Almost a year ago we started a home project to reclaim a room from entropy; it seems fitting that it took this long to finish. With the help of good friends (knitters and knitting enablers) I demo-ed two walls ripped the floor down to the concrete pad, and put up new drywall. It took 10 months to rest up, and 6 months for BLING to sell her comic book collection, allowing us to finish the room.
It is important for me to digress here and direct your thoughts to BLING and her comic books. Selling this collection is like selling your stash; it held a lot of memories, and represented a different time in her life. Also, like S.A.B.L.E. (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) stash, it took up a cubic yard of space and was easily measurable as a percentage of a ton. Last weekend, with comic book money in hand, we went to Lowe's and bought DuPont Real Touch Laminate Flooring. This, my good friends, is a big deal. She did it willingly, and with a calm heart.
Back to the project! Last week BLING spent her evenings sanding and mudding the drywall (I promised to do cleanup in exchange). Friday, after dinner at Leena's (yummmm) we primed the walls and made our final shopping list. Saturday was painting day, two coats of "Lion" - which is more of a pale, warm, avocado green. With the walls dry and Sunday laid out before us like a promise, we began to lay the floor.
First thing off the bat, I rechecked my math for the amount of flooring we'd need. Anybody who was at my birthday where I completely #()*^! the check will not be surprised that I was off by one full box of laminate. So we started the day with a trip to Lowe's. The first row (left to right, under the window) was a breeze. The boards clicked together like they should and we only ran into one problem when we cut the end piece. The boards only fit together one way and I cut the needed length from the wrong end. It wasn't a big deal, we could start the next row with it and every thing was fine. The next row took 3 hours, one complete and total melt down on my part with crying, running nose and one well executed run through the house warbling about how I'm too fat to do anything well. Many of you will understand. In the middle of my fit BLING picked up all the pieces and put them away (she listened when I cried we'd have to hire the job out), I reconciled myself to a second attempt and discovered the boards were not where I left them. More crying, more hiding under the covers. I told myself it was OK to call the handyman next month and went back to the room and the boards were back down (she listened - again). Devastated that the offending boards were back on the floor I threw myself at them with an angry passion, determined to make them go together. I tried this way and that, I followed the directions to the T. They say to fit the short end into the plank to the left, lift the row up and click it to the first row with a sharp rap of the hand. I rapped and I hit and I slapped and I cussed and everything hurt and was wrong and miserable. Please remember that I was well into the 3rd hour and we had only 5 pieces down. BLING said "how about the rubber mallet"? "Why not" I thought, if I broke a board it could be the permission to stop that I was looking for.
Tap - the board clicked in place.
Tap - my sanity was restored
Tap - we would have a finished floor in 4 more hours
@$&*% Dupont, they left 4 words out of the instructions. It should read "click it to the first row with a sharp rap of the hand THAT IS HOLDING A RUBBER MALLET".
We celebrated Presidents Day by trimming out the room and moving all the stuff into it that was formerly in the "cat room". Once shelving is up in the new storage room (where we will also store the dogs during the day) we will have a lovely office/spinning/GUEST room! Are we proud? Yes! Will we do this again? Probably not.
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