Happy August! Yep, August. WTH? Last time I looked it was May! It has been super busy until the last couple weeks, so I am not going to beat myself up for being absent here. This blog is my hobby after all. It's not a job, I make no money from it and putting stress on doing this only makes me run away from it. Why? Well, when we are expected to do something, sometimes we rebel against that something. I do admit to feeling guilt for not posting since February, but, hey, we been busy! ;-)
Back to the pretty stuff! We finally finished the floors! We started them in February, hence the hiatus, and Hubby finished up the fiddly bits in June. JUNE! Let me tell you, this project is not for the faint of heart. I can't even tell you how many times I broke down working on this one. Not to mention my back is still in recovery. Anywho, here is the finished floor:
Back to the pretty stuff! We finally finished the floors! We started them in February, hence the hiatus, and Hubby finished up the fiddly bits in June. JUNE! Let me tell you, this project is not for the faint of heart. I can't even tell you how many times I broke down working on this one. Not to mention my back is still in recovery. Anywho, here is the finished floor:
AND we also had a new front door installed! The previous black hole in the living room is no more!
The flooring flows throughout the entire house save the two bathrooms. Both bathrooms will receive full upgrades to ceramic tile in the future, just not now. We need a serious break from flooring for a good minute... :-)
This flooring is by COREtec, 5 inch Plank in Rocky Mountain Oak. It was a bit touchy at first learning the click-lock on this particular product, but after realizing we could run the flooring in both directions with no issues, we were sold. Just being able to install this flooring in any direction allowed us to flow the flooring from room to room with no thresholds. One of the best attributes of this flooring is the fact that it is waterproof throughout. This floor will not absorb water and warp like laminate. Believe me, after a washing machine overflow in our first house, we learned quickly just how bad laminate reacts to water. NOT GOOD. May sound gross, but if you have animals, especially a cat (or two), cleaning up after the occasional hairball incident is soooooo much easier now! LOL!
This flooring is by COREtec, 5 inch Plank in Rocky Mountain Oak. It was a bit touchy at first learning the click-lock on this particular product, but after realizing we could run the flooring in both directions with no issues, we were sold. Just being able to install this flooring in any direction allowed us to flow the flooring from room to room with no thresholds. One of the best attributes of this flooring is the fact that it is waterproof throughout. This floor will not absorb water and warp like laminate. Believe me, after a washing machine overflow in our first house, we learned quickly just how bad laminate reacts to water. NOT GOOD. May sound gross, but if you have animals, especially a cat (or two), cleaning up after the occasional hairball incident is soooooo much easier now! LOL!
When I mentioned the fiddly bits earlier, I was talking about areas around doorways where we were left with small gaps. This is due to the click-lock nature of the flooring. You always need to give yourself space to lift up the piece of flooring you are installing to fit the tongue into the groove. Hubby filled the small gaps with matching wood putty that flexes a bit. It works well enough and you can barely see it unless you get down on your hands and knees to look. Man, I hope no one does that at our next party! LOL!
The other issue was HVAC floor vents. Since we went with a fairly light oak color flooring, we were able to purchase off the shelf oak vents that match pretty well...
The other issue was HVAC floor vents. Since we went with a fairly light oak color flooring, we were able to purchase off the shelf oak vents that match pretty well...
There are tutorials on the COREtec website and plenty of YouTube video tutorials out there if you are interested in this product. I won't go through the entire process, but I will show you what state our subfloor was in:
Yeah, there was A LOT of hand planing of swollen subfloor. This particle subfloor is the entire reason we went with a floating floor instead of real hardwood. We had two contractors give us quotes and the better of the two refused to attach anything to this subfloor. He said he would just float the floor and if he was doing that, we may as well install it ourselves. NOT what I wanted to hear (my aching back!), but I was impressed with his honesty. Oh well, it's done now!
And look how purdy!
And look how purdy!
Thank you for hanging in there with me! I am currently on a lifestyle-changing journey and am giving myself space to allow health and wellness to flow to the forefront. If I am absent from this little corner of the web, I hope you will understand!
It's not that some people have will power and some don't, it's that some people are ready to change and others are not.
-Carl Sandburg
Well, I'm ready to live a healthier, happier life WITH new floors! ;-)
Cheers!
M J
It's not that some people have will power and some don't, it's that some people are ready to change and others are not.
-Carl Sandburg
Well, I'm ready to live a healthier, happier life WITH new floors! ;-)
Cheers!
M J
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