Let’s start with wood floors, since I really think that this is the second-most pressing issue in the house, after the basement walls. And to be clear, this is NOT just about the, erm, aesthetically displeasing carpeting that spreads around the main floor of the house like a fuzzy disease. Since we’ve started living in this house, we’ve been sick. It’s not the mold, since we have that under control through careful tinkering with the house’s humidity levels. It’s not the cats, since we’ve had them all along without (mostly) ill effects. I’m pretty sure it’s the carpeting.
The current carpeting has been in place in the house since somewhere around 1988, and in the intervening 22 years, it’s been exposed to who-knows-what, including dangerously toxic mold/mildew levels, pet dander, dead skin cells, and whatever has been spilled on it over the years. The result is that I’ve had to start taking my allergy medicine year-round, and most of the time while he is home, Kevin can’t breathe without a very heavy, wheezing crackle. It’s scary, and it needs to be resolved. And if it’s something other than the cruddy carpeting? Well, we’ll move on to the next possible solution with glorious new flooring.
Here is where the herringbone comes in: I’m obsessed with hardwood floors in this pattern. Lookie here, and you will be, too:
