Flooring replacement
The original 1883 flooring in the servants' areas; the butler pantry, back hall and upstairs linen closet was a patterned linoleum. Over time, the pattern rubbed off and it looked like brown leather. In the heavily trafficked places, the movement of the wood floor caused the linoleum flooring to wear out completely. It had became a trip hazard. Those places had been patched by red linoleum pieces and a turquoise linoleum rug. These were nailed in by millions of small square nails, no glue!
In May 2021, Hank Dunlop ( long-time board member and preservation expert) located Mark Spicher, a vinyl flooring manufacturer who recreated historic patterns on vinyl. Through Facetime from Pennsylvania, he fell in love with the house and he decided to copy the original pattern.The replica is the first picture you see.
Kitchen restoration
During the pandemic we were not using the kitchen for events and we took advantage of the time to clean, top to bottom, and paint.
We also uncovered the original 1883 brick range and fixed the 1926 gas range. There were layers of flooring over the original wood floor which was painted red. It was covered with linoleum next. in the 50s asbestos vinyl was glued down.
We had to have professionals remover the asbestos, which cost $2,000. This photo below shows the underlayment plywood with the Sparks stove on rollers, before the linoleum is placed. The replacement material is linoleum like the original. The linoleum is made from linseed oil, pine sap and cork or sawdust with a jute grass backing. It is totally compostable.
The linoleum can be found at Floor Dimensions in Albany. The product is manufactured by Marmoleum. We chose to install the pattern called Himalayan.
