Monday is here way too quickly. I spent the entire weekend (literally, to the tune of 3 hours Friday night, 13 hours Saturday, and 6 hours yesterday) at Becca’s house helping put down her new laminate flooring in the living room. I guess since I was the one bugging her to go ahead and replace the carpet, it’s only fair that I help out. 🙂
With assistance from Rich, Matt, Jen, and Gavin, we had as many as 6 people working at any given time. Friday night we tore up the carpet, padding, and wooden carpet tack boards around the edge of the room. For most of Saturday afternoon, Becca and I painted quarter round and attempted to sand down the concrete around the fireplace (which is a bit higher than the rest of the floor) with varying degrees of success. When we decided the floor was level enough, we took a break at Gavin and Jen’s to let the dust settle. Seriously, there was so much dust I’ll probably be coughing it up for weeks.
Anyway, it was around this time, maybe 5:00 or so, that Rich and Matt showed up after their morning of windsurfing to help out. They quickly deduced that we should start on the opposite side of the room from where Becca and I had been planning to start (a correct decision, as we later agreed), and voila, we started laying the floor. After 4 rows, we broke for dinner and margaritas at Mely’s, where Gavin and Jen joined us, and after that all 6 of us returned to the house. We laid more floor until we were at the fireplace, at which point it was almost 1 a.m. and we were all sleepy.
Yesterday Rich and I showed up around noon and started laying the final rows of flooring while Becca gave the quarter round another coat of paint. Gavin and Jen showed up an hour or so later, and we began working on the final 4 rows of floor. These rows probably took as long as the rest of the floor combined, simply because it involved so many cuts to fit around the fireplace tile, the built-in bookshelves, and the door to Becca’s bedroom. After that, we put down some of the molding, and some of the quarter round. I had to leave for soccer practice, so I don’t know how much more got done last night, but regardless…
The floor looks really good. And I am feeling all Trading Spaces-ish and workshop-y and industrious. The coolest part was that each of us had our little area that we were good at. Rich and Matt were experts at measuring and cutting. Jen trumped everyone by measuring and cutting the most complicated piece of all, the board leading into Becca’s bedroom. I was the best at quickly locking the boards together with a minimum of effort, and the consultant on how to make the seams look not merely random, but psuedo-random (i.e. appearing random, but actually designed with a purpose). A pseudo-random pattern, I can assure you, looks better than completely random. 🙂
Anyway. I’m sure Becca will take some pictures of it and post them somewhere so you can all see the fruit of our labor.
Other than the floor, I did nothing this weekend. With the few remaining weekend hours I had last night after a hot and sparsely attended soccer practice (the women’s league season starts september 7), I vacuumed my apartment and vegged out to the Phillies-Cardinals game.
I need a weekend of nothing; I feel like I’ve been going constantly for a month, even though it’s only been a week and a half. But alas, it’s not meant to happen. Tonight is rock climbing, tomorrow is volleyball. Wednesday is the Astros-Cubs game, Thursday is softball, Friday is packing, and Saturday and Sunday are moving into my new apartment. Whew. After that, it’s settling in, followed by a Labor Day trip to Enchanted Rock. Before I know it, it will be September. September already! Geez.
