Hardwood

I think the name speaks for itself in more ways than one. This weekend was a tough one installing the flooring in our living room, hallway and bathroom. Dan's parents came to help but once they figured out what they got themselves into I'm sure they were having second thoughts

Saturday a.m. we got there around 9 to see all the progress from the week. We love the basement.. the painting is done, trim almost all up and wet bar and laundry cabinets installed. Once we got done talking with Joe and his "trim guy" Otto we got started trying to figure out the flooring and finishing the doors in the basement. Starting a new project always takes awhile but the guys were on their way by lunch and Monica and I were making progress on the finishing work. We took breaks to set out more wood for them to use for the floor and cleaned up ahead of them so they could go as fast as they could. We also got ambitious and cleaned off the tags on the windows and started washing the sawdust off them. They'll need more washing but at least the first layer is off. It was a slow day for the flooring because of the hard bathroom angles and the living room has a closet, bay window and fireplace angle to worry about. About midnight we decided to save time and sleep at the lake instead of drive an hour home only to drive right back in the morning. That was good in theory but Dan and my air mattress stayed inflated for about 30 min before we were on the floor. He tried manually blowing it up during the night to not wake his parents, but I'm sure with all the noises we all didn't get much sleep. But, the next a.m. they could get right to work.

Sunday was spent putting the second coat of finish on the doors and the guys working away at the floor. There was over 1/2 left so they had a big job ahead of them. The plan was for Dan and I to run to St. Cloud to pick up the shower doors, closet shelves and order our fridges but that would have wasted too much time so just Monica and I went (and skipped Best Buy). It was a big job carrying shelves for an entire houses closets and putting two shower doors in our Vibe but they all fit! I keep saying I don't know what we would do without the Vibe and I really don't! It has been so helpful. When we got back with Subway the guys were still in the hallway and needed to finish that and the kitchen/dining room. Monica and I kept at the doors and she also grouted the basement bathroom that we laid the weekend before. It was an amazing list of things we accomplished in 2 days. By about 2 a.m. we finally had everything cleaned up and ready for the plumbers/electricians for today with mats for them to walk on. We slept for a few hours and then Dan had to return the nail gun by 7:40 so we didn't get charged another day. I don't think either of us would have functioned well at work with only 6 hours of sleep total in two nights so we slept another couple hours before working at noon. What a crazy weekend!

THANK YOU Monica and Roger for all your help this weekend. We really wouldn't have been able to do it ourselves. I hope you made it home safely last night.

first room done, the bathroom

working late into the night on Saturday

Sunday morning progress

No final pictures to show you because we started moving things to that side of the room but here is what it looks like at the 1/2 way point

This week the plumbers and electricians finish their stuff, the final trim is done along with the door knobs, shelving, handrails etc. Then carpet on Friday! We're very excited for next weekend!