Ambitious home improvement project

We have just embarked on our most ambitious home improvement project yet. As I've tweeted about, we are now the proud owners of over 750 square feet of laminate flooring. This is to replace the carpet in our 3 bedrooms upstairs.

We selected the DuPont Real Touch® Elite Cherry Block laminate flooring product. (The picture here is from the DuPont Web site. I haven't actually installed it yet...) It is supposed to be of better quality than most other laminate options at Home Depot, and it carries a 30-year warranty.

So, after a good breakfast at a local diner, I spent my day off on Friday, July 4, 2008, ripping out carpet in my house. I had hoped to start to lay down some of the laminate flooring, but it turned out to be a bit more work just getting the carpet up than I anticipated.

In particular, the stairs were a nightmare. I have never installed carpet on stairs, so I didn't stop to think that it would be attached with hundreds upon hundreds of staples. Makes sense, but I just didn't think about it beforehand. My wife, bless her soul, spent a few hours yesterday painstakingly pulling out all of the staples.

The hallway and the master bedroom were a breeze by comparison. We actually were able to get the carpet out of the master bedroom without removing all of the furniture. It just took a little strategic shuffling. Of course, the furniture has to come out before I can put down the new floor, but we don't have another place for it, yet.

I need to clear out my office to make room for the furniture from the master bedroom. I have started that process, which is also taking more time than I counted on. I have set up a temporary office in our living room on a little cart. I figure this should be just inconvenient enough to encourage me to make rapid progress with the floor upstairs. I will have to mostly use evenings and weekends, but I hope to get the majority done by the end of the month (July).

This will be my first time installing laminate flooring. I've done a lot of ceramic tile, and I've been told laminate is easier, so I figure I shouldn't have too much difficulty. Time will be the big thing. As long as my wife continues to help me, and is patient with me, I'll get it done as quickly as possible.

One thing about the stairs. We've decided not to put laminate on them as originally planned. This will save some material, including the expensive trim pieces, but may also save time. The steps are a nice solid wood (probably fir), and should look nice if we finish them appropriately. If anyone has any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!

I'll blog periodically throughout this adventure, so stay tuned for more. Also, I'll be uploading pictures of the progress on Flickr.