Floors DONE!
Phew… it’s been a while but the floors are done! Actually the floors have been done for almost a week now, but took some extra time to finish off a commission which I will post up tomorrow so stick around for that. So I guess the last you heard from me I was just getting ready to pull up floors and getting the flu all at the same time. I was hoping that it was just a 24 hour type flu and that I would be good to go the next day after some rest. No dice.On Thursday I woke up with a full on flu. I was sweaty and chilled and achy and I felt like crap all over, but the flooring guy was coming on Saturday so I didn’t have time to be sick. So I took a hand full of drugs, grabbed my prybar and set out to tear out the kitchen floor (holy crap! My hand looks tiny!).
That was my job seeing as it was laminate floor over vinyl over linoleum on top of a second sub floor. Yeah… it sucked. I had two days to get it all up so I had no time to waste. I started to pull up what I could and found out that the cupboards were built on top of the second sub floor. This tells me it was laid down when the house was originally built.
I wasn’t interested in gutting my whole kitchen so Wife and I looked on-line for a saw that could cut around cupboards. We found one. It’s a specialty saw that is generally hard to find.
It’s called a toe kick saw and we where able to rent one at a local rent all. I was able to use that to make cuts all across the kitchen and up close to the cupboards and made the job a lot easier. And when I say a lot easier I mean, it still sucked and was hella hard work, but I can’t imagine how hard it would have been with out that tool. The old kitchen floor took two days to remove entirely.
With the kitchen a write off, we had to eat out for a total of six days. That sounds like fun, but trust me… it got old fast. We did eat some where different every night though. Dairy Queen, Kelsey’s, Jack Astors, All You can Eat Sushi, All you can eat Chinese and Subway. I was so happy to be able to eat my own food in my own house again.
During the ripping out of my old floors, I was sick. I never really forgot that because during that time I sweat so damn much. I’ve never sweat so much in my entire life. I made sure I was drinking lots of water but apparently that wasn’t enough. During the night I got a massive leg cramp due to dehydration. Also, at the end of the days, my body would just shut down. Literally. I remember sitting down to eat my supper the first night and my body wouldn’t let me and I fell asleep on the couch. That happened two nights in a row.
By Sunday I felt much better and was ready to go back to work seeing as we had removed the rest of the old floor during the weekend. That is until I got a full body rash. I then went to the clinic to make sure it wasn’t anything I could pass on to my co-workers. It wasn’t. I was just a viral infection I picked up by not resting properly when I was sick. Then I got sick again. By Tuesday I was laid out with a the flu again and a migraine and a floor installer hammering in new floor right above me. Ugh… that sucked so much.
But it’s all in and I feel better now. Next we have painters in on Friday and after that, a baseboard guy in to finish the job. I can’t wait till it’s all done and my house looks finished… finally.
Oh yeah, when I was pulling up the floors in one of the bed rooms I came across this. It looks like a paint splat of Cthulhu. This room had the floor totally disrespected with paint all over it and then carpet to cover it up. Maybe they where just trying to hide this bad omen. Thank god it’s gone now. ^_^
Play Asia
August 29th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
wow that sucks. glad you’re feeling better, and that your project is almost done. as my dad always says, to do one thing you have to do ten other things. yay commission tomorrow!
August 29th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Your hand doesn’t look all that small. In fact, my first impression of that picture was as though it was a snapshot from an fps-type game, and you were about to bash some boards with your melee weapon. Still gives me that impression.
Sorry to hear about your illness. It always sucks to be down with the **insert various illness here**, but it really puts being healthy in perspective. Well… it does for me, at least.
Glad to hear that you are well now, and also glad to have you back. Here’s a toast to a heathy next week (not necessarily excluding future weeks, but don’t plan that far in advance)! **raises a glass of very unhealthy adult beverage** Cheers!
August 29th, 2012 at 11:39 pm
Fudge! I forgot to ask something.
You have Dairy Queen where you live…?! I thought that was mostly (if not entirely) a mid-west USA thing (really had no idea that they were international). **Note that this is mostly a surprise response than a question. I trust that you have DQ, but am a bit taken aback.** I grew up with DQ being the only fast-food (and ice-cream joint) in my town, so it is a little close to my heart (from a nostalgic standpoint).
Anyway, sorry…. Carry on.
August 30th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Glad to hear from you again Joe. I was worried the flu had claimed you for a while.
I could always eat me a mess of Chinese food even though I’m sure the restaurants around here are not 100% authentic Chinese. Szechuan chicken is my favorite, and plenty of egg rolls.
August 30th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Oh. Your hand holding the prybar looks like a ‘Half-Life’ screenshot.
September 3rd, 2012 at 12:44 am
“In a world where repairs must be done, one man is left with only his wits and his trusty pry bar. Using this handy tool he must conquer the old floors; floors which have the powers of The Ancient One. He will face many obstacles, and must triumph if he is to be ready for the ‘Installers’ on Saturday.”
I read some of the comments and this little ‘movie pitch’ idea popped into my head. The pry bar picture does look like something from ‘Half-life’ or ‘Fallout 3’, so I couldn’t resist. Congrats on getting your new floors and I’m glad you are feeling better!