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| Steve cleaning the floor |
As you might guess, Home Depot is our favorite store. In fact, there is not a Saturday that goes by without one of us making a "Home Depot Run" and Steve is on a first name basis with most of the employees. It's fun to walk through the store with people
waving, "Hey Steve! What are you working on today?"
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| Starting the floor! |
During the summer while working on the house, we noticed a large stack of wood flooring that was on sale. It was very beautiful walnut planks. We asked about it a few times and found out that it had been a special order that had not been claimed. The months went by but not one plank was purchased. Finally, we decided to ask the manager about "taking this little problem off his hands." He gave us a fantastic discount, a penny above cost.
Steve and I wanted to install the flooring ourselves just a few days before New Years. So, we gathered our supplies - brooms, scrub brushes, wood glue, trowels, mallets and of course, the room heater.
The floor had to be cleaned first because of all the sawdust, drywall dust and plaster mudding that has built up. We scrubbed the floor with tons of soapy suds and water. Once the floor was clean and dry, we were ready to put the wood planking down. We opened the different packages of wood and stacked the many different lengths into piles. After snapping a straight chalk line, we started in the corner next to the theater room and moved our way down the family room toward the kitchen. Steve spread out the glue and scrapped it evenly on the floor and then we fit each plank into place with the use of the mallet and iron pry bar.
At first it didn't seem so hard, in fact, it was really fun but after the first day, our knees were sore and our backs ached. By the end of the second day, working from 8:00 am to 8:00pm, our knees and backs were killing us and our fingers were raw from the glue. The third day, December 31st, we worked all day determined to finish even though every bone and muscle was exhausted. That was the real celebration for us on New Year's Eve - We finished the beautiful walnut floor!
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| Steve and I on New Year's Eve |
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| The view from the Theatre Room |
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| The View from the Kitchen |
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The floor had to be cleaned first because of all the sawdust, drywall dust and plaster mudding that has built up. We scrubbed the floor with tons of soapy suds and water. Once the floor was clean and dry, we were ready to put the wood planking down. We opened the different packages of wood and stacked the many different lengths into piles. After snapping a straight chalk line, we started in the corner next to the theater room and moved our way down the family room toward the kitchen. Steve spread out the glue and scrapped it evenly on the floor and then we fit each plank into place with the use of the mallet and iron pry bar.
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