What did you do today?

[highup]

If you have the first rows in and are ready to get moving along..... after cleanup on isle 4, time to light the BBQ and pop a cold one.
Tomorrow you have a place to just get going instead of fiddling around. The starting and lineup is the hardest part. Be sure the end joints are fully locked, ......so just saying don't go 100 mph and get too comfortable. 27 is about right.

 

[Tom Picciani]

I just started doing that. And I am using the scrap to hit against. Noticed a spot or two with a slightly damaged edge. But they are under the area where the tv will go. Quitting for now. Going out and need a shower!

Ribs tonight!

 

[Tom Picciani]

Btw, the Hercules miter saw from Harbor Freight is incredible! I put a 96 tooth laminate blade on it. Cuts planks like butter!

 

[Tom Picciani]

6 rows. Time to stop and let my knees recover. And yes, I’m using knee pads!

 

[highup]

The kneeling position isn't normal for most people. .........getting older it still isn't always a cake walk. That's why I keep my days short.
.......well, when I have days. More blanks in the calendar than work days by far.
Looking good Tom.

 

[havasu]

I picked up two more plastic wicker chairs, so we can do some entertaining in the backyard.

 

[Floorist]

I picked up two more plastic wicker chairs, so we can do some entertaining in the backyard.View attachment 9512

Where's the keg?

 

[zannej]

Tom, seems like you're making progress. Sorry to hear your dog may have had a seizure but glad he's ok. I watched a long video on flooring installation that I found helpful.


Although, I wonder if instead of shims, you could put boards or something wider that is the right thickness along the wall temporarily so when you tap it will hit something solid & not move. I saw other videos that said if it moves you can put painter's tape on top to use to help grip. I've also seen tips to place the boxes of flooring on top of the first few rows once they are down to weigh them down & hold them flat.

When I get around to doing my floor, I'm wondering if it would be bad to do almost a grid I snap chalk lines where each row should end- but I suspect that is overkill.

I just finished emptying all the trash cans in the house, cleaning up a ton of trash on the floor that spilled over (and that my brother just threw on the floor bc he was too lazy to take the trash out), swept the floor, put a bunch of stuff away, cleaned the counters, and dragged the full trash bags to the front room. I went outside once to take one out but the heat just about did me in. When I was messing with one of the bags I heard a strange noise, looked down & found the tip of an empty whipped cream container poked a hole in the bag & it got pushed so it was letting out the air & making noise. I think I filled about 4 trash bags but I still have more to do bc I procrastinated too long (kept hoping my brother would actually keep his promise & clean up-- and my back wasn't cooperating). I left the room to go to the bathroom, found the roll of papertowels on the floor with claw marks and the fat cat was on the counter where they had been sitting on some shredded paper towels. I also wiped down the outsides of the trash cans & the side of the refrigerator where the trash had rubbed up against it. I really need to thoroughly clean the refrigerator better later on but I needed a break. I couldn't find my damn pipe cutter & I lost some of the PVC pieces I was going to use bc the bag ripped open & they fell out in the yard. I found some of them, but I need to look in the car & around to see if I can find the rest of them. Worst case I can go buy more if need be. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken & am ready for a nap. I always need naps after eating bc I get very tired for some reason. I wish I had more energy, but even with my thyroid meds I still have fatigue. At least my back was cooperating this time. I am so glad I have the large dustpan with long handle so I don't have to bend as much.

If my back is cooperating after my nap, I'll try to finish cleaning up the kitchen more. Usually the trash cans are too heavy for me to lift, but this time it was mostly empty boxes, plastic bags, & lighter junk. If my back is not cooperating, I'll continue searching for construction stuff for the laundry room. I'm going to need some new wall panels for two of the walls bc the stuff that is on there right now absolutely sucks & is falling apart. Problem is, they don't seem to make them taller than a little under 8' and my walls are almost 9' tall. I'll have about a 1' gap. So I'll need some tall baseboard & some sort of molding at the top. In the rest of the house, there is no baseboard, but there is some sort of 1/2" thick boards that run horizontally on the very upper part of the wall & there is 1" shoe molding on top of that (to simulate crown molding). I'm hoping the walls that will be behind the washer & dryer are in good enough shape that I can just sand & paint them.

Havasu, those are nice chairs. I like the cupholder end-table and the little bar area. I wish the weather her was amenable to outdoor areas like that. Too hot and damp all the time. If I lived somewhere cooler & dryer I'd love to have an outdoor bbq area like that.

Time for my nap.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Got back from Texas Roadhouse. Food was good; but not as good as Smokey Bones. Ate too much before main meal came.

Reassembled row 5. One plank had edge damage. Set it aside for use in closet or doorway. Reinstalled row 6 and quit.

Going to play with IPad for a while and hit the sack.

I’ve been volunteered to cook burgers and dogs tomorrow. No big deal.

Planning on going 1 row past fireplace tiles. Then I’ll secure the opposite side of the floor and work towards the back wall. I need to get the couch over to the other side of the room.

Is there any problem rolling it over the edge? Will cardboard protect the locking edge?

 

[Tom Picciani]

Tom, seems like you're making progress. Sorry to hear your dog may have had a seizure but glad he's ok. I watched a long video on flooring installation that I found helpful.


Although, I wonder if instead of shims, you could put boards or something wider that is the right thickness along the wall temporarily so when you tap it will hit something solid & not move. I saw other videos that said if it moves you can put painter's tape on top to use to help grip. I've also seen tips to place the boxes of flooring on top of the first few rows once they are down to weigh them down & hold them flat.

When I get around to doing my floor, I'm wondering if it would be bad to do almost a grid I snap chalk lines where each row should end- but I suspect that is overkill.

I just finished emptying all the trash cans in the house, cleaning up a ton of trash on the floor that spilled over (and that my brother just threw on the floor bc he was too lazy to take the trash out), swept the floor, put a bunch of stuff away, cleaned the counters, and dragged the full trash bags to the front room. I went outside once to take one out but the heat just about did me in. When I was messing with one of the bags I heard a strange noise, looked down & found the tip of an empty whipped cream container poked a hole in the bag & it got pushed so it was letting out the air & making noise. I think I filled about 4 trash bags but I still have more to do bc I procrastinated too long (kept hoping my brother would actually keep his promise & clean up-- and my back wasn't cooperating). I left the room to go to the bathroom, found the roll of papertowels on the floor with claw marks and the fat cat was on the counter where they had been sitting on some shredded paper towels. I also wiped down the outsides of the trash cans & the side of the refrigerator where the trash had rubbed up against it. I really need to thoroughly clean the refrigerator better later on but I needed a break. I couldn't find my damn pipe cutter & I lost some of the PVC pieces I was going to use bc the bag ripped open & they fell out in the yard. I found some of them, but I need to look in the car & around to see if I can find the rest of them. Worst case I can go buy more if need be. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken & am ready for a nap. I always need naps after eating bc I get very tired for some reason. I wish I had more energy, but even with my thyroid meds I still have fatigue. At least my back was cooperating this time. I am so glad I have the large dustpan with long handle so I don't have to bend as much.

If my back is cooperating after my nap, I'll try to finish cleaning up the kitchen more. Usually the trash cans are too heavy for me to lift, but this time it was mostly empty boxes, plastic bags, & lighter junk. If my back is not cooperating, I'll continue searching for construction stuff for the laundry room. I'm going to need some new wall panels for two of the walls bc the stuff that is on there right now absolutely sucks & is falling apart. Problem is, they don't seem to make them taller than a little under 8' and my walls are almost 9' tall. I'll have about a 1' gap. So I'll need some tall baseboard & some sort of molding at the top. In the rest of the house, there is no baseboard, but there is some sort of 1/2" thick boards that run horizontally on the very upper part of the wall & there is 1" shoe molding on top of that (to simulate crown molding). I'm hoping the walls that will be behind the washer & dryer are in good enough shape that I can just sand & paint them.

Havasu, those are nice chairs. I like the cupholder end-table and the little bar area. I wish the weather her was amenable to outdoor areas like that. Too hot and damp all the time. If I lived somewhere cooler & dryer I'd love to have an outdoor bbq area like that.

Time for my nap.

Instead of shims, I started 4 rows away from the wall, mainly to avoid cutting the pieces around the fireplace. I wanted a substantial mass of planks so when I laid flooring beside the tiles I would know they are straight.

I sacrificed a plank to make a storyboard. I have 7 borders to deal with, 9 if you count the end points in the hallway doors. And 2 closets!

To space around the fireplace tiles, I am using 4 wedges, 1/2 inches. The baby threshold requires 1/2 inch space.

Anxious to get my living room back. Started 7 weeks ago. I think I’ll be done with flooring in a week or so. Then baseboard. Then new stair treads.

 

[highup]

I need to get the couch over to the other side of the room.

Is there any problem rolling it over the edge? Will cardboard protect the locking edge?

Snap in a couple of scrap pieces or end cuts and roll onto those. It probably won't damage them, but good to play it safe.

 

[highup]

I picked up two more plastic wicker chairs, so we can do some entertaining in the backyard.View attachment 9512

Those are nice, Hav. .......about the keg?

 

[havasu]

I have that little bar fridge stocked full of domestic and imported beers, but other than a glass of beer maybe once a month, I'd rather have a glass of wine. In fact, those little tables around the patio area were designed by a friend to hold a bottle of wine on one side, and on the other side of the table it will lock in two wine glasses. Yeah, mama likes her wine and me....I'd rather have a glass of ice tea.

 

[havasu]

Speaking of vinyl planks, last week I hired two young professionals for a week to install vinyl flooring throughout my house. I laid it directly over the existing 20x20 tile, but feathered thinset into the joints, then used a diamond blade to level everything perfectly. They installed 2000 sq ft of the vinyl planks and also installed 480 line feet of new baseboards. These guys were professional as they come, worked all day. I just bought them a nice lunch and had cold cokes and water for them. I pulled the toilets then reset them once they finished the area. I also was responsible for caulking and filling in all the nail holes and caulking the tops of the baseboards. Since the bedrooms had carpeting, they leveled the floors using either 5/8ths or 1/2" plywood to match the existing floor, then used Mapei 995 as a glue/water membrane for the concrete floor, then shot concrete nails 8" on center. Now, I have full wall to wall flooring with no thresholds, and they even went into all closets, moving all furniture out of the way. We absolutely love the finished product.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Speaking of vinyl planks, last week I hired two young professionals for a week to install vinyl flooring throughout my house. I laid it directly over the existing 20x20 tile, but feathered thinset into the joints, then used a diamond blade to level everything perfectly. They installed 2000 sq ft of the vinyl planks and also installed 480 line feet of new baseboards. These guys were professional as they come, worked all day. I just bought them a nice lunch and had cold cokes and water for them. I pulled the toilets then reset them once they finished the area. I also was responsible for caulking and filling in all the nail holes and caulking the tops of the baseboards. Since the bedrooms had carpeting, they leveled the floors using either 5/8ths or 1/2" plywood to match the existing floor, then used Mapei 995 as a glue/water membrane for the concrete floor, then shot concrete nails 8" on center. Now, I have full wall to wall flooring with no thresholds, and they even went into all closets, moving all furniture out of the way. We absolutely love the finished product.View attachment 9513 View attachment 9514 View attachment 9515 View attachment 9516 View attachment 9517 View attachment 9518 View attachment 9519 View attachment 9520

Very nice!

 

[Tom Picciani]

More progress. Going to stop here and lock down this edge. Then I’ll work towards the other wall

 

[zannej]

Havasu, it looks beautiful! I like your furniture. Caulking baseboards is another thing I will need to remember to do when I put them up in my bathroom. For the laundry room it's going to be more complex because my ceilings are almost 9' high but the wall panels they sell are just under 8' so I'll need some baseboard at top & bottom to hide gaps. I think my current wall panels don't have baseboards at the bottom, but they have thin tall baseboard/molding at the top w/ shoe molding on the ceiling.
Cute doggie!
I also prefer wine over beer but I only drink a little once every few months & always in very small amounts. I did prefer tea but I had to stop drinking it bc of my damn kidney stones. They have been working their way down & irritating me. But, the fact that they are working their way down means they aren't stuck so I should be glad about that.

Tom, your progress looks good-- and your dog is cute too.

Trying to work around my cats & dogs is going to be interesting when we get to the laundry reno. I have some that will jump on my back if I bend down. Both the cats & the dogs want to inspect everything so I'll have to try to find a way to keep them out of the area. I suppose if push comes to shove, I could put the dogs in the living room & lock the cats in the front room.

I ended up being so exhausted that after I made dinner for Mom, I slept all night. Woke up early to my brother bringing me a chocolate milkshake. I think it was his way of thanking me for cleaning. He gets good hours at work. His supervisors are trying to make sure he doesn't re-injure himself & they care about his health. His allergies were so bad last week that his eyes were puffy. One eye was a lot puffier than usual so they had their on-staff medics look at him & then insisted that he get it checked by his doctor to make sure it was allergies & not anything contagious. Doctor wasn't supposed to be in the day he went but he came in bc there were quite a few walk-ins. He got it checked out & confirmed it was allergies. My bro has one supervisor who is a nice guy but doesn't always understand how cooking works & what people need to do so he kind of gets in the way at times. He was saying my brother needed to do something when he was in the middle of doing something else that needed to be done & my brother got a little short with him & told him he would have to find someone to do what he was currently doing if he wanted him to go do the other task right then. The guy started to argue, then actually looked at his face & stopped talking. He then went to another employee to ask if my brother was OK & she told him it was severe allergies & after that the supervisor was extra nice to him & offered to help with things. He's still a lot happier there than he ever was at his previous job. Nobody really slacks off, people generally know what they are doing, if they mess up they get called out, & he gets along well with the chefs. They let him experiment with new recipes during downtime as well. They want to use some of his recipes as one-day specials to see if customers like it. They've already started using some of his modifications-- like a different cheese sauce for the Mac N Cheese, & different seasoning/breading for the onion straws.

Today I will have to pick up some prescriptions, swing by & drop off a wireless network card for my friend to use on Mom's computer so he doesn't have to worry about the dog trying to chew the ethernet cord, & see if he ever got around to working on his roof (I loaned him my new collapsible ladder). I'm just trying to get myself to wake up a bit more first. I'll also try to do some more cleaning.

 

[Floorist]

We have ceramic in kitchen, bath and utility. I hate that stuff. Sometime this fall, I am going to rip it out. It hurts my feet and back. My son slipped and fell on it last week.

 

[highup]

Wow, Hav, those guys worked their tails off. That's a lot for a week, even more so getting that much base installed. Assuming you moved the furniture?

 

[zannej]

Rusty, I hope your son wasn't hurt when he fell. I'm not a fan of tile to begin with. All that grout & it tends to be slippery. Stuff is more likely to break. Stuff breaks on my hardwood floor sometimes, so I got a few Anti-fatigue mats. Have on in front of the microwave, one in front of the sink, and one in front of the stove. One of them is Norsk brand but they stopped selling those at Sams'club so the other two are KitchenAid & they pretty much feel identical. They are 3/4" thick & cost about $20 each. I used to shudder at a mat costing that much, but compared to other mats that is pretty cheap. The KitchenAid ones are antimicrobial. Even if you put in laminate or wood, they are worth getting. They saved some glass bowls from breaking when cats knocked them off the counter.