Slow and steady... well, at least slow...

Most of July was lost on the big flooring project. I started to have abdominal pains, many days quite severe, that I just couldn't shake. My wife believes it was just my "nervous stomach" acting up over the anxiety of doing the floor. OK, that probably didn't help, but it certainly was not the only--and probably not the biggest--factor.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I finally started to make headway on the floor. I started in our master bedroom, as planned, finishing about 75% of the nearly 200 sq. ft. on a Saturday afternoon. Taking a couple of hours here and there, I installed the final piece in the MBR this past Sunday. As is typical for most projects, the final 4 pieces took about as long as the rest of the floor! Each one required tedious cuts along the wall and around door jams. I took my time trying to get it right, and I am very pleased with the results. (If you've ever installed flooring, especially interlocking laminate wood, you'll know why this wasn't so easy!)

Next is the hallway as I cross over to the smaller bedrooms. I want to install it without thresholds at the doorway, to give it a nice flow throughout all the rooms. This makes it a little trickier, but I think it will look very nice and be worth the effort.

Now that I'm back to taking Nexium to help with the abdominal pain, I should make steadier progress on the floor. My wife is so anxious that yesterday she started moving furniture out of her office and into mine (the temporary storage room for this project)! I'll get in there as soon as the hallway is done. She endured sleeping on the mattress on the floor in the MBR for a few weeks, so I don't want to test her patience too much on finishing her office. If I do, she's likely to pack her bags...

Ambitious home improvement project

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

We selected the DuPont Real Touch® Elite Cherry Block laminate flooring product. 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.

The hallway and the master bedroom were a breeze by comparison. I was actually 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.

One thing about the stairs. I'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 I finish them appropriately. If anyone has any suggestions, I'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.

First offering

Why did I start a blog? I'm not the type to do it just because everyone else seems to be. I don't even expect anyone to read this, especially not with any regularity. I complain about not having time to do all the things I need to do (nevermind doing things I want to do), so this seems to be adding just one more non-essential time wasting activity to an already overloaded schedule.

Then again, I find writing to be relaxing and a good way to de-stress. A way to get off my chest things that are on my mind in a healthy way. So my blog will be a vehicle for me to release stress. I have no plans for a particular topic, or even a range of topics. Here you are likely to find musings of any sort in a very informal manner. We'll see how regular I am after the first few weeks...