Wood Floors and Tile

Many hands make light work. With my family, it's not hard to make a big job seem small. My original estimate to wood-floor completion was one day...but it was soon apparent that if I didn't have more help, I'd never get it done. So, thanks to my Dad, sisters, brothers, in-laws, and friends, we finally got it done!Five hundred sq ft of floor doesn't seem to big when it's all in boxes. But when you start unloading each box and moving across the floor only 3.5 inches at a time, the task becomes daunting. The first line of the wood floor was the most difficult...if it was off at all, then the rest of the floor would be off. After much calculation, we determined the straitest line possible and began to lay the floor. And just as we began finding a rythum, laying the floor quicker than Billy the Kid's draw on a hot summer day, we'd run into a weird angle or a corner, or some other distraction that took one hour to figure out. It turned out that most of the difficulty was in the hallway--and thanks to Ryan C's and Matthew A's expertise, they finished the really difficult stuff while, Dad, Ann, Nate, and I finished the office and began on the dining room: by this time we had almost reached perfection in floor laying. Our system was too good. We finished in 10 minutes. ha, ha, ha. While Ann and I picked what boards were to be laid in what order, Matthew and Nathan would pound the boards into place and staple them down. Meahwhile, Dad was taking measurements and making strategic cuts with the mitre saw. All said and done, all wood floor contractors would be proud...and worried.

Dad promised to stay to the "bitter end". The end didn't come until later that night, about 10pm to be precise. But oh, what a finish! It looks so good, and was the bowling alley for Kaya while she was in her cast. She really liked being pushed across the floor and spun in dizzying circles.

Now, we like to get up early in the morning just to look at the floors :).
















These hardwood floors are just so much better than the subfloor particle board substitute we were living with.



















The next adventure took place the next weekend with the tile. Again, the Andreasen's came and helped, as well as Tasha's parents from Durango, Colorado.


We finished grouting and tiling in one day and were able to call it quits early evening. We certainly live in the "projects"...but since everybody's help, we are able to call our house a home.