Friday, May 8, 2009

Day 2- The Floorening


I got home (had to work a half day) and found that Daddy (with Nutmeg helping, but only when power tools were not in use) was just fitting the biggest piece into place, having measured and cut and jiggered and figured for a couple of hours. I drilled the holes and screwed that piece to the floor joists while he went outside to cut "the easy piece", the one that was exactly rectangular.

Fitting one small piece carefully. . .

One of my jobs was to use a wood chisel to get glued on traces of particle board off the joists. The chemical combo of particle board/glue/water had made a hardwood that I feel sure could withstand the weight of an elephant. I used a belt sander in a few places.

This is the piece that took us most of the afternoon. It's hard (and boring) to explain, but because of the way floors and walls are done in mobile homes, we had to chip, chip, chip at the back edge where this piece was to go till I finally got it to fit about 6:30, after I had sent my poor exhausted father home around 5. Mother called a couple of times wondering if he was ever going to quit for the day. It was just so frustrating to be so close, but not quite there yet! I lured him away with a peach smoothie and told him not to come back until tomorrow! It was nice to be able to call him and tell him "I did it!"

The end of the work day, Friday. All subfloor is fitted and screwed (I was on my knees screwing half the afternoon!), small spaces between pieces have been filled with wood compound and the whole thing has been swept and is ready for sanding. Daddy will likely do most of that, as I tend to gouge with the belt sander- I just get so excited! Tools! Doing things! At my command! Wheeeee!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Replacing part of the floor in the master bath- day one











So, since half of our home is a manufactured home (OMG! TRAILER!), the floor is particle board. And when particle board gets wet, it get soft. And floors by tubs/showers so often do get wet. . . . And more soft, until finally there's no more floor, only a big hole by the bath tub that Matt actually stepped into last month. Also, our home was manufactured in 1972, so of course the whole place is carpeted, including bathrooms, excluding kitchen. Today, Daddy and I pulled up half the carpet in the master bath, ripped up the subfloor, began bracing the (thank goodness quite unsoggy!) floor joists and just for fun, removed the toilet to fix a small but constant leak. We ran into lots of exciting challenges, learned some things about What Lies Beneath and generally met The Day and made it ours. More to do tomorrow, but we're quite pleased with our progress thus far.

You'll notice that in addition to the mod, mod, mod carpet through the whole house, our groovy seventies home also has paneling throughout. Dark paneling. I'm going to paint the bathroom this summer! (I say that every summer, so surely I will get it done one of these times, right?)

About Me

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I work for the Los Alamos County Library System and have for 16+ years. I teach at Pajarito Environmental Education Center and direct the children's choir at the UU church. I'm married and childfree by choice,