Tag Archives: flooring

A baseboard jigsaw puzzle.

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After the floor was laid and all the new moulding was stained, it was time to arrange the living room jigsaw puzzle.

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I say that because if you’ve ever stained multiple pieces of 10 foot moulding you’ll know they don’t all turn out the same due to variations in the wood.

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Same moulding. Same stain. Totally different grain.

This makes matching and blending a bit of a challenge.

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It had to match an existing door…

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And this slab under the cabinet.

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It’s not easy. And when you use up all the good pieces?

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You hide the bad ones behind a couch.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten kept a close eye on the proceedings from his temporary perch on a stick vacuum I bought and then returned. You know what $249 gets you these days? A horrible piece of plastic junk.

Think I’ll have to suck it up… no pun intended… and buy a Dyson.

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Living room flooring – done!

Living room moulding – done!

All that was left was putting the room back together.

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After some serious cleaning that is.

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There are too many choices!

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Floor shopping continues and the other day I decided to check out some solid hardwoods.

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As usual I brought my trusty sample piece of broken trim to color coordinate shades. This cherry had potential…

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And while this Acacia was spot on for color…

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It was way too wild in application.

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This oak looked promising…

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But turned red in a hurry.

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Cumaru?

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Never heard of it, but it looks too much like a checkerboard for my taste.

And since I don’t want to replace this floor right now…

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I’m leaning towards something with a bit of grey in the tone as it will butt up against the kitchen in two spots.

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Which is why I keep coming back to this one.

Thoughts?

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And then there was a floor.

 

Life got in the way of the baby barn floor project for a while, but as soon as the temperatures reached the 90’s again? The husband dragged me back out there.

 

 

Zip boards were laid.

 

 

Walked on.

 

 

Pondered over.

 

 

And taken back up.

 

 

But you’ll be happy to know no toads were hurt during this process.

 

 

The pondering continued for quite a while.

 

 

And yes, coverage was less than perfect.

 

 

But the jigsaw puzzle neared completion.

 

 

And mowers were returned to their home…

 

 

As was the generator we bought 30 years ago, used twice and costs us more than it’s worth to repair every few years because someone just knows we’ll need it eventually.

 

 

Of course the installation of said floor raised the level above ground a wee bit.

 

 

So dirt that was hauled to the far reaches of the property had to be returned.

 

 

But by the end of the day it was done and items were stored away.

Until the husband realized he’d forgotten to lay the rubber mats.

We had 4.

I told him we needed at least 4 more and they’d have to be cut to fit.

 

 

Which is when he took everything out of the barn, laid 4 mats in the middle and called it good.

 

 

King of half assed projects, that’s my man.

And then there was wood.

But you probably guessed that from the first picture.

 

More specifically it was 16 foot long boards that weighed a ton and had to be dragged out of the big barn and across the lawn with yours truly trying my best not to drop them on her toes.

 

 

Of course it would have been too easy if they’d fit in the 16 foot long spaces. Where’s the fun in that? No… each one had to be measured and cut around the wonky interior frame.

 

 

After tar paper was laid out.

Why tar paper? Because the husband wanted a moisture barrier… but more importantly, because he already had two ancient rolls buried in the garage.

 

 

What was holding down the tar paper as we attempted to fit the boards you ask?

Absolutely nothing.

Good times.

 

 

Was it hot?

A mere 92 degrees in the shade.

 

 

Vintage tools and make shift tables?

Check.

 

 

Did he have enough boards?

Not really.

 

 

Were they all the same width?

Of course not.

 

 

Did he care?

I seriously doubt it.