May be out of touch for a week or so...

[BrokenolMarine]

We have the contractor coming tomorrow to start removing the old carpet from the majority of the house and replace it with laminate wood flooring. This will make it much easier to get around in the house with the cane, walker, and when it becomes mandatory, the chair. Until then, I'll be much safer, since I have that right foot that tends to drag the toe when I am tired. The docs suggest that was a major contributing factor in the fall a couple years ago that shattered that femur.

The crew tells us it will take about a week, as they have to:

Move the furniture in each room affected.
Remove the carpet and padding.
Insure the floor below is solid and level.
Sand and vacuum.
Lay, glue, and nail the floor.
Put in new baseboards and thresholds.
Then clean up.
Finally move all the furniture back into position.

I am going to ask them to do the home office first, so we can start putting that room back together, plus it's at the back of the house.

We may be able to leave the modem up and running, and stay in contact via the tablets.

[North Country Gal]

We also removed carpeting in our house and replaced it with either wood flooring or tile. For us, carpeting was just a bad idea, since we are constantly in and out of the house, tracking in mud and dirt from all our outdoor activities. Then, too, we have dogs. All in all, carpeting is not a good choice for our very outdoorsy lifestyle. I can understand why wood floors would also be a better choice in your situation. Hope all goes well and you're happy with the results.

[BrokenolMarine]

The crew arrived this morning, and there is good news. They will work with us, starting in the home office and work forward from there. They can move the furniture from side to side or room to room and I put a long cord on the modem and moved it to a room that isn't involved. We can avoid withdrawals.

[Les]

I hope everything goes well for you, BM - I'm sure it will look superb when it is finished. What type/color of laminate are you going to have?

[BrokenolMarine]

We got a dark interlocking laminate with a cork backing, 25 year warranty, 20 mil wear layer. I think.(Whatever all that means) Miss T did research ad infinitum for six months, reading this and that to me over the top of her tablet for weeks on end. I helped choose a color in a quality that fit her profile.

I'll post a few pics in the days to come, before and after shots as well as a pic of the box the flooring came in. Always try and keep a record in case we need replacement pieces. This applies to siding, shingles, tile, whatever. If your spares run out, and you have to reorder... nice to have the info right at hand.

[ESquared]

Best of luck with the project. Sounds like you'll end up with a great situation! Have become more of a hardwood and tile vs. carpeting fan myself over the years.

[clovishound]

My friends tell me I've been out of touch for years.

Somehow I don't think they are talking about the same thing you are.

[Henry88]

Hope all goes well BoM

[BrokenolMarine]

A quick peek at the job so far. I apologize in advance for the poor pic quality. My good cam is packed away during the work with other stuff piled in front, but I will put up some High Rez pics with the job is fully complete.

First, the home office prior to the start of the job...

den before.jpg (93.66 KiB) Viewed 2410 times

Note the more than two decade old carpet, my Grandmother's old corner china hutch in the corner, and the computer desk all for reference. Then all that stuff was moved out.. and the crew did their thing.

Here is an after shot... poor quality though it is.

den after.jpg (92.06 KiB) Viewed 2410 times

Note that the China Hutch has morphed into the Treadlock Gun Safe. It was always my intention to move the gun safe from the master bedroom to the home office. The office has motion detection, Glass Break on the window, and the office door itself is alarmed. There is very little access to this room, when we have guests, the door to the office is closed and normally remains closed. The China hutch will be placed in a corner of the master bedroom and filled with Knicknacks and "crap" too good to toss.

The new floor is visible (sorta) in this pic. Again, sorry for the quality of the photos.

Here is a look at the Living Room, the target for tomorrow. As you can see, it's in chaos.

living room chaos.jpg (146.89 KiB) Viewed 2410 times

The furniture is crowded to one side and half the carpet is already been taken up, bare wood showing. It really grinds my ... teeth. I am a bit anal and like everything in it's place. But... we have just a couple more days and we really like the guy assigned to do this job. His assistant.. is a nice old guy but a bit lazy and slow. I can tell he is annoying the guy and think he may be gone tomorrow. They should be done with the job by Friday... and we'll get everything reorganized... taking the chance to Declutter a bit more as we put a hand on each item again ... and toss a few.

The worst part of the home office and the living room was breaking down the computer, and for the living room, taking apart the TV, Receiver, and home theater system. I spent an hour carefully labeling each wire for the hookup position on the back of the receiver... I want to be able to grab a wire and KNOW where it needs to go so all the systems will power up and green light.

The computer did.

[BrokenolMarine]

Again... sorry about the crappy pics.
High rez at the end.

[Mags]

HO floor looks really nice. Looking forward to seeing the living room.

[BrokenolMarine]

The guys are making progress...
The floors are looking good.
Here is a better pic of the home office.

better color.jpg (142.37 KiB) Viewed 3418 times

[BrokenolMarine]

A shot of the living room, still learning the camera.
Didn't notice til I downloaded the picture... the commercial on the tv is for .... flooring.

living room after.jpg (196.84 KiB) Viewed 3418 times

[BrokenolMarine]

They still have about a two foot section down the wall on the right hand side of the living room to finish, then the master bedroom to do. Then they have some trimming up, and the thresholds in the doorways to do. About two days. Should be done by the end of the day on Friday. Man... you don't realize how much "Stuff" you have in each room until you have to move it all. We paid to have them move it... but ... there are things you don't let "THEM" move. Right?

Budget wise, we had to limit ourselves to what we could do in this pass. We didn't do the floor in the Fly Tying room, as it's not that often used at this point and we can do that one room later. The kitchen was put off, as we are going to redo that entire room with new cabinets, painting, new lighting, new stove and sinks... floor should be done in THAT upgrade rather than now and possibly damage it during the renovation. May do the master bath floor later, but other than that the floors will be done on Friday.

[JEBar]

really nice .... very nice indeed

[Mags]

looking good!

[RudyN]

Our carpet is getting long in the tooth so we may also go with a hardwood floor. We already have hardwood in the kitchen and dining room. It looks like that may be the best for us as we are also getting long in the tooth. The pictures so look like they are doing a good job.

[Shakey Jake]

Take care of yourself for sure. It'll all come together soon.

[BrokenolMarine]

The job was finished on schedule, and I will try to do some walk thru pics tomorrow. I am very satisfied with the final result. Funny, the hardwood floors make the house look larger.

[ESquared]

Looks really good! BIG difference, huh, in every way. Color, texture, everything.

Congrats on a big, PITA project done right!