all of the work has fallen to Lisa's dad, who has spent many hours throughout the summer backing out nails:
...and sanding off the paint and finish:
This is what they used to look like:
...and this is what they look like now, in the small area that is already down:
We still have more sanding to do once they are all down, and we'll finish them (although we don't think we'll stain them) but so far I think they are beautiful. They definitely aren't perfect (there are a few areas where flecks of red paint are still visible) but that adds to their uniqueness. And what a great conversation piece! How many people can say they have Marine sweat embedded into their kitchen floor?
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