I Think I Can

When my husband and I bought our house three years ago we knew someday the floors would have to go.  The home’s previous two owners had both been foreclosed on, so there was little incentive for them to maintain an off-white carpet.  Note – off-white should not be an available color for carpeting.  Compared to many of the other homes we looked at, it was in great shape, but by no means quality.  Last December, the day finally came to bid the carpet farewell.

Before going on maternity leave my husband suggested we think about replacing the floor while I was home, so I could supervise the work.  My response, “Why supervise when you can do?”  My dad had installed some flooring in his home.  I am a relatively capable person, why couldn’t I do this with my dad’s help.  My husband was doubtful. (see blog entry about the Elmo birthday cake)  He took the opportunity on multiple occasions to question the idea with two extremely valid points: I had no experience and two small children to look after.

Fast forward to end of November.  With extra time on my hands, I took full advantage of the extreme deals to be had before Black Friday.  One thing led to another and next thing I know, I had ordered 700+ square free of flooring, transitions, waterproofing paper, etc.  Game on.

It was supposed to take three weeks to get materials, but as luck would have it due to an overstocking issue in Sacramento, all the flooring was shipped directly to my house in less than a week, no charge.   Awesome.  Transitions were a different story, stay tuned.  We had family coming in for the holidays so we had to make a decision: bust our ass to get it done before Christmas or wait until January.  I am not a patient person. Take a wild guess which one I choose.  The very next day I was moving all the furniture from the dining room into the family room and ripping up carpet.  Something about ripping up carpet makes one feel pretty bad ass.  This was the point of no return.

The next day we started laying down the floor.  My dad got me started and I went on a three day tear, nearly completing the first room.  It was at this point, I almost admitted to my husband that he may have been right, every muscle, bone and eyelash on my body hurt.  I had to take a week off to let my body recuperate.  My knee took nearly two months to heal; I think child birth may have had a faster recovery time.  

We did the dining room first, then the hall and into the family room all the while moving furniture back and forth to free up the next space.  The living situation with a two year old and an infant was a little chaotic to say the least.  Then I hit a wall, both literally and figuratively.  The hallway to the guest room was next; full of doors and tricky corners.  Luckily, dad swooped in to save the day.  Over several evenings, he put in the hallway while I kept him fed.  At this point, we had a week before family arrived and the guest room was the only space left.  In one weekend, my dad and I double-teamed the project and with a lot of pride and relief laid down the final pieces of floor.

Remember the transitions I mentioned, they still hadn’t come in.  I was calling the store every day.  I would bet they were starting to screen my calls.  Then finally, part of the order came in, enough to finish the entry way, we were back in business with family coming in two days.    The glue was still drying as my in-laws came through the door, we had finished in time.  Well, sort of.  The rest of the transition order came in well after the holidays, so the project wasn’t 100% finished until January,

After all is said and done, I am happy to have had the experience.  I can look down at that floor and be proud of what I have accomplished.   My husband and I agreed that we were both right.  I shouldn’t have done it BUT I proved that I CAN and that is the most important thing.  When we get around to doing the upstairs, we are definitely hiring someone.