Midsummer Musings: New Flooring

After a real busy June, I thought I could go into cruise mode. Nay, nay.

I had (grudgingly) promised my wife that we would replace the flooring in the house. We had some old carpet that desperately needed to go, and some pretty ugly vinyl that pretended to look like birch or something.

We have a friend in the flooring business so we met with her on July 3. We decided to go with ceramic tile throughout the whole house and tentatively scheduled the job for the end of July/early August. M then told us that we had to pack up and essentially move out of the house during the job. We could save a little money also if we pulled off the baseboards ourselves. They would take care of removing and replacing the toilets.

So that got us moving. We started filling about 20 or 30 boxes full of our stuff, as well as doing a general housecleaning.

Realizing that toilets would be pulled had me a little concerned, especially knowing that one was having a bit of a problem with the connection between the tank and the bowl. I figured it would have to be replaced. When I felt around for the bolts and one fell off, I knew we were buying a new toilet. And since the other toilet was flushing well, I thought, "Why not replace both?" So off I went to Home Depot for two toilets and we (meaning I) set out to replace them. Even though I knew they would have to be pulled again in a few weeks, I decided to get some practice in. It went well and was easier than I thought.

I then looked at my computer desk. It's a nice desk, but it would have to be disassembled before I could get it out of the room. I didn't want to disassemble and reassemble it again. So I decided to convert the closet in this bedroom (which is my computer room/study) into a computer work station. This entailed another trip to Home Depot for materials and some paint. I now have a nice computer work station tucked away in the corner and have virtually added considerable space to this room.

Then came the phone call from our friend M on the 11th. The contractor had to start work on the 18th. We had just a week to get everything ready. Yikes! Near-panic set in. But the good news was that they could work around us a little (i.e. - we only had to move the piano a few feet).

Nonetheless, we were still scrambling as the day drew nearer. Packing with finesse went out the window and things were getting thrown into boxes. Some boxes ended up on the patio, wrapped up in plastic sheeting like a big burrito. Other boxes that needed protection from the heat outside ended up being stacked in one of the bathtubs. With help from family (my son-in-law was especially helpful), we managed to get most of the furniture into the garage or on the patio. Our bed would move as needed.

By the time the contractor and his helper showed up on Friday, I still had a little bit of baseboard to pull, but I did manage to keep ahead of them.

M had told us the job would take three days. The contractor said it would take five. He was right. But it did go rather smoothly.

On Saturday I pulled one of the toilets and was able to reinstall it the next day (we were assured that there would always be at least one usable bathroom during the entire job).

Also on Saturday, it was becoming apparent that the monsoon storms would be coming back. There wasn't much protection on the patio except for the boxes that were wrapped like a big burrito. Fortunately there was plenty of plastic sheeting left, so I tacked it up all around the patio (leaving just enough of an opening for the dog). You'd think we were boarding up for a hurricane.

The effort to weatherproof the patio proved not to be in vain as we were awakened by a loud crack of thunder in the wee hours of the next morning, followed by the sound of a heavy rain pounding on the roof. The patio was just fine.

On Sunday morning we were able to move the piano back into the now-completed living room (by now that whole half of the house was done and the concrete and grout was set). We also moved our bed into the living room along with the refrigerator and a dresser. We essentially camped out in our living room for two nights. Our living arrangements, coupled with the blackness outside our patio door due to the black plastic sheeting, made it feel pretty weird.

On Monday I pulled the other toilet as they worked on our kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. And on Tuesday - as promised - they were done.

Our son-in-law helped us get our couch back in place, and a couple of friends came over to help with most of the rest of the furniture; I reinstalled the second toilet as well. At last we had our house back.

The new tile is gorgeous and was well worth the time and effort. I even admitted to my wife that I was glad I didn't do the job myself, and at my own pace (which would have taken until Christmas - 2010).

Since the baseboards are off, that has inspired me for our next project - painting. That I can do at my own pace and be done by Christmas - this year. Besides, I've already purchased new baseboards.