Three snagged nails, two busted knuckles and one minor breakdown later, the floors are in!! The nails and knuckles don't require further explanation, but you're probably wondering about the minor breakdown. I started on the floors as soon as I got home from a full day of work on Friday. Jon had been working since about 3:00 that afternoon and by the time I got home, he already had one section of the carpet and padding torn out. It was about midnight by the time we got finished laying the floor in the living room and started to move the furniture back. (We had to do the floor in two sections as we had to move the furniture back and forth).
My back was aching, my arms and legs were sore and I was exhausted. I was helping Jon lift the heavier than a hippo entertainment center back into the living room when I snapped because I just could not summon the strength to lift the damn thing. I burst into tears and exclaimed, "I'm not a man, Jon, I shouldn't have to do this!" I ran into the bedroom, had a good cry for a few minutes and then sheepishly made my way back into the living room where we devised a system of towels to slide it across our new floors. Thankfully it worked and we were able to get the rest of the furniture moved back that night.
We woke up around 10:00 AM on Saturday morning after finally getting to bed at 1:30 AM the night prior. I made us a big breakfast of homemade sausage gravy over biscuits to give us lots of energy before getting to work. After breakfast, Jon ran out to Home Depot to pick up another box of bamboo and other supplies and I was left to put all of our DVDs away and to get started on the dining room demo. As Jon walked out the door, he jokingly said, "I expect to see concrete floors by the time I return." In return, I sarcastically replied, "I'll see what I can do!" Well, I showed him! I organized the DVDs, moved out all of the furniture (our bar, wine towers and table), tore out the carpet and padding and had just started removing the carpet tacks from the floor when he returned. He was pleasantly surprised!
We didn't finish everything up until about 8:00 PM that night. The actual laying of the planks is quite easy, but you have to factor in the cutting and trimming of planks and the time it takes to fit everything together. Then there's the molding that goes around the baseboard and the cutting of that and really, the time just flies by. The floors look so fabulous though and were well worth all of the time it took! I'm so proud of us...we did it! Lola isn't very pleased that we took away her warm, fuzzy carpet, but I have plenty of blankets and beds around for her to lay on. And you know what else is great? Our condo smells fabulous! I love the smell of fresh cut wood, and while I know that it won't last, I'm sure the carpet was harboring odors so it's just good to get that out!
Now, for the before and after photos. Excuse the clutter because we had to pull everything out to move it!
Our living room before:
Our dining room before:
Lola checking things out:
Half-way there:
Jon measuring the final piece:
Our living room after (still in need of a little tidying up though!)
Our dining room after:
What do you guys think? I'm thrilled with the end result!
