Work Weekends

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2007-04-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

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More Fun at Steven's

2007-03-07T09:18:00.001-08:00

This work-weekend day was once again about completing several small projects at Steven's house. Let's start at the beginning.

Utility Room

There were three goals for the utility room.

Install a sticky tile floor
Paint the walls
Repair a hole in the ceiling (thanks Directv installer!)

Dave removes the cover from the dryer while Chris paints his head.

The instructions for the sticky tile recommend that you clean your floor with a TPS solution. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. If you think just mopping the floor is good enough, you will be sorely disappointed when your sticky tile starts to pop up in a few months. To prove my point, first take a look at Chris applying the solution with a sponge, then look at what he squeezed out of the sponge in the infamous 'bucket picture'. Note that the floor was swept and mopped.

After you have a clean floor, lay out the tiles, peel off the backs, and stick them down. We used a rubber roller from Home Depot on each tile to make sure we got rid of all the air bubbles and that each square inch of the tile made contact with the floor. You can also stomp on each tile, but that involves a lot of standing up and crouching back down. Do yourself a favor and buy the rubber roller.

Before and After

Ok, so the Directv guy stepped through the ceiling. At least he did it cleanly. We were able to just 'reassemble' the pieces and screw each one of them into a block of wood Dave installed in the attic. Later, we will put some joint compound over the screw holes and the seams, then paint the whole ceiling.

Kitchen

The goals for the kitchen were to paint the ceiling and install a new ceiling fan. The existing ceiling fan worked fine, but was the ugliest blue I have ever seen. It had to go.

Family Room

In the family room, we painted the inside of the fireplace and replaced the vent covers on the ceiling. This is an inexpensive upgrade you can make that really makes quite a difference, as hopefully the picture shows.

Guest Bathroom

It seems we will never finish the guest bathroom. Right Dave? We had a couple of things to do in here. First, the cabinet doors were still not behaving, so Dave installed what he calls 'tangs'. I cannot find anyone else in the world who calls them this, but it's a great name. It is much better than, 'you know, those thingies you put on cabinet doors when they won't close'. We tried two styles, one magnetic and the other 'tangy'. Dave recommends the magnetic kind.

The other guest bathroom project involved putting some joint compound around the shower where the previous tile had ripped the wall off. Once it dried, it was simply a matter of sanding it smooth and re-nailing the trim. All that's left is to paint the wall.

Hall Lighting

The hall had some pretty ugly light fixtures installed. They were just begging to be replaced with some modern recessed lighting.

This is a pretty easy job, involving removing the old light, cutting a hole in the ceiling (you get a template when you buy recessed lights), wiring up the new light, then putting the recessed trim up (you get little springs and hooks when you buy the trim).

There is a little mess made when you cut the hole, because insulation and dry-wall come tumbling down and hit the floor.

The end result is worth it though.

Finally...

I purchased a new shelf for the utility room and assembled it in the family room while the utility room was being sticky-tiled. For a brief period of time, that lucky shelf got to do something great...hold pizza for the work crew. 'Til next time!

Painting Daniel's House

2007-02-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

This was a day filled with excitement. The work weekend crew was out in full force, along with Daniel's parents, grandparents (!), and a friend or two from our other job (the one where we get paid).

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera this day, but luckily Dave had his camera...with about an hour's worth of battery power.

And so it is that we bring you just a few snapshots of the fun we had the day we painted the outside of Daniel's house.

Oh yeah, one thing. Daniel's house is 17 million stories tall, so we had to rent some scaffolding and paint high in the sky. I did not like this at all, and stayed on levels one and two, while Dave seemed to get some kind of kick out of standing on the tippy-top, wobbly level. Ah, the folly of youth...

Smash 'Em Up's House

2006-11-29T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it's our first trip to Smash 'Em Up's House, and he had several small projects in store, along with a couple of bigger projects. The small projects included lots of painting, upgrading light fixtures, reparing broken light fixtures, and installing a ceiling fan. But before we get to all that, BREAKFAST!

Tasty McDonald's Sausage, Egg, Cheese Biscuits.

Small Project #1 - Updating Light Fixtures

The only thing more boring than watching paint dry is seeing pictures of guys painting, so let's jump right into the lighting upgrades. We replaced two major out-dated light fixtures. Here are a couple of before and after pictures.

Small Project #2 - Fixing and Installing Things

We made a broken ceiling fan come to life, made a few broken lights shine, and installed a ceiling fan in the master bedroom. FUN GAME: This blog contains two cameo appearances by Chris's wife. Appearance one appears in the following set of photos. Can you find appearance two later on?

Broken...

Fixed...Chris was very shocked when we got this working :)

Pegboard...

Installed pegboard, awaiting glorious, manly tools...

New ceiling fan in master bedroom...

Big Project #1 - Building a Dishwasher Cubby

Chris bought a new dishwasher, and most dishwashers these days are designed without sides, because they're meant to be installed in a unit beside the kitchen sink. His previous dishwasher was vintage and was a standalone unit. Something had to be done.

The new dishwasher...beautiful front, ugly top and sides

Home Depot gave us some extrememly warped wood, but no bother. Here we show you how to handle this. Put a two-by-four on the ground, and put the warped wood on top of it. Have a 200 pound guy stand on the warped would to temporarily flatten it. While the wood is in this state, have another guy nail the wood to a one-by piece.

A good lookin' cubby, but one problem. Cubby should really be pushed up flush against the wall, but the baseboards and power plug are prohibiting that.

Solution part one - remove baseboard with wonder-bar.

Solution part two - drill hole in side of cubby for power cord to sneak out of. (Note: use the side that will be against the refrigerator so nobody will see it)

We thought we were done, but we discovered yet another problem. Due to the warped wood and lack of bracing, when we put the microwave on top of the cubby, the weight of the microwave caused the dishwasher door to be stuck. Daniel really came through with this brilliant solution...shims! Now, we have a fully functional cubby, just awaiting some paint (ooooh, or tile?!).

Big Project #2 - Patch a Hole in the Ceiling

What follows is a step-by-step set of instructions for properly patching a hole in the ceiling. Each step is important, but I feel that the last step is key.

Step 1: Observe and admire the previous patching effort. Honor the sacrifice of time and expense that was given, but agree that you can do better and press on.

Step Two: Remove previous patching effort with a sharp blade.

Step Three: Climb in the attic and install a healthy piece of wood above the hole. Then measure the dimensions of the hole, and cut a piece of sheet-rock to match.

Step Four: Screw the new sheet-rock into the installed wood. File down any sheetrock that is protruding past ceiling level.

Step Five: Buy a brush that matches the stippling pattern of your ceiling, and apply joint-compound over the new sheet-rock.

Step Six: Accept the FACT that no matter how hard you try, you will NEVER get the pattern just perfectly right, and people will ALWAYS be able to tell there was a hole there if they look hard enough (hint: NOBODY ever looks hard enough, except for YOU). Realize that YOU stare at the former hole much more than anybody else EVER will. If you cannot deal with the imperfection, accept the fact that the only alternative is to hire a professional that does this sort of thing 10 hours a day. It will cost you approximately $250, and it will take him about 20 minutes to do what takes you a couple of hours. Granted, when he gets done, it will be darn near perfect. In the end, you must make a decision: spend $20 and a couple of hours for a pretty good patch job, or $250 and 20 minutes being shown how unskilled you are for a perfect patch job.

Me, I'll spend the $20 and use my savings to buy pizza and beer.

Dave's List

2006-09-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is the list of what we hoped to accomplish at Dave's house (click on the picture for a big version).

Let's look at some of the more interesting pictures of the day. First, we'd like to welcome a new member to the group! Chris, aka "Smash 'Em Up" has joined us.

Now let's take a look at how Chris earned his nickname, shall we? Here we see him working on the toilet, and we notice that the lid is missing. We cannot see that the lid is leaning against the bathtub, off to the right.

Here we see the remains of the lid.

No worries, though. A quick trip to Ace Hardware, and we have a solution.

On to the dryer. The hose for the dryer was causing it to stick out too far, so the utility doors would not shut.

Dave and Daniel went to work cutting a hole in the floor, but soon realized they were cutting into a support beam for the foundation. So, a careful curvy cut from an under-the-house Dave was in order. Once accomplished, they installed a nice, neat recessed pan for the hose and now the doors shut.

Here are some more shots from throughout the day.

Finally, here's the updated list. For the record, number 6 should be crossed off, number 19 was halfway finished, and number 7 was finished by Dave the next day. Also, a few of the things not finished are very small projects, so while technically we finished 67% of the list, I'm officially giving us a score of 82%.

Small Projects at Steven's

2006-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

When last we left Steven's house, we worked on the guest bathroom. We ran into a snag with the pipe for the shower faucet being too short, and the trim around the shower enclosure was left bare. For this weekend project, we decided to finish the guest bathroom and several other small projects around the house.

The day started with Steven and Dave going to get supplies from Home Depot. Daniel stayed behind to work on the backdoor, which had two panes of cracked glass. While we were gone, Daniel went ahead and removed the broken panes and the trim around them to prepare for the two new panes (which we had cut at a local hardware store). No before shot was taken, so have a look at the finished product.

While we're at the backdoor, the outer-screen door had become detached from the frame due to some broken wood. We patched the wood, bought 4 new longer screws, and re-attached the hinge.

A while back, Steven put new hinges on the doors in the guest bathroom. Since then, the doors have never shut properly. Dave re-aligned all of the hinges, and now the doors shut.

Speaking of things not closing properly, a couple of years ago Steven got a new roof. Some of the shingles around the chimney did not lay down over the flashing. The contractor said they would eventually. He was wrong. So Dave and Daniel got out the tar and went to work. Now the shingles lay down.

A few weekends ago, the crew put new laminate floors down. Steven wanted to give the floors time to settle before gluing down permanent transition strips. This weekend, the time had come. Glue, bricks, and time is all it takes.

Here is the new frame for the shower enclosure. Also notice the new faucet. And, oh yeah, picture the frame painted white.

New blinds. Here is a before shot, followed by Daniel and Dave trimming the new blinds, and then a shot of the final product.

Here is a list of things we did that aren't really exciting enough to see pictures of:
1) painted half of the guest bathroom ceiling
2) covered nail holes in trim with putty
3) re-nailed trim that was taken down to put the shower in
4) tightened recess lighting in guest bathroom
5) replaced a/c vent in guest bathroom

And finally....you know you want it....

Daniel's Mud Slide

2006-07-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

Dirt
Sometimes people just don't fix things properly. For instance, say you had a home with a conventional foundation, and you wanted to add a garage to it. Great idea, but of course you would want to build a retaining wall, right?

Well, let's say you just build half of a retaining wall, and over the years the rain washes some dirt down. What do you suppose would happen?

Let's use a visual aid. Here is Daniel's garage. Take a look in the far right corner and enjoy the mud.

Here is a closer look. Also, if you take a gander through the blue door, you can see the half-wall.

Now, someone did at least try to rectify this situation before. Here we see a retaining wall built by laying a piece of tin behind the studs. However, as evidenced by the buried shovel, we think they gave up at some point.

Here is a behind-the-wall shot.

After a few hours of digging (special thanks to Daniel's dad for stopping by and grabbing a shovel) we managed to remove the mud/dirt collection...

...and build a trench for a new, proper retaining wall (to be built at a later date).

Gutters
Daniel wanted his gutters removed. So, here is a series of scary photos of Dave and Daniel climbing on the roof removing gutters.

Dead Tree
Ok, the last project of the day was to get rid of a dead tree that had fallen in the yard. Daniel's dad went crazy with the chainsaw and we disposed of it branch by branch. However, near the end, everything went terribly wrong, and the tree ended up hovering over the down-hill neighbor's driveway. A good strong rope was used to hold the tree in place until a later date and a bigger chainsaw. Here are the pictures documenting the whole thing.

See you next time!

Small Projects at Dave's

2006-03-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Intro
It was Dave's turn, and he had a list of several small projects to be done in addition to a medium sized project (dishwasher installation). For the dishwasher project, we brought in an outside expert. In Do-It-Yourself-Work-Weekend terms, this is known as a 'ringer'. Dave calls him Dad.
The Ringer and Britny enjoy some breakfast.

Steven and Daniel enjoy breakfast while The Ringer shoots for 2.

Dishwasher

The first step is to cut power and remove the old dishwasher. We hit a snag right away: the previous homeowners had re-tiled the kitchen floor. This 'trapped' the old dishwasher because it raised the height of the floor by at least half an inch, and we could not just roll the dishwasher out. First we tried to pry the countertop up just enough to allow room to get the dishwasher out, but the countertop started to crack. We debated busting up the tile since Dave wants to re-tile the kitchen anyway, but we decided that Britny would get real mad. So, the only other option was to remove the side wall. This would allow us to lift the countertop without cracking it and safely remove the dishwasher.

The Ringer saws the side wall in half.

With the side wall gone, the dishwasher rolled out easily. Daniel and Dave went to work attaching the new dishwasher while The Ringer disappeared into his magic cave to build a new side wall.

The finished project, with a brand new side wall installed. All that is left is to paint the side wall white, which Dave plans to do another day.

Rotten Fence
Not much excitement here, but something that needed to be done. Here is a before and after shot of a fence that had seen better days. Dave plans to build a new fence one day (which probably means Steven and Daniel plan to build a new fence one day too).

Water Faucet Cover Thingy
Dave's front yard has an underground water faucet covered by a lid. However, over time the plastic enclosure underneath the lid had become misaligned, causing the lid to pop up and meet an untimely death by Dave's lawnmower.

Solution: Clean up the hole and put the plastic enclosure back in place...

...then lovingly place a new lid on top.

Doors
We painted two more closet doors and also patched a hole in one of the doors. The hole appeared when the door accidentally met up with a common work-weekend tool. Can you guess the tool? We have put a big clue in one of the photos.

Networking
Dave is a computer lover and a Tivo lover. If you do not own a Tivo, two of the members of the work-weekend team highly recommend that you get one immediately. The other member still uses a VCR (I know, we don't understand it either). Anyway, to take full advantage of his Tivo, Dave needed to extend his home network to his den where the Tivo lives. This allows the Tivo to connect to his computer to download television listings, check the weather, buy movie tickets, and share music, photos, and movies between the Tivo and the computer. Genius!

Here is a shot of Dave's closet in his office (where the computer lives). Turn your head 90 degrees to your right to get oriented.

Here is a shot of Dave's feet while he runs a network cable from the office to the den wall.

Top Secret Project
While rolling in the new dishwasher, 'someone' knocked Britny's snowmen figurine off of the table. Here, an anonymous member of the team super-glues everything back together.

Shhhhh....she'll never know.

Steven's Guest Bathroom

2005-10-31T07:26:00.000-08:00

Intro

Steven's guest bathroom had already undergone some renovations in 2004. With the help of Dave, Steven had removed the existing Avacado Green/Pink 70's theme and replaced the toilet and tile with a more modern look. Here is an 'after' shot:

But here is the problem. The bathtub was still avacado green, and the bathtub surround tile was still pink and white...

...with lovely gold detail work:

Destruction!

Step one was getting rid of the existing tile. This is accomplished with a hammer and aggression.

Using shovels, we removed the tile from the bathtub and were left with just the studs. We got the thumbs up sign from Dave, so it was time to remove the tub.

Removing a bathtub typically requires patience, crowbars, strategy, and care. Or, you can simply have Daniel grab the tub and rip the whole thing up in one swift motion. That's what happened, and I'm just sorry I didn't video it - it was an impressive feat. Do not be fooled by the fact that Dave is showing off his muscles - it was all Daniel.

Daniel takes a well deserved rest. Bathtub in the front yard? That's Mississippi baby!

Construction!

Next we assembled the Dave approved plumbing on the new bathtub.

The new bathtub did not fit exactly, which was to be expected. We built up the back wall using 1/4 inch plywood and the right wall with 1/2 inch plywood.

With the walls built up to the right dimensions, we installed the Dave approved back and right side of the tub surround.

The left wall had to have holes cut in it to accomodate the plumbing fixtures. We figured the safest way to make sure we cut in the right spot was to use a template. So we put posterboard up and poked holes in it, then transfered those holes to the wall. We double-checked those measurements using good old-fashioned measuring tape. The two measurements were not identical, probably due to the fact that the posterboard was flimsy. So, we just took an average of the two measurements. Dave approved of this plan.

After a few minor re-cuts, we got all the holes lined up and installed the left wall.

The only thing left to do was put on the faucets, showerhead, and spout. We discovered a problem. It seems that the new wall sticks out about 1/2 inch furthur than the original wall. This means that the spout cannot screw onto the pipe. We must have someone build a pipe that is 1/2 inch longer. Size does matter. Dave did not approve.

Stay tuned for part 2, which will include putting the spout on and finishing the walls.

Steven's Laminate Floors - Finished!

2005-09-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Recall from last time that the living room had been left with a few rows finished. Over a long weekend, I decided to just finish it myself. Since the room is just a big rectangle and there are no tricky cuts, I figured I'd be ok without Dave and Daniel.

Everything was going just great until I got to this patch of parquet just inside the front door.

The parquet came up easily, but wouldn't you know it? Our old friend linoleum was hiding underneath. So, 3 freakin' hours later, it was removed and I finished the last few rows.

The project is complete, and I couldn't be happier with the results. It makes me happy to come home to a nice clean floor rather than ugly carpet. I would highly recommend this as a good do-it-yourself project.

Daniel's Floors, Ceiling and Hill

2005-08-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

By now some of you must be wondering, "Are they ever going to Daniel's house?" Well, wonder no more. You see, Daniel just bought his house a short time ago, and there is much work to be done on it. On Saturday, July 23, we worked like madmen to put baseboard trim over the entire house, crown molding in his bathroom, and restore his lovely backyard view.

Project 1 - Floor Molding

Since Daniel lives in Vicksburg, and Vicksburg for some reason does not have a Chic-fil-a, breakfast was burritos from Whataburger.

The supplies for the day. Lots of wood and a nice miter saw.

Here's a typical shot of what we were dealing with. Daniel's wooden floors have just been professionally refinished, and the existing baseboards were (mostly) in good shape. Our task was to fill in the gap between floor and baseboard with quarter-round molding.

Like this.

A few challenges of the day...

Here you see a nook that will hold a refrigerator. The water line for the ice-maker is too close to the wall for the molding to fit. What to do?

Why, you have Dave cut a notch in the molding. No problem.

What happens when you nail a 10 foot piece of molding down and discover that you mis-measured by 5/16 of an inch? Why, you have Dave cut a 5/16 inch piece of molding and you nail that sucker down. A little wood putty and some touch up paint, and who will know? Only us and you, dear reader.

What about when your baseboard has rotted a little bit and there is nothing to nail the molding into? You guessed it. You have Dave cut some strips and you nail those down first.

In a tender moment, Daniel comes out of the closet. Congratulations Daniel! Glad I was there to capture this special event on camera!

Here's a shot of the finished hall leading into the master bedroom.

Project 2 - Master Bathroom Molding

How to take care of this gap between the walls and ceiling of the master bathroom?

Crown molding - a beautiful thing.

Project 3 - To the Hill!

Daniel has a somewhat enchanted backyard. It is really quite beautiful. This staircase leads to a covered sitting area overlooking a canal near the mighty Mississippi River.

Unfortunately, this is what you see sitting in the chairs. Basically, a bunch of trees right in your face. These offending trees are on a hill. We got our axes and slingblades and clippers and went to work.

The hillside, after we got done chopping it up.

The new and improved view.

The view at sunset. Goodnight.

Steven's Laminate Flooring - Part II

2005-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we took some time off but are now back in the swing of things. This project took place on June 11. We revisited Steven's house to make some more progress on the floors, and then we worked on Dave's patio some more.

The night before, Kelsi paints the baseboard trim pieces.

When the crew arrives, we move all of the living room furniture to one side of the room. There is only enough flooring left to do about half the room anyway, so no need to clear it completely.

Steven removes the carpet from the living room...

...while Dave cuts and nails the trim for the hall and family room.

Meanwhile, Daniel puzzles over how in the world to cut the transition piece for the hall closet. He sat like this for several minutes. I wasn't sure if he was dead or not, but I decided it was best to just leave him alone - kind of like a hibernating bear. Of course, I did take his picture, which I probably wouldn't do to a hibernating bear.

Hmmm. Think, think, think.

This was by far the trickiest piece. In the end, it was cut into 3 sections. Nothing a little wood putty can't fix.

On to the hall transition piece.

Bedroom transition.

Bathroom transition.

Steven has the room cleaned up and we begin to lay the much dreaded first row of strips.

Several rows down, but it's time to go to Dave's house and work on his patio floor some more.

Here's what the floor looked like when we arrived. You can see that there is still quite a bit of haze on the tiles. Dave mixes up a batch of diluted acid for us to use.

Steven performs the obligatory 'snap-the-rubber-glove' joke. It is not funny, and everybody has already heard it, but for some reason you HAVE to do it when you put on rubber gloves.

Here's what the floor looked like after our acid trip. Much improved, but still needs work. Oh well, another day.

Dave's Patio Floor and Interior Doors

2005-05-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Intro

Dave put down some nice tiles on his outdoor patio a few months ago and needed them grouted. Also, he bought some nice inside doors and needed them routed. And trimmed, painted, and hung.

8:30 am

Here's the floor ...

Here's the traditional Chic-fil-a breakfast, including Dave's wife Britny.

Here's the doors ...

Here's Dave's Mustang, lovingly protected from flying specks of white paint.

Dave gets things started by hosing off the patio to remove dirt and leaves that had accumulated in the cracks over the months.

Dave then mixes up a batch of grout.

Steven and Daniel start grouting ...

... and Dave applies coat #1 to the doors using Steven's handy paint sprayer.

11:00 am

While the paint dries on the doors, Dave starts wiping off excess grout from the tiles.

1:00 pm

Lunch break! Britny presents us with quite a spread from the new grill. We've got hamburgers, sausage, hotdogs, shrimp, potato salad, and Doritos (Now Better Tasting!)

2:00 pm

Lunch is done and Dave applies coat #2 to the doors.

While the paint dries on the doors, we start preparing the frames inside the house. Here we see Dave multitasking: with one hand, he removes the old hardware from the door; with his other hand, he holds a phone and tries to explain to a BellSouth phone representative that he is happy with his $15 month Vonage IP phone bill and has no intention of switching services. Under the circumstances, Dave was very polite.

Dave's friend Walker stopped by to help. That's him in the back.

Walker walking.

Each door had to be custom fitted - there was much sawing, planing, and trimming going on.

3:00 pm

The first door goes up in the bathroom. The clever observer will notice that the backs of the doors have not been painted yet.

6:00 pm

The final door was a problem child. It had to be cut so much that the hollow portion was exposed. Not good.

Dave cuts a piece of wood to fill in the hollow portion of the door.

Daniel hammers it home.

7:00 pm

You guessed it...Pizza and Coke!

7:30 pm

With the doors at a stopping point, we revisit the floor. The grout has mostly dried, so we all get down and start scrubbing, much like Cinderella. We did not completely finish either project, but much progress was made. The floor needs a final cleaning and sealing, and the doors need one more coat of paint and the knobs installed. Perhaps we'll post the final pictures, or maybe you can just use your imagination.

8:30 pm

Clean up and go home.

Steven's Laminate Flooring

2005-05-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Intro

Having inherited gross carpeting from previous homeowners (and contributing a few gross stains of his own), Steven decides to install laminate flooring in his hall, family room, and living room.

Early May

The flooring is shipped, and Steven and Dave pick it up from the warehouse and load it into the living room. Steven opens one package just to make sure he got the right color.

Steven goes to Home Depot to buy some last minute items and spots this awesome old couple with bright red pants.

The hall, with Steven's daughter wondering what in the world is going on.

The family room with a circa 1978 linoleum patch leading to the garage.

The family room with another linoleum patch leading to the kitchen. I wonder if back in 1978, some woman stood and admired that curvy gold strip while her friends told her how lucky she was to have a house like this.

The family room leading into the hallway. Notice the cool stain from an unfortunate stumble over an opened can of red paint.

8:00 am - Preparation

Steven and wife Kelsi move all family room furniture to the garage. Kelsi vaccums and Steven prepares the cooler (very important step).

8:30 am - The Crew Arrives

It is important to feed your crew lots of carbs and fat.

Dave enjoys a Chic-fil-a chicken biscuit.

Steven also enjoys a Chic-fil-a chicken biscuit.

Yep, you guessed it. Daniel enjoys a Chic-fil-a chicken biscuit.

8:45 am - Get to Work!

Everybody rips up carpet, which turns out to be quite cathartic. I recommend it as cheap therapy. Daniel starts removing carpet nails and strips while Steven and Dave go to work on the linoleum with wonderbars.

We quickly realize that the wonder bars are not doing the job, so Dave produces this wonderful tool.

But even that tool turns out to be a bit cumbersome, so Dave brings out the belt sander. The linoleum is reduced to little strips. It never stood a chance, really.

10:30 am

With all the carpet ripped up, the floors swept, the linoleum removed, and a plastic moisture barrier taped to the concrete, it was time to lay some laminate strips.

Dave saws off the trim of each threshold to allow room for the laminate strips to slide under.

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm

We begin in the hall. We lay the first row...

...then 30 minutes and 4 rows later we break for lunch.

2:30 pm

The hall is almost done. The transition into the bathroom is tricky, and Dave and Daniel do some heavy math to figure out the proper cuts.

3:30 pm

As you can see, the cuts were perfect and the hall is finished!

Dave enjoys a well-earned beer to celebrate the completed hall.

3:45 pm

Time to start on the family room.

The first few rows of the family room were quite difficult. The flooring just did not want to click together over such a long distance. But we kept working and finally got everything settled.

5:30 pm

Two hours later and we're cooking along. Dave is on power-saw duty while Daniel and Steven lay strip after strip after strip after strip...

6:30 pm

About halfway finished. I took this picture while ordering pizza.

7:00 pm

Pizza and Coke. You have no idea how good this tastes after laying flooring for 6 hours.

8:45 pm

Should you use a power saw in the dark? No. Can you use a power saw in the dark if somebody shines a flashlight for you? Yes.

The last piece goes in!

The family room and the hall are done, and so are we. Dave and Daniel, being in their 20's, go see Star Wars. Steven, being in his 30's, goes to bed.