Let's back up some days, shall we? When last we met, Mr. Peck was dismantling his desk. He moved onto the kitchen table, never missing a beat.
He was pretty squished up in there, but he made it work nonetheless. Please note the light over the table because, in addition to the new flooring, I purchased a new kitchen light, along with four new ceiling fans. Basically I went crazy on Build.com. Although I had never heard of them, my search for fans in person was fruitless. The same for the light, thus I took to the internet. Everything went beautifully; all arrived in record time with free shipping. So, while Scott was here working on the floors, Herbert was working overhead, and doing a great job, I might add. It was chaos on Saturday.
Good thing we'd had our date night Friday at Earls where they treat us like gold. Bartender Brandon made a lemon flower for my Raspberry Mojito. So cute!
Our server, Michelle, could not have been any better. She came down from Bruce's other project, Tyson's Corner for a little change. I absolutely loved hearing her say that the customers there are always remarking on how beautiful the restaurant is. You and I know it was not easy getting there!
Friday, Scott worked on the little bedroom. Bruce had already removed the carpeting and pad, along with the ancient tack strip, which fell apart underneath his crowbar. Little Missy did the sweeping and clean up. Come to think of it, that tack strip is only a few years older than we are! Scott began by grinding the concrete slab with a giant sander, removing, I don't know what. We talked about floating the floor, but in the end, it is all glued down snug as a bug in a rug. Oh wait...we won't have bugs in the rug anymore!
Applying glue to the concrete, he followed by laying boards of random lengths. Once he had a few courses in, these neat straps keep things tight and straight.
He finished laying all of the boards Friday, with only the quarter round to go on Saturday. Herbert was hanging the new fan when he arrived at 10 (late start time in my book, but that is his idea, not mine), so he went to work on the sunroom floor. What a mess!!!
When it was all finished, the huge windows, as well as parts of the walls, were coated in clay dust. Once the floor was sanded, he poured a leveling compound of concrete over the tiles to get a flat surface to work on. Meanwhile Bruce and I put the bedroom back together once he nailed in the quarter round. Before it looked like this:
And now it looks like this:
Whereas before, dust and dirt could hide in the carpet, that is now a thing of the past. Yikes! Before we actually got it back in shape, there was cleaning to be done in here due to the concrete dust created by his sanding. Windows, bookshelves that sort of thing. I was literally being forced into cleaning. Should you be curious, the wood is wire brushed hickory.
Needless to say, we slept well in our guest room because our bed was now in the sewing room. Scott wanted to work on Sunday, and we did not argue with that plan. The concrete was hardening in the sunroom, so he began work in our bedroom. More concrete dust! By the time Hill's Happy Hour began, we had begun putting a few things in our bedroom. Bill McCormac came over to help Bruce with the dresser and the mattresses. I had stopped by to see some of Glen's quilting project, and when I returned the bed was operational. One thing though, they did not put the dust ruffle under the mattress. Well, my hand was finally forced on that one, because although it was too long with the carpet, it was three inches too long with the wood. Today, once my sewing room was put back together late last night, I finally hemmed the darn thing about eight months after buying it!
Scott was a little camera shy, but here he is working in our bedroom.
One of the biggest changes is going from light to dark underfoot.
Interesting, isn't it? When we had all the tile laid in our living spaces I did not choose wood because of one simple reason--we have wood ceilings, so having dark on top, and bottom, would have been too much in my opinion. A wood sandwich if you will.
Once our room was complete, Mr. Peck began taking up the carpet in my sewing room.
During the process he discovered the pad was from our last install. He also discovered how they had hardly kicked the carpet before. Bad guys, they were.
Monday I was meant to go to Days for Girls, however, Bruce had a meeting, so I stayed at the house with Scott which was pretty much torture because not only was there no place to even eat, he says very little, and my computer and sewing machine were not operational. Yikes!
Now you can see the concrete base he put down. By day's end, the room was nearly finished, at least enough for Bruce to put his desk back together, which is quite the task, what with all his equipment and electronics. Prior to the desk being removed from the living room, it was worse than before because of all my sewing room stuff!! Good thing Scott is a little man because believe me, the walk aisle was minimal.
Not only did we have to remove the furnishings, but empty out the closets. I had an epiphany though, so that is good. Regarding my beloved dresses, of which there are many, I'd had them in my sewing room closet for years. Well, duh! I wear them more than anything else so why I had them in the other room is a mystery.
I've now switched things out, putting this whole bunch in our closet, and all the skirts and shirts in the other one. Why I did not think of this before, I do not know. Thankfully, we had a rod in the garage as is shown above.
So, here's our bedroom with the carpet:
As well as the horrible dust ruffle. Now, it looks like this!!!
My sister Nancy, who has a birthday tomorrow, will be so proud that I finally tackled this task. Well, I was sort of forced, wasn't I? The room is sparkling clean now...all windows clean, the floors mopped, not once, but twice, to remove the dust, the blinds look good. As well, and this is sort of big...the Murphy's Wood Oil Soap I bought is good for furniture too. I cleaned it all. Of course, I was about beat to a pulp last night, so there's that. :)
One reason I was so beat is because we not only put the sunroom back, after I cleaned the inside of the windows, washed the floor twice, wiped the clay dust off the walls, and cleaned the windows behind Bruce's desk because that won't be happening again any time soon. Impossible to get to.
Here's the before:
And now it looks like this. Spiffy new fan too.
The dust went everywhere, so each and every item had to be wiped down. Do people do this kind of thing all of the time? It would kill me! One thing we learned is that you have to use rubber casters on a rolling desk chair so B got some, putting them on both of our chairs. Another thing we learned is that it is hard to get rid of the carpet. Orange County is making us wait until next Monday to pick ours up. Bummer!
I was just too tired last night to finish my office, although the cleaning part was done before bedtime. It's all good now. Here is the before:
And now it looks like this:
Oh my goodness, what a project!! I am so thrilled with my new light as well, because it well, has a bunch of light, unlike my old one. These older eyes need all the light they can get!
This morning, aside from finishing my sewing room, was spent cleaning every last thing around here. How can this become my routine?? I HAVE NO IDEA!
We are so grateful to be able to hire someone to do this for us after a lifetime of doing it ourselves. Floors by Scott is the name of his business, and I can attest that he did an outstanding job.
Relaxing in his "new" space last evening, Bruce said he was wondering what I will want to do next. Hmmm.......
Good tired,
Gail
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