house update, all about dem floors

How can we possibly be in the tail end of September??

sigh.

All of the interior doors upstairs

have been installed,

except for one.

(of course, they still need to be primed and painted.

so much painting....)

this is the door to the girls' room, taken from inside the boys' room

We figured out how we are going to trim the doors and windows.

Would you be surprised to find out 

that in order to get the look we want,

we'll have to piece things together?

(ready-made trim boards of the correct size 

are well out of our price range)

What's a little more work, right?!?

We ran all of the boards for window casings through the table saw

so they are ready to be primed.

Then we made a few painting sawhorses

and set up a drying station.

After finishing that,

we got a text from Dad that he could come down the 9th

to help us get started on the floors

so that's been the focus for the past few weeks.

We have more prep work than most;

Tyler has been sanding the joins in our subfloor

because they swelled from all of the rain we had 

when they first went in,

despite our best efforts to keep water from standing on them,

and

 the stupid drywallers hung the drywall only 1/4 - 1/2 inch 

off the (sub)floor

instead of 3/4 - 7/8"

like they should have,

so I've been crawling around

trimming the walls with a dremmel.

(and killing my back)

that - was a crappy day. It was one of those days where everything took too long & went wrong

We managed to have the living room and hall prepped

when Dad came 2 weeks ago

and now are done with the trimming and sanding 

in the entry / hall, hall closet, living room, kitchen, dining room, and pantry,

but have the rest of the downstairs to do still.

(besides our bedroom, since it'll be carpet)

and

we've finished installing the flooring

in the living room and the entry hall.

I'm loving it!!!!

(Tyler is remaining cautiously optimistic)

(Which is kinda funny - because we've reversed roles..)

(but he's right. They still need to be finished,

so there's still a chance we can ruin them...)

We want a floor with lots of character,

that looks like it's been there awhile - instead of newly installed,

so we bought 2/3 rustic and 1/3 select.

(We were afraid that 100% rustic

might have a tad too much character ;-)

And did I mention that the wood came from trees

grown in the Ozark Mountains??

{squeal}

Every time I open a new bundle,

it's like a digging in a treasure chest.

What wonderful graining or streak or knot will I find?

all the heart eyes!!!
Yes. we might ruin it. but right now - it.is.gorgeous.
And it feels so good under your feet.

Laying out flooring is basically just laying out a giant quilt,

and my dad assures me that no professional installer

would give that part the care and attention that I have.

(Even still there are a few pieces I'd have placed differently

if I'd have stepped back and looked. ah well.)

The second 'layer' isn't in any particular order - I just open several bundles at a time to see my options.
Yesterday, I opened 3 bundles, just to find one board with the characteristics I was looking for.

I actually installed a (49x56) section in the entryway

all by myself,

including hand nailing where needed.

(I'm especially proud of that part,

because I thought I would have to ask for help;

I've had difficulty in the past using an awl to sink a nail...)

Tyler said,

"You'll do anything for a badge"

bwahahaha

We picked up the rest of our flooring on Friday.

(Oh mercy! It was Bikes, Blues, and BBQ 

so there were thousands of motorcycles on the road.

I was so glad I wasn't driving!)

Pretty sure it will be plenty acclimatized

by the time we get the rest of the first trip's installed. 

So

that's where we're at.

We still have a little electric to do

and a few lights to install.

We're getting there.

But it's slow goin'....