Camo Carpet...

We occasionally joke about our "Camo Carpet."  It really isn't bad and it cleans up pretty nice, but we'll be glad to be rid of it when the time comes...

...And so starts the flooring project.  Regular readers of this blog will realize that while my intent was to finish the kitchen in August (and it's the 30th) that concept was delayed when it occurred to me that it wouldn't do to set the cupboards before I put the flooring it.  (Just one more foible of DIY work: proper planning).

So last week I spent some time squaring up the long sides of the lumber for this project and sorting the boards by size. Today's project involved sorting through those piles and selecting the boards with which I would start.  Having make the selection I set to squaring the ends and stacking the (almost) finished boards inside to allow them to adjust to the temperature and humidity. But first I had to cut into that wonderful camo carpet to clear the way for the boards to come inside. And that led to some questions such as: "What do these blue squares on the floor indicate???"

Of course there are other burning questions such as "Why was the electricity was run a certain way?" and "What is the best work around?"

And amidst all of this, I need to give great credit, yet again, to my amazingly patient wife who lives in this house which is constantly under construction or reconstruction,  I mean, really, what woman would allow her living room to be turned into a flooring factory?

 

And so the first section of the flooring is stacked.  I'll do a final check on the moisture content before laying.  

 

The final decision I need to make is just how I'm going to fasten the boards. Carol's Uncle Allan did a beautiful job on an old stone farmhouse in Perkasie, PA using standard cut nails (from Tremont Nail Co.)  But I'm vacillating between that and using black head screws which would be counter sunk and then covered with dowel rod plugs/buttons cut to surface level.

 

In the meantime I'll be able to get back to work on the kitchen as the mounting brackets for the microwave as suppose to arrive tomorrow...finally.  The refrigerator is still a week out...and none of the shelving cupboards can be built or installed until all of this in done.  It's going to be a long fall...The projects just keep piling up like this wood.