Gee
Sometimes I surprise myself. I did that?!
Vent cover. I never heard of them. I took them for granted. I never look at them. You can buy them. It’s better than the old metal one. Ah! Finish?! You gotta do it yourself. Really?! I did that?! Yup! I finished it to match. Myself. Not bad. Yes, the cats were curious at every step. There is some skill involved. Ha! Undaunted. Edges, sill, vent, nail gun, oh my! Easy! Right! I gotta say… don’t try this at home. (Wink!)
I also gotta say that I took pictures as I went along. Gee, everything deserves a picture….
Dead horse
Sailors were paid wages for their first month of work before it was performed. This month of pre-paid work was known as dead horse. After the first month of their voyage, seamen sometimes performed a ceremony known as Flogging the Dead Horse, to mark the ending of their owed work time.
The idiom “to beat a dead horse” originated from the fact that flogging a dead horse will not compel him to do useful work.
So, the floor is done. Fill the room. No! Don’t put all the clutter back! Ok!? So, two looms and a sewing table, I thought we had a weaving studio? What’s in your closet? I got a warping reel… and a bench. It’s a walk-in closet, gotta have a place to sit. My mess is all the travel bags on the lower left. The defect? … my narrow board, it’s tucked under the rug. Tillie (black cat) knows.
Why are flowers red? Easy – genes. But why red? Philosophical, existential? What to know? I can concentrate on flowers once more.
The window washer came. Like the einsie weinsie spider…
“Itsy Bitsy Spider”, more often recited than sung, is a finger-play rhyme for children. It tells the adventures of a Spider, named Itsy Bitsy (or Incy Wincy – more popular in England)
I have never spelled it out. Imagine that. How old am I? but itsy bitsy is the popular version….
Everyday, I learn something new….
Six boards
I ordered 13 boxes of flooring – 20 sq ft x 13. One box was damaged and another delivered without a question. 14 boxes and I was short about six boards to finish the space completely. We bought another – whole box!! Ha ha. It comes in 2 ½ inch, 3 ½ inch, and 5 inch width. I had just installed 3 ½ inch. Our new box was 2 ½ inch. My bad! Oy!! I buried the narrow boards in the closet. No one will notice – maybe the new homeowners, eventually.
Can you see? The newest boards added are now narrower? The trim board at the bathroom floor transition is slightly narrower, (by an inch). Nope! Looks good! I’m sitckin’ with that! It was amazing that mostly the rows fit together like a puzzle with hardly (just a few) any cuts with the saw.
Flowers?! My reward for a day’s hard floor work, a photographic walk thru my garden. Yup, all planted for summer, good to go. In a weird way it is like diving in the Red Sea. Same flowers (same fish), they change every day. Flowers bloom, others fade, I am challenged to capture beauty and essence. Technique, focus, and composition are critical.
And so on and on… it makes Colleen smile … the floor or the flowers?
The saga
Does my living room look less worse? Cluttered? Ha ha. The floor us complete! Awesome! We did it! Colleen would defer. But, indeed, she helped! Assembly required, we had to return everything to its place. Note: a few (only a few) things did not return.
I had saws on both decks. Thank goodness. The sawdust! See the spider webs revealed by the stray dust?! (We got lots of spiders!) I cannot be certain, but, we passed, cat inspection. Mistakes? A few. How about waiting a day for a new floor nailer? 16 gauge nails do not fit when it calls for 18 gauge. Duh?! Yeah, guilty! Not too bright! In the end… great job, looks fantastic, I’m glad it’s done.
Almost there
Ok! It’s a big freakin’ deal! I got 2/3 done. It is lookin’ rather spiffy. The furniture keeps moving around. Colleen has been good humored about it all. I think I have done an excellent job considering I am an amateur. I ordered, stained, and finished the floor vent. There are mistakes too minor to really mention. All it took was a few tools. I got about 25% to go. Consider, that I was nearly done in by a head injury a few mere weeks ago… Rain is in the forecast. I shall work (cut wood) on the deck, between the drops. Oh boy! What’s next?
Puzzles!
Laying/installing floor is like a puzzle! The boards are of different length and color. You piece together a row at a time. No regrets permitted. You nail them in one row at a time forever! No gaps and no funny color patterns, it is both forgiving and precise! The cats inspect frequently. My wife – dearest understanding wife – sleeps next to a chop saw. Her underwear drawer is in our living room. As anyone knows, it takes time to put a puzzle together if one has never seen the original picture. Fun! To keep sawdust at bay I cut on the adjacent balcony deck. …except it was raining! Yes, we are sleeping in the bed while the work goes on. Did I mention, kids, don’t try this at home?
It’s easy
Installing 3/4 inch hardwood flooring? Simple… only a few tools required. Hey! It ain’t brain surgery! I do not know any carpenters who would work in a room full of furniture much less sleep in it while it was under construction. Ummm… you just push the furniture around as you go. I even got vent covers fit for ¾ inch wood. We are not inventing the wheel here. Someone already thought of everything. Stupid? Yes, there is a way to make stupid mistakes. I could not load the nail gun. Yes, yes , I finally figured it out. So far everything looks promising. The hardest part is cutting and installing around the door frames. The transition is critical. Mine is seamless. Easy? I have learned much about flooring. I consider it a satisfying accomplishment. If you are thinking of doing it? …don’t.
The worst shall be last
Did you ever have to do something and dreaded the project because it was too awful to think about? Have you ever been convoluted? My office was the last floor to install click lock floor. Daunting, there was so much stuff in the room with no where to go while I installed. I finally got the hang of it! It means that I should go back and re-do the other rooms. Ha ha! NO!! Meanwhile, the best (installed) is last, and, I will be able to use this floor for many years to come. And, my cats cannot make a mess that I cannot clean.
The hard part was dealing with a 45-degree cut. No problem on a chop saw. The Oscars – famous slap – occurred in the middle of the project. No problem. Just move the furniture around. Yeah?! Who doesn’t move all/everything out of the room before laying floor? … that would be this dummy.
Click…
… lock flooring. I’ve been itching to try it. How hard can it be? Oh boy! Was I sore! Then I kinda sorta got the hang of it. Perfect? Far from it! Do I care? Colleen does! Hey! It beats the rug that was there. I have replaced three of four areas. I learned a lot along the way. I broke lotsa rules! Such as… take all the furniture out of the rooms. Or, how about running a chop saw in the bathroom? … and a table saw in the very room you are flooring? It’s chaos! Absolutely! Colleen is a good sport. We got a lot of stuff that’s gotta get tossed. A single shot? We’re gonna need a wider angle lens!
Ha ha! And you thought it was click, as in photography. Why! Why, why? Shhh… my cats have been peeing the carpet in the hall. Ewww! Then… I discovered it was not limited to the hall and included the rug in each and every room. Why!! … dunno. Sometimes life ain’t all fine photography.
Fun and games
Renovation is hell! Why? Why are we doing it? It was due. To whit – the oven died. It just up and stopped working. It was old; it came original with the “born on” date of the house. Sale!! Half off (for the new oven)! How good is that!! So, the counters are clear; the measure lady was coming. You won’t see it like this again. Note: new garbage disposal under the counter; the installers will not put the old on back in – go figure. The oven dies and you do a whole kitchen makeover? Yeah, change is good.
New floor. ?? Nuts! I tackled this job. I’m cheap. I’m dumb. And, there are online instructions. You learn the mistakes as you go. So far there are two rooms done, two down, two to go. Nuts! And yes, I broke a rule somewhere. I did not, could not, move all the furniture out of the room. I worked around it. Did I say “nuts!!!” Flowers and gate? Yes, the cats are separated; and in the last iteration I did up things with fake flowers – lots of flowers!
Feather would “eat” Peas, if only I would let them. So, they remain safely separated, in different rooms now. And, they play footsie beneath the door. It would be nice if they all got along. Yes, it would. Nope! No peas for dinner, please.
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