Our New Floors

This project was such a big deal to us that I want to back track and do this blog entry about it. Besides, it will give all of you who live far away and can't come see it, a chance to see it!!

HALLELUJAH!! We have needed new floors for soooooo long. The crap they built our house with had been worn so ragged and was completely beyond repair and cleaning. There was a teeny tiny tear in the linoleum that one of my daycare kids found and made into a BIG tear. It never stopped from there. Every time you'd walk over it, it would snag on your foot and tear some more. So, in January, we decided that we would replace the flooring this September. We knew exactly what we wanted, but it would take that long to save the money since financing is OUT OF THE QUESTION!! We don't like debt!!!! Anyway, in April, RC Willey had a huge flooring sale. We went in to check it out - just to see how good of a sale it was - and they had our flooring on sale for 50% off!!!!!! We could not pass that up. Never ever did I think we'd get the flooring I wanted for HALF of what we expected. And we didn't have to wait because we had the money we needed to buy it!!! So the project happened in April instead of September.

It was a HUGE undertaking! The first feat was to tear up the linoleum and sub floor in the kitchen and the carpet in the family room. It wasn't as hard to tear up as we thought it would be. The fact that we were so anxious to get rid of it was probably a big factor in that. It felt sooooo good to rip that crap out. I thought it was kinda funny because he wanted to just test a piece to see how hard it was going to be.....and he just kept going and going! I hadn't even cleared the place out yet. I had scrapbooking crap all piled up next to the dishwasher and none of the furniture had been moved. It was like 9 p.m. and I was in no mood to start it then. I wanted to wait until the next day! But since he was on such a roll, I hurried and moved everything for him. I didn't want to hinder his progress.

We finished tearing up the sub floor in the kitchen the next day. It took longer than expected. Cutting around the cabinets was a PAIN and then we had to tear that gross, disgusting 10 year old carpet out! But again, we couldn't have been happier to get rid of it. We didn't want to go to bed without laying some of the flooring that night, so Chris did the bay window! Little did he know how much trouble those stupid angles were going to give him. Once he figured out how to use the angle finder, it went pretty fast.

Amidst all of this, Chris was asked to go out of town for the week. Thank heaven he told them he couldn't leave me in the mess that we were in. There was no flooring in the family room and kitchen and that just wouldn't jive with crawling babies at my house. So they put his business trip off for a week. Luckily, Chris had time to take off so he could stay home and get things done. I'm so grateful his boss was so understanding.

The second day of laying floor went well. It was quick and easy until he came to cabinets that he had to make special cuts for, but still, I think he did pretty good - especially considering that he is a PERFECTIONIST and had to think in great length about the best way to do it. Any seasoned installer would've ripped right through it, but this being Chris' first attempt at laying flooring, he had to make sure he didn't make any bad cuts. I was just happy that the hammer didn't fly through one of the walls in frustration! (hehehehehe...you know I love you, Hon!)

Voila!! He finally finished at midnight on the 3rd day!! It's done - YAY - and we were so EXHAUSTED!! Well, the kitchen and the family room were done. We still had to do the living room and all the way down the hall, but that had to wait until Chris came home from his business trip.

He was in Baltimore that whole week. He got home late Friday night and had to leave again early Sunday, so he didn't get a whole lot done. He only did right in front of the stairs and then sat and figured out how he was going to make the flooring all line up the way it needed to in order to go down the hallway.

He continued to travel from Sunday - Friday for the next 4 weeks, so progress was sooooooo slow. I was getting tired of the mess and everything in disarray. But he finally finished on May 16th. This picture is of him laying the very last piece in the living room! HIP HIP HOORAY!!

Now here it is, August 27th, and we still haven't put the base boards back up! I knew that would happen, but I haven't complained about it. By the time Chris finally finished the floor, there were things that needed attention out in the yard. It was summer time and our weekends have been spent boating and camping, so we decided to put the baseboards on the back burner until things slowed down a little bit. Hopefully we can get that done in the next little while. I don't know when, but I don't expect it to happen until the end of September and that's OK. Just look at how warm and cozy my little house is now!! I LOVE it. I have had so many people ask if we got new furniture too, but we didn't. It's all the same. My vision has finally all come together!! And most everyone that has seen it loves it so much that they want to copy it.....red paint and all!

My next goal is to do our bedroom. We have NEVER had a bedroom set. But I have a vision of what I want in there too and I have a feeling it's going to take a looooong time to save for it. I want to feel like I am in a rustic log cabin when I'm in my room. I have wanted log furniture for as long as I can remember, so until I find what I have visioned, I refuse to buy anything. And I do not want to settle for something that is just OK. Anyway....maybe that will come in the near future, maybe not....There always seems to be something else we need instead.