Project #2: Hardwood

We wanted to take the carpet out of the dining room

and replace it with hardwood for a long time now.

At the same time we wanted to finish a hallway

with hardwood and down another short hallway with a closet.

Our entryway had some hardwood in it already,

so we matched it and installed it ourselves.

A couple of friends loaned us all the tools we needed,

and one provided some hands-on instruction.

We spent a lot of time on the internet learning how to

do this project. There were plenty of times to improvise

and think things out along the way.

Here are a few pictures of the project:

Heidi and I sitting in the middle of our new

hardwood floor in the dining room.

It took us three full Saturdays, a few Friday nights

and a couple of weeknights to finish.

Here is the dining room in the 'before' picture.

We had to empty the room out and take everything

off the walls. If we didn't, stuff would have fallen off

with all the hammering and power tools shaking things.

Here are all the boxes of wood.

After the wood is put in the area it will

be installed in, it needs to sit a few days

to acclimate. The wood is all tongue-in-groove,

including the ends, so it is like a big puzzle

to put together. It's a little over two inches

wide and 3/4 of an inch thick.

This picture shows where the builder ended the original floor.

I don't know why they ended it here. We installed wood down

to the end of this hall and down the short hall on the left.

Here is a picture of the same hall in the above picture,

but from the opposite angle. The carpet and most

of the padding is removed as we prepare the floor.

You can see part of our new carpet in the den on the right, and the old

green carpet that is in an area where the den meets

the kitchen. We are extending the flooring in the kitchen

farther toward the den than the builder had done.

That way we are actually extending the kitchen

by about three feet.

This picture is taken from the half-bath

down the short hall toward the other hall.

That door on the right is to a coat closet.

The floor here is about ready for the new flooring.

Here you can see into the half-bath

and into the coat closet.

All the bathrooms in the house have a

slab of marble for the threshold.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.

The door on the left goes to the laundry room,

and the door on the right goes to the basement.

The dining room taken from the entryway.

The carpet is taken out and the padding is next.

After the padding is up, you have to go around

and take up all the leftover staples.

Next is installing special paper that goes between

the wood sub-floor and the new hardwood floor.

Doing this stops any squeaks caused by

wood rubbing against wood.

Heidi is laying out a few boxes of wood.

It's a good idea to start with wood from several

different boxes to mix up the color shades.

Here is a picture of me starting to install rows of wood.

After marking a straight line across the room,

you put in one row at a time. You use a scrap piece of

flooring and a rubber mallet to tap the boards in place.

You have to make sure you leave room for the wood

to expand against all the walls.

You have to work with the tongue of the wood on the

outside, so you can nail it into the floor without the

nails (staples) showing. It is long and tedious work.

You don't always just hit the wood. I got a big blood blister

one day and a couple of days later I hit the same finger

and got another blister on top of the first. Ouch!

Here is a picture of Heidi using the cross-cut saw

that a friend let us borrow. It sure made the job easier.

This is the pneumatic nailer that puts the staples in the wood

at the right place and at the right angle. We got to borrow

this too. Sure beats renting or buying all these tools.

And besides, that nailer costs over $500.00!

After you line up the nailer, you whack it with a special mallet.

It makes a loud noise each time and

you could probably eventually go deaf.

In case you noticed, I work best by being barefoot.

The floor into the bathroom is close to being done.

The dining room is about finished too.

Baseboard quarter-round being painted.

It hides the gaps that you have to leave at the walls

for the new flooring to expand.

The dining room is all done.

You use random lengths of wood to give it a good look.

And you have to make sue any ends are not closer

than six inches from the previous row.

Another view of the completed dining room

from the opposite corner.

A view toward the kitchen

from the dining room.

A floor view of the floor!

Don't mind the dust-

it's a construction zone.

Here are some 'before' and

'after' pictures of the project:

Hallway before.

Hallway after.

Short hallway before.

Short hallway after.

Closet and short hallway before.

Closet and short hallway after.

Hallway and dining room before.

Hallway and dining room after.

The 'after' picture with the furniture moved back in.

Compare this picture with the 'before' picture

at the top of this post.

A different view of the dining room with furniture

and a new rug so we don't scratch the floor

with the chairs.

All done.

We saved a bunch of money by installing the hardwood floor

ourselves, but I don't think I would want to do it again.

Project #1: Carpet

After nine years and five kids in this house,

we finally re-carpeted some of the rooms.

We put the new carpet in the living room,

den, up two sets of stairs and

the hallway that connects them.

Heidi and I took out the old carpet and padding,

and took up all the staples to prepare the floors

for the installation of the new carpet.

The Good:

A picture of the stairs with the new carpet.

The Bad:

Here are the same stairs with all the carpet

and padding stripped off.

and

The Ugly:

The stairway with the ugly green carpet

that was installed when the house was new.

As you can see, the carpet is faded and well worn.

This is the living room.

The carpet is in the same condition in the den.

Heidi is taking up the pad in the living room.

The carpet was installed for only a dollar. But we

had to do all the preparation work of taking out

the old carpet and pad. We also had to take out

all the remaining staples.

After getting out all the leftover staples,

we had to make sure the floors were clean

and free of any debris.

Here is the upstairs hallway before we began any work.

The upstairs hallway after we got all

the carpet and padding up.

If you look at the window in this picture

you can see that it is now dark.

We started around dinner time

and finished about 10 p.m.

We had a few breaks also.

It actually was easier and quicker than I thought.

Although, the stairs were the toughest part.

Here is the upstairs hallway after the

installers laid down the padding.

The two installers cut out the new carpet

in the road in front of the house,

then they rolled it up and brought it in.

They cut it as one piece for the whole hallway.

Here in the hallway they unrolled the new carpet

and got it ready to install.

They took all the doors off their hinges

to make it easier to install the carpet.

And all finished.

There were two installers, one with 20 years

of experience, and the other with 30 years.

It took these guys only three hours to finish.

Here is a picture of the hallway and second set of stairs

with only the new padding installed. They used the

original tack strips and only put new ones in

where ever they were needed.

Here is a picture of the den with

the new carpet installed.

Here is a view of the den with everything

put back in place.

The finished living room with

all the furniture moved back in

and the pictures back on the walls.

Another angle of the living room.

We think the carpet goes real well

with the hardwood floor in the entry.

Look! I found a quarter!

I put the coin in the picture of

the carpet to show scale.

So, sometime in the future, we will repaint

& re-paper, and with any luck

replace the furniture.