Ummm…

Maybe I WILL go learn that tablet…

Some assembly required… About 1400 SQFT worth…

flooring

No I’m not remodelling already…

But we might have bit off a bit more than we wanted…

But it was snowing outside, and we didn’t have anything ‘better’ to do. At least at the start.

In other news, apparently the story of what happened to our sailors in the Gulf has changed again. AND now Iran is releasing the five hostages they’ve had for quite a while. Mysteriously, the IAEA and UN now say Iran is in compliance for the nuke deal…

Are we living in Bizarro world or what???

Comments

Ummm… — 17 Comments

  1. It is going to look great.

    Don’t forget to change the saw blade after completion, laminate flooring is very tough and that equates to wearing out even a carbide blade.

    And although we pulled from random boxes, we did notice two identical pieces had ended up next to each other. We are the only ones to notice. (OCD)

  2. Can’t tell from the pic if enough space is already there under the baseboard trim, but you’ll like the final job better if you remove the baseboard trim before laying the flooring. Floating floors (eg., laminate) require some expansion/contraction space around the perimeter, figure about 1/4″-3/8″ on all four sides. If that clearance is between the flooring and the wall footer it’s easily hidden with the baseboard trim. The other choice is quarter round nailed to the baseboard trim which – IMHO – doesn’t look as elegant.

    • +1
      Been there, done that…
      It does look nice when done tho’.
      Knee pads, a hot shower and motrin are your friend!! 🙂

      Suz

    • Alien. We could not get the baseboard to flex enough to account for the changes in the slab. So we went with the quarter round and used the time saved instead of scribing and fitting to go a little nuts on the crown molding. Especially the part where the ceiling turns up, then flat, then down again. And since the ceiling at the high point was about thirteen feet from the floor, it had to be done using scaffolding. (and this old engineroom squid does not like heights in any way.)

      We also added an underpad beneath the laminate even though the slab passed the moisture test, and the laminate had padding. The floor feels more live than where we used just the pad on the laminate.

  3. How did they rope you into floor preparation? Miss D. and I feel guilty that you had to bend and scrape and sand as well, with your bad back and all. Thank you! We owe you (and the others) a bottle of something nice.

  4. Whenever I feel the urge to undertake a home improvement project I lay down until it passes…

    Then I grab a cold beer and start calling contractors.

  5. John- Noted, thanks!

    Alien- Already pulled the quarter round. Thanks for the heads up!

    Peter- They needed a step-and-fetch-it… I’m it…

    Tim- LOL, true but not an option here. Helping out friends…

  6. Between back & knee, my flooring days are past. I’ll tote & carry, but crawling around isn’t something that can be done, now. You have my sympathy, sir.

  7. Polished Concrete floor and some nice throw rugs, instead? Just thinking out of the box — at some point we’re going to have to pull the starter carpet off our own slab — and we’ve considered just sticking with concrete and creative rug placement in a few rooms.

  8. Knee pads. Quality knee pads.

    Between our “operator” knee pads and khaki colored work pants, mixed with old BN t-shirts, Jackie remarked that she couldn’t tell if Dennis and I were planning on running a convoy through Southwest Baghdad or putting down floor in the kitchen.

  9. The one thing about retirement I dread is the day that I no longer can afford to pay someone to do stuff like that, AND (theoretically) have the time for it.

    Also, “Bizarro” is not the word I’d use…

  10. Rev- Heard that!!! I’m just carrying and sweeping and cutting.

    Nik- If it were my house, I’d seriously consider that! 🙂

    SPE- Oh hell yes! LOL the convoy might be less stressful!

    WSF- Sigh… Yeah…

    Drang- I’m at that point. Learning that now!

  11. @ Nik – If the slab passes the moisture test, there are some options. (Pro tip: do the test in several places, one of which should be near the outside edge – that’s where one usually finds gaps in the underslab poly, especially with monolithic slabs; the poly should run under the footer, but laziness prevails and often on mono slabs it stops at the inside edge of the footer).

    If the floor needs leveling, here’s your chance – it needs a contractor who has done a lot of it because it’s a bit tricky, but self-leveling concrete solves the problem. Dye is easily added to concrete to produce a floor of almost whatever color you want. And, I have heard of – but never actually seen – that a thicker layer of self-leveling can be stamped. Stamping regular concrete to produce a faux stone-like or tile-like pattern isn’t that hard (find a contractor who’s got a history of being good with it, there’s a short time window in which to get it right across the whole pour, and pre-stamping finishing is a high skill thing). Self-leveling is pretty thin stuff – it has to be to flow level, and the pour is very shallow, it’s only doing the leveling – and once it starts setting up it sets quickly so stamping it without disturbing the self-leveling would be tricky.