Week 20: Nov 9 - 13

The painters have moved out leaving a new feel to the house. Viki took over by adding color to the kids' rooms. This is a picture of the girls' room.
Tom, Viki's brother, and I began installing the wood flooring that will go in the kitchen, entry, and mainfloor hallway. Ray got us started and is letting us use his tools. I took a day off of work to get as much done as possible. I began the project thinking we would be able to finish the flooring in a day. I was wrong in my assumption. By the end of our first day we had made it the majority of the way across the kitchen floor. At that point, I was so tired that I honestly could not keep a focused thought other than that I wanted to stop and go home to rest, and I had worn a hole in my knee.
The process starts with first preparing the sub-floor by vacuuming up any debris, smoothing or scraping down any rough edges,and then stapling tar paper into place. The tar paper acts as a moisture barrier and helps to lessen the noise that can occur when two pieces of wood are rubbed together. The wood planks lock together with a tongue and groove system and are then held together using a staple gun. For a couple of amateurs I think we are doing a pretty good job. Viki chose the flooring, Teak wood with a scraped surface and tobacco stain. It looks great and works well with her paint color choices. We also have crown molding now in the master bedroom.
The tile guy has started by installing all of the cement board to the subfloor and has began the process of building the master bath shower. I had initially planned on trying the tile on my own, but changed my mind as we are running out of time. We are supposed to be moved into the home in the next 4 weeks. If there were no time or financial contraints building would be a more enjoyable experience for me. Cabinetry is being built. Currently, everything except for the kitchen is complete.

The cabinet maker actually makes his doors, most places tend to outsource this process. The boxes of all of the cabinets are made out of a melamine covered particle board. The final stained wood that will be visible will be attached to these boxes.