We had to have a very large portion of the floor in our new home removed and replaced TWICE, and it was a mess both times. The floor was wide plank engineered wood glued to a cement substrate. This is what I learned. The dust was insidious and was everywhere. If possible, I suggest turning off your HVAC and covering the registers so dust does not go inside. Also, place towels along the doorways so dust doesn't get underneath into other rooms. My husband and I covered almost everything with plastic sheeting held with painter's tape. (The tape did remove some paint from the ceilings but it wasn't too bad). We tried to hang the sheeting from ceiling to floor to block off areas where the floor wouldn't be replaced. This was difficult as our first floor is very open. It took a long time to cover everything, but it did help. I hope everything goes well.

Hello Everyone, I searched the forum index in regards to the my query, but no luck, so apologises if I've overlooked anything. My husband and I salvaged a 100 yr old Maple floor and installed it in a low traffic area bedroom. It's in beautiful, near "petrified" condition and we do not wish to sand or otherwise alter it much at all. As best as we can tell, the only previous old finish that remains visible in some areas, is some type of wax (the building from which it was salvaged stood empty and unused for many years).We would like to remove the patches of old waxy substance and reapply another wax product without using any other type of sealer or finish. Is this advisable and if so what brand/type of wax would be best to use? Also what product would best clean and remove the old wax? Thanks so much for any recommendations.

My first house I owned with my ex-husband had a porch added onto the side of one of the bedrooms, and they left the window in, so it overlooked the new stairs down into the basement. Frankly, it just looked bizarre, and made setting up furniture on that wall very difficult. You don't say what the rooms are going to be where you are "losing" the windows, but if you are concerned about the loss of light, I would recommend "replacing" the window with a tubular skylight in the ceiling over where the windows are gong to be walled over--they add a shocking amount of light, and I love mine. In my kitchen, which had been very dark, now I keep thinking the lights are on when they are not, it's just the tube bringing in the sun. Carla in Sac

As much as I bang the gong for architectural consistency, what "consistency" actually means is open to conjecture. The particular building I live in now dates to 1840, with a major addition in 1899 and a conversion in 1965. So consistent can mean conforming to Greek Revival, Colonial Revival-Stick-style, or MCM, depending on what you are talking about. My particular unit has morphed into an intensely Greek Revival perimeter with an equally intense "1965-MCM" core penetrating the center, because of a set of crazy open tread winding stairs put in in 1965. If one examines 'periods' you will start to see reiterations of elements that will really allow furniture and such from different times to play well together.