THE FLOORING PROJECT--PART II: DOWNSTAIRS |
  | Day 1 Christine and I (but mainly Christine) strip paint from the hand railing to prep it for primer and eventually flat black paint. Day 2 With the help of Doug, we strip the carpeting and padding at 11 p.m. are done by 1 a.m. |
  | Day 3 All over the sub-floor are staples that hold down the padding. To prep the floor for the hardwood, these staples have to be removed. Any nails have to be pounded back into the plywood to create a smooth surface |
 | Additionally, once the base molding was removed, all the walls had to be scraped to remove the caulk bead so that the next strip of base molding will lie flat against the wall. That molding will be installed after the hardwood strips have been nailed down. Next the perimeter of the floor (especially around the walls) was scraped for paint drippings to ensure as smooth a surface as possible. |
 | Staples are all over, even on the treads and risers. We will likely face the risers with tiles, so these staples must also be removed. New 8-foot oak treads will replace these. |
 | Notice also that some plywood seams are uneven. These have to be either sanded or patched with a leveling compound before the wood flooring can be installed. |
 | Spenser seriously misses his carpet. |
 | Day 4 I don't know why the Stanley Kubric-style lighting is orange, but the upstairs sink vanity will be installed here. This is known as the Frankenstein wall of horrors. It took me over 3 hours to cut the drywall around these plumbing drains and valves. Days 5 & 6 were spent patching the seams with drywall mud. Purchased three 8-foot oak treads and four 4-foot treads for the stairs. Spent a good deal of time at the lumber yard finding unblemished stock. Fortunately Dad's truck was useful for hauling these back home. |
  | Day 5 Started painting primer on the stair railings. Spenser is still in a state of disbelief over losing his comfortable carpet. We'll have to find something equally soft for him to eat treats on. |
  | Day 6 Sanded bathroom vanity to prep for second "mudding" on Day 7. Cut edging spacers so that the bull nosing would sit flat and at a 90 degree angle with the half-wall in the living room. Sanded and re-spackled holes in half-wall where staples held the old carpeting. Then re-sanded the upper wall before texturing the upper wall so it will blend in with the lower half. Finished priming the metal stair railings. |
 | Day 7 Second mudding of bathroom vanity. Painted stair railings black. Painted half-wall. Created half-wall molding to go under/behind bull nosing
(I should be resting.) |
 | Day ?? I lost track of the days, but at this point, it's been over 2 weeks into the project. |
  |  | Some time during Fall 2005
The downstairs wood floors are mostly complete. We just need to move the bookcases back and a few other furniture items. |
  | Winter Recess 2005-06 Started to finish the master bathroom vanity. These pics are before the backsplash border. |
  | Christine and I spent about 5 hours designing, revising, and throwing away most of the patterns we sketched out before we finally chose this one for the border. Even then it went through 3 more revisions until we decided on this. Next, the grout will have to go in, but it's hard to notice that there is no grout between the lines. We will eventually tile the 3 walls, but the tile I bought over the weekend to match the countertop is too thick. |
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