Tuesday, August 18, 2015

DIY AND ME






“Vern, Vern, Vern when will you learn?”

Years ago I closed in a porch on the back of our house to make a mud room (porches are like swimming pools in western Maine – can only be used a short time.)    We had linoleum on the floor and both my wife and I were tired of looking at it. 

A visit to Home Depot’s flooring section down in Augusta showed us options.   After bringing home samples and watching videos on YouTube we decided on Allure Resillent Flooring.  This is a vinyl product that comes in board length and width with a wood finish and it carries a 25 year warranty. 



The videos show an ease of installing that looked simple and quick.   Lay down the strips and they glue themselves together.  

A 14x8 room: a piece of cake – a two hour installation – three max.   My wife laughed when I told her that, but what does she know about DYI?

Eight hours later I finished the installation – somewhat.  I still have one more strip to lay in the closet and quarter-round trim to install; but I just flat ran out of steam: I was tired after three hours and exhausted after six: my knees hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurts – easier to list what doesn’t hurt; but hell I am on the down side of seventies – that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it.   

I have got to say the actual installation wasn’t difficult.  Of course I measured twice and cut the first piece wrong.  The time consuming part was cutting the pieces to fit.  The tiring part was working on my hands and knees for eight hours.   

The installation, I must say, looks good.   However, there is a strong smell from either the vinyl or the glue strips – hopefully this will dissipate in a day or so. 

So far, I will say I am pleased with the results.   

The Ol’Buzzard


3 comments:

  1. It always looks so simple on the DIY videos, doesn't it? Show us photos when you're done, the new flooring sounds nice!

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  2. if you do those floor jobs again..it's wise to invest on those knee pads..they really help..take pictures so we can see your manly manly job..

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  3. When David installed our floating wood flooring throughout the house, it took weeks. We are so happy with it now. It looks like an expensive $4000.00 wood floor was installed, but the whole thing only cost us $1000 total. It has withstood puppies, moving furniture, and my high heels. I'm very happy David did it. We are still wondering what to do with the kitchen floor. I want to make sure we get the right flooring for that job.
    Oh, Debra is right. take pictures. I want to see it.

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