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Progress, plank by plank

I'm ready to have my house back.

We started our little home-improvement odyssey back in early October when we found out Lowe's was having a sale on Pergo. Even though Tim had never done any sort of floor installing, he emphatically insisted that he could do it and save us the $1,500it would cost us to have Larry, Curly, and Moe from Floors-R-Us put it in.

Fast forward to now, and I must say I am incredibly impressed. My guy can, indeed, lay flooring. It looks gorgeous. Unfortunately, in the process, Henry and I caught the flu and Tim got a nasty head and chest ailment, sans fever. Then we discovered we had a leak around the chimney in the living room that ended up requiring a couple days work by several laborers who, in essence, rebuilt the covering around the chimney.

Good news: no more mold and rotting boards. Bad news: major delays. One of the subfloor boards had to be cut out and replaced before the Pergo went down, and the sawdusty and smoky-from-a-hot-saw mess had us sleeping one 30-degree night with all the windows open. (Shout out to Steve, owner of various helpful tools and know-how and a handy pickup truck to haul crap to the dump.)

The latest development is that Tim's folks kindly came to visit, play with Henry, and rip up our disgusting kitchen linoleum. Bye bye ick floor, hello gorgeous wood-like finish! Except that millions of tiny yet deadly-sharp staples must be either yanked or pounded down before we progress further.

Will it ever get done?! It's getting close. The TV and couch are back in the living room, and I'm headed there once I get off work. Debating on whether I should get takeout on the way...

Comments

Very cool! I did that linoleum rip-out about 5 years ago. I had two layers of linoleum, with a subfloor between them and under the bottom line. And about 10 million staples to pull up. I had hardwood under it that was being restored, so I *had* to get the staples up. If you avoid that, I'm hammer them flat to the floor and go on and live life to the fullest!
Crystal said…
I'm feeling your pain.... we are in the middle of a VERY unpleasant bathroom remodel... Don't EVER even consider this if you only have 1 bathroom and 6 people, unless you're staying at a hotel until it's all finished!
Amy said…
Oh Crystal! Whose idea was THAT?! Rent a porta potty! :-) Or maybe suck up to your neighbors...

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