So much to do...

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been trying to finish certain things around the house before Christmas. Not sure if you remember, but I’m having family and friends over for Christmas Eve… Well I did have a couple of personal set backs, but nothing that was unexpected per say. But that is another story… I can say thou that this will be the first Christmas where I will have a Christmas tree in my home… So because of that I wanted to set a tone…I wanted people to look at my Christmas tree and say that tree looks classy with a hint of boldness. Thus I decided to decorate my Christmas tree with silver and white colors. I decorated the tree with silver and white ribbons that raced down from the star. The star is a wicker basket that was painted silver. The ornaments are glossy silver, frosted silver and white bulbs. I want to say that the picture truly doesn’t give it justice.
But here it is anyway,

Also here is a picture of the front of my house on the first day of snow, December 9th...


You can also see the first Christmas wreath on the front door…

Now that is out of the way, I can return to the front hallway, I first put in new ¼ inch Luan and then the new hardwood flooring. Here are the pictures showing that process… I rented a pneumatic air gun that is specifically used for hardwood flooring. Basically it uses compress air and a rubber mallet to install the nails into the hardwood floors.

Here is a picture with the new hardwood floor installed on the first landing.

Here are pictures taken later in the day with the new hardwood flooring installed throughout the rest of the room. I’m really impressed with the new flooring. But I was also pretty exhausted after installing that floor.

With that accomplished, I decided to start another project. I decided it was time to work on the back hallway that connects the living room, bathroom, workout room and kitchen. The walls were painted a teal green. The drop ceiling will someday be taken down. That is the ceiling with the tin roof underneath. But I’m going to wait on that adventure at the moment.

The light switches were….well I’ll let the picture speak for itself….

Yup…bears and a light house with a sail boat…
The flooring was the same laminate flooring that was in the bathroom (before I change it). The edges of the laminate flooring are pealing up by the living room..


The back door had the original paint on the glass that the previous owners did.


Nice job on the paint…

Anyway, I primed the room and painted the walls the same color as the bathroom. The wall trim is painted with a cottage white that also matches the bathroom.


I removed the bears and decided to replace the junction box and switches.

Well the next step is to remove the laminate flooring and replace it with more peel and stick tiles. I plan on using the same ones that were installed into the bathroom. Anyway, until next time, happy building…

Christmas is right around the corner...

Thanksgiving can be a relaxing time of year. I have to admit it is one of my favorite holidays. The origins of the holiday is said to be a harvest festival celebrated to express gratitude onto others. On that day I am thankful for football, beer, tons of food, laughs with family/friends and most importantly the midday nap…

However, this year may have ended with an unexpected request. I was at my sister’s house enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner when I asked, “Where are we spending Christmas Eve this year?” There was a slight delay, when my younger sister replied, “how about your place?” I attempted to shrug it off with “No, my house isn’t ready for anyone” But the chancellor (mom), also known as the Queen Bee, responded with “Yea, that is a wonderful idea… We’ll go to your house this Christmas” Then everyone agreed... I felt like I was just voted off the island…

The gears began to turn in my mind… What do I need to fix before people come over? I mean people have come over to visit, but not for any functions… I may sound a little put off about this, but actually, I'm pretty excited about the Christmas party being at my place. It gives me a chance to fix things before anyone comes over… Kind of puts a fire under my seat…

Anyway, upon my return home, I looked around and thought about things that I could work on. I had originally planned on remodel the kitchen over the Christmas break… Which I still might do, but it won’t happen until after the party. Then I looked at the front hallway… I had purchased hardwood flooring for that room about a year ago. The wood has been sitting around collecting dust…

I know I still have the living room to finish, but I’m a firm believer that the introduction of your home sets a tone for the rest of the house. Thus with that said, I began to evaluate what would it take to make it happen. The room already had a ¼ inch thick Luan in it. But what bugged me was that the room sloped down towards the radiator. With the history that I have with radiators in this house, I decide to remove the Luan and determine the condition of the floor.

Here is a picture of my nephew Fredy helping me clean the front hallway.

When I purchased this house, the front hallway had always been prepared to have something installed. The previous owners never informed me what they planned on doing to the room. But like everything else, I assumed they were planning on nothing…

I began to remove the Luan flooring and instantaneously realize the excess nails used. The previous owners used a nail every 1 inches of space. I knew I would be in trouble.

Underneath the Luan was the same laminate flooring that I removed from the workout room. After removing the laminate flooring I noticed that the planks near the radiator were extremely weak… Part of the planks had deteriorated away. I immediately contacted my dad for advice. I called him because I wasn't sure if I should jack the floor because of the slope. After talking with him it turn out that the slope wasn't as critical as initially thought. Basically what I do next is what he advised.

I had cut into the floor and removed three of the planks. The removal of the planks allowed me to evaluate the joists. Also look directly into my basement.


Here is picture showing one of the damaged planks.

The joist closes to the radiator valve was excessively rotted away. I created a level system using string. I tied the string in a “XI” pattern to determine how much did the floor sag. The result of my string pattern was not encouraging.

Here is a good picture showing the damaged joist and the gap between the joist and flooring.

As you can see in the picture, the gap between the floor joist and the string are about 1 inch apart. Per my fathers advice, I sistered all of the joists with 2x6 studs to level the floor and also give it strength.
The plank thickness is about 1 1/2 inches thick. I cut two pieces of plywood that were ¾ inches thick to occupy the space. I nailed the plywood flooring into place onto the new studs.

The flooring is now much stronger and closer to being leveled. Next on the list is to install Luan and then the hardwood flooring. Well that is all I have for now, so until next time, happy building...