Summertime.....and the living is easy.....

Do you know that old song? It's what's in my head as we enjoy a rare summer, (well really spring-like) day here in Virginia.  You just never know what you'll get this time of year.  By weekend it's supposed to be cold (seasonal) with a possibility of snow and ice.  But for today, we enjoy. Sunshine. Blue skies. Fields and roads and paths to be explored.  In a t-shirt.  Tucking the winter coat just out of sight for a bit, pretending it's being packed away for the winter, knowing that's not true, but needing to play the game anyway.
Summertime.......in January. 

Heading into the quarter round.....

....that i,s the quarter and trim round, which is quite similar to the final round, which will be just in time for the final round, that is the Superbowl on Sunday!  OK, enough sports jargon; here's the scoop.

This --------------------------------------------> is all I have left to lay of flooring!  And yes, two heavy pieces of furniture are in my way, so I may have to wait until the muscle arrives home tonight to get to that.  I've managed to keep sliding it over until it's pinned in the corner, but I don't want to damage the cork ( or my back) trying to scooch it over by myself.  I was going to do some trim work, but of course I left my drill battery unplugged and have a dead drill.   

Carter has been upset that I'm doing so much of the work while he's at school, so I may have to wait anyway to let him lay the last few planks; I think that would be a great memory for an eight year old.  He's taken great pride in the help he's provided so far, which is just a great added bonus to DIY projects I do. 

I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to tie the flooring to the metal strip at the sliding glass door, so I'm off to do some research. 

The tools of the trade: 13 tools you need to install floating floors

I'm well on my way to being able to have this floor done and the room together in time for our youth group to come over next Sunday night.  It will happen, I finally believe, and since I know you're probably tired of  update posts of my injuries or "I'm this far today", I thought I would spend some time on the details of the job. 

Today?  What tools do you need to have one hand to install a floating floor? And what the heck are these things?

First, I need a few tools specific to laying floors, although I can't imagine I won't find other uses for them at some points.  I bought these at Lowe's in a kit that had all the things I needed in one box: tapping block, spacers and pull bar. 

The tapping block is used to help push the seams tight.  You never want to hit the plank directly, so the rubber block goes against the plank, and hammer against that.  The pull bar is used against a wall when you don't have enough space to use the tapping block, like this:  The spacers go between the planks and the wall to allow for the space you need to leave for expansion.  As you pound on the planks with the tapping block, you can move en entire row of planks, and the spaces keep that from happening.

Already mentioned: the hammer, and I'm including fingers at this point since they are really important for many other jobs.  Keep those away from the hammer.

Underlayment: The underlayment (the blue part) is specific to the type of subfloor you have. For concrete, an underlayment that provided cushion as well as moisture barrier was recommended by Lowe's, and I went with their suggestion.  This added cost to the project, and even though we have never had water or moisture in this space for 8 years, better safe than sorry.

Saw: My Skil jigsaw did a fine job cutting the panels.  I bought a new blade, fine teeth, and was very happy with the clean cuts.  Workbench: We had not talked about doing this floor remodel when Brad had the idea to get me this bench as a Christmas bench; he had just seen me balance beams across almost anything I could find, and thought it would be a great safer way for me to cut. I don't know what I would have done with this little bench, and it's going to be used a lot!





Dremel: Although not necessary, this has come in handy. I've used it a few times; 1) to drill holes in a plank when I needed to make a 90 degree clean cut in the middle of a plank; and 2) using a cutting blade to trim the bottom of the vertical molding so the plank slips in underneath for a smooth finish.

Quarter round: this is quarter round: picture a dowel (a round curtain rod, hanging closet rod; now cut that into quarters, and you have quarter round.  This provides a nice finish edge between the flooring and the base molding, and cover the space you have to leave for expansion. This picture shows what it will look like when it's added to the base molding.

Square: For making straight cuts across your planks....a must.

Tape: The underlayment comes with a sticky side, you you can removed the adhesive and stick the pieces together as you go. I found I want to be very frugal with that stuff at $50/100 square feet, so I used every piece.  Each piece has to be taped together, so this tape has come in handy to reduce waste.  I also used this miter saw (to cut the vertical moldings, more on that later, and the screwdriver as a chisel).

Common sense: I wasn't tired when I had my little accident the other day, just made an error in judgement.  My rule, though, is to stop when I start to feel fatigued or distracted.  Tonight I wanted so badly to get to a certain point, but I was tired, and I knew I was not as focused as I should be.  So I quit.  Common sense also comes in handy when you have to make some funky cuts, like this:
It's hard to describe how to do it, but I will attempt it in a later post. 
I'm still very excited about how this project is coming along, and how very do-it-yourself it really is.  Like my husband said, it's really just like putting together a big puzzle!

Today: I'm hoping to finish laying the planks...yay!  Then I will need to install the quarter round and do other finish work (thresholds, doorways).  Then the steps will be next. 

I can't wait!

Friday afternoon: Progress! Photos! And no more injuries!

I was glad to finally update you on my injury, and sorry to have been vague at first, but no matter what your age, you mother needs to know first!  So until my mom knew I had hurt my finger and the grimy details, I was free to post away.

And now, I know you didn't come here checking on my finger update (or if you did, it's awkward but OK!)

So here it what you want to see: Beautiful isn't it??

The spot where the wall juts out is about the 1/2way point, so I'm pleased with my progress this afternoon.  I've hit a few snags and challenges, and will fill you in on those and the fixes I come up with as I can type more.  But I'm still very happy with the product, the instructions provided and the extra tips from the flooring people at Lowe's.  All in all, it's been what I expected.  There is still my own learning curve, and I will share what I've learned as I go so you are read to tackle your own project soon. Really....this is a DIY project!
 
Happy weekend!
 
**on a funny note: I always get "label" suggestions for my posts as I go, and they are very helpful.  With this post I got one that said "mental health issues"....and I'm so curious why that came up!   My son asked last night "Are you sure the doctor said it was OK for you to keep doing this?", so maybe that has something to do with it.

And it's a new day....

So for the good news/bad news update:

Good? The flooring is going in easily, and just as described. It's beautiful. The first row took a long time to get straight and even. Each row gets easier.

The bad news?

A trip to the emergency room for me and my finger. I had a fight with the hammer, and the hammer won. I'll leave the gory details out.
So the floor will continue to go down, maybe a little slower. And the typing is definitely a challenge, so posts will be shorter.

But it's a new day. Thanks to the wonderful people at MJH for the great care!  I told Car that I just was being the good mom and checking out the hospital before his tonsillectomy in 3 weeks. :)

I'm headed in:

**Update**

Well, once again there is a good news/bad news thing going on!  The floor is looking great, but had another little bump in the road; I'll fill you in later, and promise to have pictures soon.  Not as far along as I had hoped, but it's going to go quickly now!

Headed to Lowe's first thing this morning for the rest of my supplies: underlayment, pull bar, block thingy (I'll post details later....I'm too excited to get started!); a sample of quarter round for trim.
I think I'm ready to get going. It's 9:30 here, and I'll post pictures of progress later on today (tonight) as I go!
Let the flooring begin...wish me luck!

Countdown to Cork Time....

....and only two more days to go!  I've made progress today:

• Finished putting together the Skil Workbench, and we're friends again.  I can't wait to use it, and it really will come in handy to cut this floor.
• Cleaned up. It has gone from this to this; and I've moved 17 x 36 pounds of flooring twice already;

yesterday

today...this 1/2 will be floored first

• Finished hammering away at the tile grout; it's not perfect, but I think it's between good enough and won't make a difference;
• Swept and swept and will have to sweep again; there is a lot of dust down there from taking out the grout;
• Filled up the trashcan outside completely on a Tuesday; trash day is Monday (yesterday);
• Was able to fill said trashcan with all the tack strips* without having to call for a tetanus update;

I was trying to figure out how I was going to tie the flooring to the entrance of the garage, and realized I just needed to take out the doorjamb between the landing and the garage. It was just held in with 4 screws, but darn if one wouldn't come out (and I was following the lefty-loosey-righty- tighty rule**, but it just kept feeling like it was getting tighter).
 Enter the most exciting part of my day: I used my Dremel tool from Christmas for the first time! This was exciting for two three reasons: 1) I found a use for it, and figured out how to use it;
 2) it sliced through that screw like it was butter!, and 3) I was given a light show like I've never seen before. The sparks were so amazing I turned around to make sure there was nothing flammable near me....sparks probably spread out for a good 8 inches! Awesome! I wanted to take pictures, but realized the safety issues involved in that didn't amount to a good decision.







Metal stripping at doors; and yes....I find nerf bullets everywhere!

 The to do list is shortening, but not very quickly.  Adding in the "need to do list" though should include removing door jambs,  buying and staining (or painting?) quarter round for finish, and buying the remaining tools I need for Thursday. 

I remain gleeful and excited; I even brought some upstairs so I could just stare at it any time I wanted. Hmmm.....that looks pretty good compared to 6 year old carpet! (hmmmm).

Another exciting "step" today was putting a first coat of primer on the bottom stair riser. Since the flooring will butt up to that I had to paint it, and I love how it looks just with primer!  I cannot wait to rip up the rest of that carpet. 

Tomorrow: work meeting (day job kind of stuff); pick up paint for baseboards (and paint it?), lunch with the Dad since it's his birthday (yay!); take the boy to see if we're in need of a tonsillectomy (boo); church dinner (don't have to cook!) and home by seven.  Oh yeah, and all those nagging little details like grocery shopping and laundry still need to happen.  And I need to get by Sherwin Williams to get the paint for the baseboards before it can be painted. 

I think I need a new list.

But then?  Get ready for Cork Day! 

* Tack Strips are the strips of wood nailed around the outside of a room when carpet is installed.  It's evil because there are nails sticking out in both directions; there is no good way to get a grip on it


** A great mental rule to remember when removing screws....I still say it most of the time!

Big, BIG deep breaths....

Glee has turned to grrrrr today.  I am so ready to do this thing. But, alas, it is not to be. Yet. Because (in addition to the 72 hours wait period), the basement now looks like this.  Yes, I know you are asking the same thing I am thinking:  where, exactly, does one think a floor could go down in this mess, where not an inch of floor is to be seen? 

Having to spread out the cork to "cure" has taken up half the space; the odd assortment of other junk takes up the other half. 

And I didn't add into my "to-do" list putting together the workbench I got for Christmas (see this post).

 I get that it's a Skil brand workbench, but I didn't know you needed skill of a certain level to put the dang thing together.  It's going to be nice I think, but I will have to let you know after I actually get to get a try at it.  Which will not happen tonight.....breathing...


This thing was just a jumble of legs and braces a few minutes ago, but I took a break before tossing it out the window. I think the top will go on now and it will be OK. Tomorrow.

Tonight is for a break and a good warm bath and some reading time. There's always tomorrow.

And then Skil: you and I tussle again.

I.will.win.


On the "good news/bad news" front, the good news is I discovered that my jigsaw cuts through the cork like butter, so I don't need to invest in a new saw at this point.  The bad news is I don't get to invest in a new saw at this point.

 Bummer. 

GLEE!

loaded up!

I can't think of another word that describes me today as I picked up the cork flooring!  Wheeeeee!!! Pure glee and happiness! See? Doing things yourself has perks of unrestrained glee and anticipation.  Or as Carter put it as we were driving away from Lowe's: "Mom, you're acting like a maniac!"
OK, maniacal glee-ness and all, I've unloaded the van (17 boxes weighing 36.56 pounds each or something like that), and now just waiting.

......waiting.....waiting......waiting......

According to the installation instructions, you need to leave them in the space for a full 72 hours minimum to get used to the temperature and humidity; this ensures that there will be little expansions or contraction after installation, leaving a bee-you-tee-ful floor (my words there, not official on the instructions actually). 

So this is Monday; 72 hours gets me to Thursday to complete my to-do list and be ready:

1. Finish removing the tile and grout at the bottom of the steps; 75% done
2. Take carpet to dump;    Done!
3. Remove carpet from steps and prep for paint; 1 done, 13 to go
4. Clean out the "stuff" in the basement: today's job
5. Pick up flooring  DONE!
6.  Let the flooring "air out" and adjust to the temp and humidity in the room for 72 hours; DOING!
7. Lay down underlayment and moisture barrier: Wednesday/Thursday
8. Install! Thursday into Friday and beyond!

Glee! I can't wait! 

Pencil dot collage

This is the result of our pencil-dot-artfest from MOPS this week...I always love seeing all the possibilities! 

Enjoy a lovely weekend...See you Monday!

The Squeamish Need Not Apply

Basement progress has been slow this week.....banging loudly on concrete to break up grout doesn't mesh well with a child that doesn't feel well.  I've done bits and pieces, but it's taking a while.  I did get to buy a new toy tool to help get the grout up..it has a 100 year warranty (ONE HUNDRED years....is this something I need to pass down in my will?).

I think the grout removal is going to have to be "good enough" by the time I'm around to installing the flooring; too much banging and the concrete starts to bust, which isn't good either. I'll get as smooth of a base as I can, then hope for the best.  It's not like the floor will be glued or nailed down, so the worst case is acceptable to me (remove it and redo it, or live with it less than perfect).

Here are a few things I've learned about removing tile and grout:

• It's not as bad as I expected, but still really physical;
• Tile removal: easy; grout removal: hard;
• I would never remove a larger area of tile without renting either power equipment or hiring someone else to do it;
• Eye protection: really, really necessary;Lung protection: banging on grout to remove it causes a lot of dust, and the fumes are terrible.  I don't know what's in that stuff.....and here comes the anti-squeamish part, just warning you:

•  Those little pieces of tile are sharp; add gloves to your needed list;  and you can see why the "nails" I am more tied to are not my fingernails; there's just no use when you use your hands a lot!  (Although I really enjoy a nice pedicure!)

Adding to today's excitement is taking off the first piece of carpet from the stairs (which also have nail strips and staples: more blood shed) and I'm so excited to see nice pieces of pine with rounded stair nose; I can just picture these painted brown and white and looking so awesome!  Anything though will look better than the carpet that I pulled up: I couldn't tell how awful dirty and worn it was until I could see it in good light.

 Oh my it is nasty.

A little sanding and paint and the steps alone will be a huge improvement....and easier to keep clean!   We enter the house through a door just to the right from our basement level garage; anything easier to keep clean will be so welcome.

Now to wait and hear if the flooring comes in tomorrow--I can't wait to see it!

Re-purposing: A new concept

Well, it's a newer concept to me, at least putting it into practice.  I am such a non-hoarder (or it that anti-hoarder?) that I usually get rid of things that have have no purpose in their original state; I never kept anything long enough to really think of a new way to use it; I also am not really creative in this way.

But one way in which the blog community has really inspired me is how so many people take something old, unused, discarded or ugly and make an amazing, useful piece of something of it.

I have to work on cleaning out the stuff in the basement: get rid of it, store it, relocated it, get it out of the way, move it.

Some things are easy : Goodwill or dump it is. 

yes, that's a golfball; no, I don't know why

Other things are harder. I've hung on to this umbrella stand for years; my Pop-pop made it (and you can read more about him here).  I was trying to figure out what to do with this, really in a useful way, as opposed to just sitting empty, since we don't really have a lot of full-sized umbrellas around. 

And then I was putting this away, trying to figure out what I could buy that would keep these contained....and Voila! Two ideas collide into space again.

A new, modern, funky wrapping paper holder was born for my office.  I'll come up with something to contain the scissors, tape and other accessories (probably some leftover fabric), and I'll have a really cool wrapping station that won't take up much space. 

Thanks Pop-pop for the inspiration!

Here's more inspiration photos, just for fun:

stacked benches turned shelves



ladder turned plant stand



old table, cut in half, turned into hall table

door turned headboard



How to: Make Art with Pencil erasers and paint

I was really taken with the pencil dot art I found on Pinterest by thelilhousethatcould.com and couldn't wait to try my own.  Since I needed a craft activity this week for our MOPS group, it was a great motivator to do my own.

With sick kid needing me, I totally forgot to take "during" pictures, but will explain the steps I took to do my own project. 

I first headed to Word and found a font I liked for a capital "G"; once I did, I kept enlarging it until it looked like a good size that I could work with.  Printed, enlarged another few times, and I had the "template" I was going to work with.  I just printed it out on plain printer paper, cut out the letter part, and taped what was left to a piece of white card stock.

I used two shades of gray paint, and a bit or orange, thinking this would be a good replacement for the orange Halloween print I still had hanging in there.  And here is the result....not too bad for a first attempt!  It's a little big for the frame, and I had to take out the mat to get it in there. 

But I really like the effect, and plan to make another attempt at a smaller size to fit it better with the framed prints in the bathroom.  or maybe I'll find something else for this frame, and hang the larger G somewhere else. 

I know....it needs to be in the center, right?  But the Halloween print was on the left, and I didn't feel like taking them both down! 

  Sick kid priorities took over: hanging framed art: not even close.

The demolition: plus Why Cork Flooring?




Mom's nails (the other kind) on the tile pre-demo

 

So we just jumped right into ripping up the carpet in the basement space.  This is a long, narrow space we've never used for a few reasons: 1, the carpet was nasty. 2, we had no furniture down there, and weren't going to purchase any to go on top of nasty carpet. 3, it was cold; but our new heat pump installer opened up a vent down there and it's magical: we have heat!


 This has always been a space we just travel by between the garage and the steps up into the "real"house where we live.  On occasion we'll have kids over and they go down there to place a bit, but it wasn't much to rave about.

We knew we didn't want to replace the carpet.  We looked at wood, but decided it was too hard and too cold for our tastes.  Tile is too hard and cold; I brought home a few samples of laminates (woods and cork) and we fell in love with the cork (well, it won by a 2/3 vote). 

We like it for a few reasons: 

•  It's soft, it's warm underfoot,
•  it has character and works in a "fun" room.
•   It's durable and will hold up under a group of young boys playing ball, wii, tackle or nerf battle fun that it can see; it can handle it.
•   It's easy to install (so I hear, I'll have to fill you in on that next week!). 
  It's green and a renewable resource
• 

So: The to-do list before the flooring can be installed:

1. Finish removing the tile and grout at the bottom of the steps;
2. Take carpet to dump;
3. Remove carpet from steps and prep for paint;
4. Clean out the "stuff" in the basement, find a home for it during the install or get rid of it 
5. Pick up flooring (dh opted to pick it up as opposed to delivery fee; I would have not!
6. Let the flooring "air out" and adjust to the temp and humidity in the room for 72 hours;
7. Lay down underlayment and moisture barrier
8. Install!

I can't wait! I'm so excited to get going, a tad nervous, but not nearly as nervous as when I was building the treehouse.  That kept me up at night; this is just exciting. 


PS: Oh: #9: add in "take care of sick boy" which really, as we all know, is #1.  So that will affect the schedule this week of course. 

Oh...do you want to see what we picked out?

Here it is!  Details later.  I'm hoping we can keep the color I picked out for the basement, but everything is pending at this point. 








PS: I always find it interesting to see what words aren't recognize in the spell check: Today includes "wii" and "nerf"!