When he called our local Ace Hardware rental counter to reserve a nailer (manual type), they told him he would be done in less than 24 hours, so not to worry about reserving it for day two. Well, apparently that is their little way of amusing themselves on an otherwise boring day, because not only did it take more than the proscribed 24 hours, it also took an additional 36 hours. Part of that was down time when he had to take it back to be fixed because of being jammed up. They didn't charge us for the extra six or so hours over the second day.
Now, I don't know about your husband or boyfriend or partner, but when my DH is doing home improvement projects, there's generally lots of cussing going on. Usually because his thumb is throbbing from a direct hammer hit, or he's bleeding profusely from some lethal blade contraption. For some reason, I always feel as if I should apologize every five minutes even though I had nothing to do with the injuries. A few choice curse words are reserved for things that go wrong. He's a perfectionist, what can I say, there are always things that go wrong in his eyes. Like the board that I picked out to go down next and it was an inch shy of the six inches of spacing recommended by the manufacturer. An inch. He didn't really yell or curse at me, but I could see it in his eyes, yes indeedy.
By the time he finished restaining the baseboard and putting it back on and I touched up a couple of dings in the new paint job that I did a few weeks prior, it took five days to complete. But we're happy with the results, we think. The first time we had the family over for dinner we realized why people who have hardwood floors always have rugs down. It's very loud and echo-y in there. I voiced out loud that maybe it would be a good idea to buy a rug to absorb some of the sound. Now the room is only 11 1/2 feet by 13 1/2 feet, so by the time you get a rug large enough to accommodate a table with two leaves and eight chairs, that doesn't leave a lot of wood showing. I got a resounding "No way!" from DH. No way was he going to cover up all that hard work. So I guess I'll have to get used to sounding like we're in a barrel.
He is having second thoughts about installing wood in our living room which is twice as large as the dining room. We're thinking a nice brownish (goes well with the kid droppings and the muddy dog paws) short shag that's popular these days.
Today's lagniappe: (For those not familiar with Louisiana culture, lagniappe means a little something extra.)
You know the old saying "Look before you leap"? Well, sometimes you need to look before you pour. Especially early in the morning when it's your first cuppa.
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Yeah, that was after I drank the whole cup!
32 comments:
Tell your husband he did a bang up job. That is one gorgeous floor. You could bowl on it!
Hey, Cali Girl, thanks! I'll relay your message. That's the kind of bowling lane I need. Short!
the floor looks fantastic so yay for a wondeful husband that is able to DIY like that.
but whoa!! glad you looked.
Thanks, Char! He is a great guy.
Unfortunately, I looked after I leaped. bleh!
Wow, Susan! Gorgeous job! It was well worth the time and trouble!
Why is it that jobs that should not take so long take much, much longer? Whenever my DH tell me that the project he's working on will only take the morning, I usually count on 2 full days! Then, if I'm wrong, we get bonus time together... but I'm usually not wrong!
Literally, I got chills down my back when I saw that spider!
I'm gonna look at my cups and mugs much more carefully from now on!
I was really enjoying this post until that lagniappe.
But your DR floor looks great! Really like the colour, too. I'm sure you'll get used to the sound. I rather like the sound of footsteps on hardwood - though not from the floor beneath.
But, I am truly impressed with the number of outlets seen in those photos. Jealous, I am. I don't have that many in my whole living/dining/kitchen. and bathroom.
Eeeeewwwwww! Yuck yuck yuck! Oh I got shivers too, bleh bleh bleh, spit spit spit. Oh that is so gross. Hahahaha.
I smiled through this whole post, what a wicked sense of humor you have. Hehehe.
The floor is beeeeaaauuuutiful, as I expected it would be. And the wall colors are just lovely, and the art on the walls and yes all those outlets, wow. So you'll sound echo-y. What to do what to do. Live with it, I guess. At least you can wipe up spills easily. Tell the DH it looks mahvelous.
Thanks CG! I know, those jobs always take longer because we're not professionals. We had the "pros" install the wood in our upstairs hallway and it didn't take them as long, but David's work looks like a lot more caring went into it.
Yeah, that spider was quite a surprise at 5:30 a.m.!
Sanna, you should have been here when I saw what was in the bottom of my cup!
Thank you, I really like the color, too. It has a really warm feeling. Unfortunately it's not just footsteps that are loud in there. I can handle footsteps. It's the voices! Lots of little kid voices and adult voices trying to talk over them. It just bounces around everywhere. And since the room is small with only 2 door openings, it all stays right in there. My head was spinning by the time we finished dinner.
Ironically, we have all those outlets in the DR, but I have absolutely nothing plugged into them! Maybe I could loan you a couple.
Yes, I did rather wonder why anyone would need that many outlets in a dining room, with an overhead chandelier!!
I would be content with 3 of them, thanks.
Ruthie, that poor spider drowned in hot liquid just so I could make a post about him! Wasn't that nice of him?
Thank you! I keep going in there just to look at David's handiwork. He really can do most anything if he sets his mind to it. Most of the time we have to hire someone, because he just doesn't have the time. He's really proud of the job he did as he should be. I love walking barefoot on the floor. It feels so warm. And it really is easy to take care of.
I can see yoga, Pilates, or just lying around on pillows. Quiet would be very cool in there. It would be echo-y quiet.
The floor looks amazing! The coffee cup-not so much :)
Thanks, Tipper! What's really amazing is that I didn't spew hot coffee all over the room when I saw what was in the bottom of the cup!
Ooo la la! That's one beautiful floor! Give that handy guy of yours a big kiss. We have hardwoods throughout our house, so I can relate to the noise factor. My hubby's not handy enough to tackle that project. I wouldn't trade them for anything (floors or hubby).
Yikes, did that spider lay eggs in your cup?
Thank you, Cindy! He got several big kisses and a lots of praising for a job well done!
Those weren't eggs, bubbles, I think. If they had been eggs, I probably would never have drank coffee again! bleh!
Hey Sis, Your floors are very pretty, hope you love yours as much as I love mine. I think the color is just about the same as mine also.
NOW THAT SPIDER........ that is something else.... OMG I am just without words on that one... lol
Judy
Seeing this spider reminded me of something that happened to me as a child. I was taking a nap on a warm summer afternoon. When I awoke I found a large... well it was probably smaller than I remember... spider neatly laid out inside my belly button. Freaky!
EWWWWWWWWWW. (the spider not the floor)
Love the floors, I would hate to cover them up with rugs or carpet, but I'd think you'd like to protect them too. He did a beautiful job.
When I heard the words "look before you pour", I thought of my recent "pour", which was a bottle of liquid shoe polish in BLACK, on my bedroom carpet, which is off-white/cream colored. Yeah, it's not pretty. After four days of shampooing and re-shampooing, it finally looks like I took my muddy shoes off next to my bed, instead of the whole bottle of shoe polish.
{sigh}. Maybe hardwood would endure better.
(there was cussing)
I don't know from whom.
Thank you, Judy! I really love the shiny warmth of the wood and it's so easy to clean.
Yeah, the spider was a little crazy, even for tough old me!
Love ya! See you Monday!
Cindy, did that belly button spider leave any lasting trauma? Wow! You should have one tattoed there as a memento! :)
Oh, yikes, Jackee! Nothing like a lot of black shoe polish on white carpet to cause MAJOR cussing! Hey, if you have any leftover carpet pieces, you might be able to cut that spot out and replace it. I've read it's not that hard to do. Of course, if it doesn't work then you've got a big old hole in your carpet. Hmmmmm! Time to call in the experts?
Haha! Your husband sounds exactly like mine when he is working on something! I too feel vaguely guilty for some unknown reason. I guess it is the innate peacemaker in me. :)V
Vanessa, thanks for coming over!
I think most men are like that when they're working on home improvement projects!
The floor looks great! My hubby is like yours though, a perfectionist.. sometimes he will take it all apart and start over. So hard to watch. I recommend drinking wine and baking with the tv on loud enough to drown him out.
So funny about the spider. I am still traumatized by an earwig climbing out of my Raisin Bran when I was a child.. still can't eat that stuff.
Hi Susan, its good to be back after a weeks break! Wow, that floor really does DH proud( even with all the setbacks), shining to perfecion! You are right about the sound, but you do get used to it- I scatter a few small rugs to absorb some of the noise.
Hope the spider brings you luck!
Hi Natashya! Yeah, a bottle of wine would have been just the ticket! I'll remember that when we start on the living room. And I'll visit your blog to get the recipes!
Hey Delphine! I hope you had a wonderful holiday! My DH is in your neck of the woods right now. He's in Avignon and Marseilles on business.
Oh, I hope I didn't ruin my luck by throwing out the drowned spider!
WOW!! What a gorgeous floor!! I would love a whole house of hardwood floors!!! :)
Hmmmm, it was nice of you to share your morning cuppa with that spider! Thank goodness it wasn't too large or it wouldn't have left much for you!!
I'm going through similar floor issues so I am throughly impressed with how wonderful that floor looks! ...and I think "under 24 hours" had to be unrealistic for anyone other than maybe a professional...enjoy that echo!
Glad you didn't take that last swallow!
Thanks, Tammy! One down and one to go. We're planning on putting linoleum in the kitchen, someday. We're trying to do each room as we can afford it.
Too much caffeine will kill ya every time!
Oliag, we're definitely not professionals, but really learned a lot doing our first floor. We sure learned to rent the automatic nailer and not the manual one!
I'm gradually getting used to the noise level in there. I'm not sure how it will be times 3!
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