No, not “Honey-Do” this time (part 1 – preparation)

For some reason the carpet in our home office traps more dirty than our trusty Dyson vacuum. I’ve scrubbed it, vacuumed it, steam cleaned it and it still looks like an army of kids have just run through it. Carpets in other areas of the house aren’t half as bad, I wondered why? Well, that dirty rug has seen better days. Time to get rid of it once and for all. Wifey and I talked about it and felt it was the best to get hardwood floor instead of another carpet. Instead of adding the project to my never ending "Honey-Do" list, it will be on my "To Do" list…for myself for once.

So, what’s the game plan? Rip up the old carpet and lay the wood floor planks? Hmm…piece of cake! I’ve watched enough home renovation shows and have taken on enough home projects, this one ought to be easy. After doing some online shopping and price comparison, I decided to go with the laminate floors sold at Costco. $1.69 per square foot, pre-padded! I calculated the square footage needed (with 10% spoilage, likely less but better to have more) then went shopping.

10 cases ought to be plenty, roughly $385 including tax. I figured a carpet replacement would cost around $200, but it won’t solve the dirt issue. $385 and some elbow grease can fix the problem permanently. Well, I still need to sweep and mop it from time to time. First thing first, clean out all the "junk" in the office, some books have been sitting on the floor for months since I don’t have enough bookshelves. The two bookshelves we bought at IKEA are still in the cartons. I knew I was going to do something with the carpet / floor, that’s why I didn’t bother to put them together.

I came home fairly early on Tuesday and thought to get started on the project. Boy, I’m not a hoarder by any means but eight 3′x2′ boxes of stuff? 45 minutes to get all the stuff into the boxes and out of the office. Next up – a network of computer cables, power cords, speaker wires that had to be disconnected. Good thing I was the person that put it all together. If it were my brother, he would have fainted at the sight of the intertwined mess. Oh, the tempered glass computer desk had to be disassembled, too. No biggie, 20 minutes later and it was just an empty room.

"Let’s see, floor baseboards need to go..how do I pry them out without damaging them?" I don’t remember seeing this part when I searched for wood floor installation videos. I used a box knife and cut alone where the board is nailed to the wall. That opened up a small space between them. A putty knife would work great to widen the gap, and it did! I slowly and carefully used the putty knife to separate the baseboards from the wall. All four sides of it. The nails on the boards and walls had to be cut so they could be reused. I looked at the clock on the wall, 3:45pm, kids should be home soon.

Minutes later I heard the school bus, it was turning into our street. Bus driver lady was kind enough to drop off my boys right in front of our home. We went through the usual routine, got them to work on their homework, spelling quiz list, etc. My kids are always hungry so I let them ransack the pantry. The rule is, light snack only, nothing too heavy or they won’t have the appetite for dinner. One wanted some fruit roll-ups and the other some cheese crackers. I let them play Monopoly on their own while I finished cleaning up the office. By this time, my old lady arrived, too.

I cut up the carpet into pieces for easier disposal. The padding underneath took a while longer since it was stapled down. I still need to pop the nail strips that hold down the carpet. Some cleaning up then the wood planks are ready for showtime!

Stay tuned!



original post date: September 2, 2009