I directed them to the nine boxes of flooring in the back of the SUV, and made sure they had already eaten breakfast.
I came back in and made myself some tea. Went out and started taking photos, explaining to them it was so I could have before, during and after shots for posterity. I think they thought that was strange, but they smiled and acted as if they understood and it was perfectly normal.
The beginning:
They started and things seemed to be going smoothly when they suddenly hit a snag. The original flooring was some sort of ceramic, not linoleum, so the nails were bending instead of anchoring properly so they had to rip up the old flooring!
The middle:
Wasted about two or three hours on that, plus I had to go to the store and buy a couple floor scrapers which were about $25 each. Not expensive exactly for a tool, but for a single use tool, yuck!
After that things went pretty smoothly. I tore out all the old baseboard molding and we're going to replace it.
I went into Sebastopol to get their cash and some sandwiches for everyone, came back and we all ate lunch.
They got most of the floor done after lunch but they will have to come back another day to finish it up the small section they didn't have time to complete, and to do the various little trimming things we discussed. Mainly the baseboards, moving out the stove and fridge and repairing some upper cabinet molding.
The (almost) end!
As you can see, I need to add baseboards and do some serious cleaning.
After they left I was off to the hardware store again to pick up the rest of the stuff I need:
* 80' baseboard molding
* 2 8' 2x4s
* 1 sheet 3/4" plywood
* 1/4" plywood for some missing paneling
* Murphy's wood cleaning supplies
I only got some of the moldings, as I wanted to check how a few different ones looked in place before committing to 80 feet (the shit is not as cheap as I had hoped). I found some that seems to work really well, but it was dark by the time I got home with it so that was only by flashlight. I will double check in the daylight.
After I got home I stained and varnished a few pieces of wood for the Dharma Wagon and cleaned up my brushes and crap.
Came inside and sliced some mango (those sandwiches were huge and we ate lunch late), shared with Dominic who learned the name immediately and has been coming in every few minutes and saying "mango?!" in his cute little questioning yet demanding baby voice ever since.
The bamboo looks SO BEAUTIFUL in there, the color is perfect and once the grubby stains along the baseboards are covered with new moldings it will be superduper!
Julie is watching "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels" in the other room, I feel like puking. I have a very low tolerance for this reality show bullshit. But I have to admit I am amused by Celebrity Rehab, and "Lock Up" can be pretty interesting. But these VH1 "reality" dating shows... give me a huge break! What I hate most is how they suck me in if I don't think about it, and the next thing I know I am talking to the television calling people mean names.
I still have a lot of cleaning to do etc, but it is very close to being ready for me to move in! I am still not sure what to do about the whole insulation issue (the thing is over 50 years old so the insulation is definitely shot).
I don't think I'll try to tackle it now, but hopefully I will deal with it before summer and can get it insulated, certainly before next winter. Doing the insulation in the walls is a little scary, the prospect of tearing out the paneling without destroying the walls makes me a little nervous. I'll probably just do some testing in the bathroom walls since that is turning into a a storage closet anyway. The stuff underneath the trailer needs to be done too--the paneling that holds the fiberglass insulation in place is sagging in areas. I am hoping Poppop can help me with some rigid stuff he suggested.
Off to read for a bit and go to sleep. I want to be early to maximize the usable sunlight for cleaning in the DW (Dharma Wagon).
