New floors ....

[Kayelle]

What am I doing? Trying to stay sane.

Tuesday we are going to be having the carpet in the house (except bedrooms) replaced with hardwood floors. That's the good news, but the detailed preparations are a mind boggling nightmare. We gave away our two gently used but very old couches so we had room for the stacks of flooring in the middle of the living room. Apparently, it has to sit in the house for several days to avoid warping. Next came the big job of boxing up everything from three hutches filled with breakables. The computer/TV room is a whole other nightmare, not to mention finding room in the two bedrooms for all this stuff. The job is suppose to take three days, so we have a room reserved at a nearby hotel to escape the turmoil and heat when needed, and we expect to sleep there. I'm trying to keep in mind this will all be worth it when we are back to a normal life with beautiful new (light ash color) floors. Then we get to unpack..ugh. Obviously I'll be absent for a while.

Has anyone else been through this?

 

[GotGarlic]

Not all at once. When we bought our home in a historic district close to 30 years ago, the first thing we did was pull up all the carpet from the original wood floors. Then we spent several years renovating one room at a time ourselves, and since it was our first (and so far, only) house, we didn't have anywhere near as much furniture and other stuff as we do now. There's no way we could have afforded to do the entire house at one time. Good luck.

 

[roadfix]

Yeah, acclimating hardwood flooring is very important, allowing air to flow around each and every opened box of flooring for several days in your home.

 

[Andy M.]

We had this done in 2008. Real oak, no laminates. The contractor delivered the flooring a week before. Then a real expert came and did a beautiful job of laying the floor in the whole main floor of our townhouse except for the kitchen and bath.

The finishing crew came and applied sealer then four coats of varnish. It came out great.

We rented a POD to store all our stuff in as there was nowhere to put it. Stayed in a motel for a few nights. Then laid down a couple of oriental rugs and moved everything back in place.

It was a pain in the butt but worth it.

 

[taxlady]

I want to refinish the hardwood floors in our condo. We are not looking forward to that. I sympathize with your situation Kay. I hope it all goes smoothly and efficiently and that you are happy with the result. Hang in there.

 

[bethzaring]

Oh yes.

And I am facing a similar project in one month. We are adding a master bathroom and master bedroom to our existing house, while we are living in it. The house was built for one person, me, never imagining anyone else would live with me here. LOL I am terrified of the work, going through everything in the house and garage, moving all of dh's stuff from the storage unit to his new shop, creating four new living spaces in the house, all while canning, dehydrating, harvesting and processing the garden, two local orchards and, not to mention, it is green chile season here.

I hear ya! I love wood floors, congratulations!

 

[CWS4322]

been there, done that. Did it a room at a time. Would love to do the same at the Elders', but impossible with Mom's situation and all the furniture. It would have to hauled out to the garage. When I asked my Dad why they didn't put in hardwood, he replied it is a greater fall risk than carpet for the elderly.

 

[Andy M.]

Here are a couple of photos of the finished product. View from the dining area into the living room and vice versa.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Nice looking floors, Andy.


Kayelle, it sounds like you'll have plenty of time to read - and hopefully relax. You'll need your energy to restore order to your home once the flooring experts are done making a beautiful mess. Maybe you need to take some wine with you to the hotel? Anyway, good luck. Just keep reminding yourself how nice it will be when it's all done.

 

[Cheryl J]

Very nice, Andy! Kay and Sous....how is it going so far? I'd love to replace my flooring, but not sure I can deal with all it takes to prepare for that.

 

[Kayelle]

Wooo Hooo....the bottom line is it wasn't as bad as I had imagined and it's all been well worth it!

The installers arrived an hour earlier than expected on Tues morning so it was a mad dash to finish breaking down the computers and TV equipment and deposit it in the bedrooms. These three guys didn't mess around and as SC said, "they were heads down and ass up" and got it all completed by the end of the day! Unbelievable to think they removed the carpet, moved furniture, nailed down all the wood flooring, added baseboard and cleaned up without any problem. The dining room, living room, computer/tv room and hallway (650sq.ft.) looks just spectacular and we couldn't be more pleased.

Because our beds were loaded up with "stuff", we stayed overnight at the nearby lovely Glen Tavern Inn, the historic (haunted) landmark hotel and had a lovely Italian dinner there too. We didn't see any ghosts, but did hear bumps in the night so I think they were around. Here's some interesting reading about the place..https://www.hauntedrooms.com/product/glen-tavern-inn-santa-paula-ca
They were nice enough to cancel the following two nights reservations we didn't need.
Wed. morning we got all the equipment in the computer/tv room put back together and functioning. Phew!! The unpacking of the contents of the three hutches can be done over time. I've already ordered a beautiful 8' round area rug for the living room, and the two new loveseat couches will be here in a few weeks. I'll take pictures when it's all put together.
It's interesting how different the sound is in this house is now without carpet.

 

[bbqcoder]

Unbelievable to think they removed the carpet, moved furniture, nailed down all the wood flooring, added baseboard and cleaned up without any problem.

It sounds like you went with prefinished flooring? My in-laws have it at the lake house and it’s very durable. After 20 years, it still looks great.

In my house, I have the traditional floors that are sanded and finished. They are nice but you do have to vacate the house when they are doing their work.

U
It's interesting how different the sound is in this house is now without carpet.

When I moved to my current house, the upstairs had carpet over hardwood because the previous owner wanted quieter floors. We ripped up the carpeting before we moved in. The previous owner even had carpeting in the kitchen and it was off-white!

We take our shoes off in the house so we don’t have the noise issue.


Enjoy the new floors!!

 

[taxlady]

I'm glad to hear it went well Kay and that you are pleased with the result.

 

[Cheryl J]

+1. So glad to hear the new flooring project went well, and done sooner than you expected! Also nice that the hotel refunded your next 2 nights....they don't do that very often. Super excited for you two!

 

[Andy M.]

Glad your floors are done. Bet you’re looking forward to getting your home back in order.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Kayelle, I'm so happy for you that you and Souschef had such a smooth installation. Enjoy your beautiful floors. Can't wait to see your cozy new look.

 

[Kayelle]

Here are the pictures I promised.

I think we're all put together now, much better than before. Separating the two existing hutches to flank the entrance to the den, worked out perfectly for new furniture placement.
I adore the look and quality of the hardwood floor, not to mention the new rug and couches, along with the corner table and new swivel bar stools. Besides the floor, all the new stuff was ordered from Wayfair and they are a terrific company to deal with.

 

[Just Cooking]

Very nice, Kayelle...

Ross

 

[taxlady]

Looking good Kayelle.

 

[Andy M.]

Really nice, Kayelle. I like the light color a lot.