The Floor Saga Continues
The plan:
darthsatyr and I would both have Friday May 27 off of work. On Friday, we would rent a floor nailer from the Home Depot and install the floor. On Saturday we would help number42 with a move, then drive to Albany for my grandmother's 85th birthday (this is my dad's mother). On Sunday and Monday, we would play. Barbecue and a trip to the drive-in were in the works.
The reality:
On Friday, we discovered that the tool we thought we could rent wouldn't work on engineered hardwood, and that HD didn't rent the tool we actually needed. So we bought a compressor and a pneumatic stapler on tool guy's recommendation. It utterly failed to work, leaving nasty bulges where the wood joined up, so back it went and up came two rows of flooring.
On Saturday we did the moving assistance and my grandmother's birthday as planned.
On Sunday we tried another tool. This one also failed to work. So we decided the floor would go down manually.
I learned how to hammer nails properly (no, I didn't take shop in high school) and to use a nail set. Darthsatyr arranged the flooring and drilled nail holes, and I banged in the nails and assisted with the nail setting. Note that we were doing this in the blinding heat we had this weekend. Also note that we are without a stove or dishwasher and so were pretty much living on takeout.
On Monday, we returned all the defective tools and did more flooring. In the evening, we went to the drive-in because we were going to have some fun, dammit! We saw a double feature of Kung Fu Panda II and Thor, which were both very enjoyable.
On Tuesday I went back to work and darthsatyr, who was still off, did more flooring. That evening we had a barbecue because again, fun, dammit! We made s'mores with jumbo marshmallows, which would have worked better if we'd found something better than chopsticks on which to roast them.
It could have been worse. The floor is making good progress and looks really nice. And I learned a new skill, which is good. (I also nail-set my finger, making a nice little puncture wound, which is less good.) But it's frustrating to think that if HD guy hadn't given us such bad advice, it could have been DONE, and we could have had more of a real holiday.
darthsatyr and I would both have Friday May 27 off of work. On Friday, we would rent a floor nailer from the Home Depot and install the floor. On Saturday we would help number42 with a move, then drive to Albany for my grandmother's 85th birthday (this is my dad's mother). On Sunday and Monday, we would play. Barbecue and a trip to the drive-in were in the works.
The reality:
On Friday, we discovered that the tool we thought we could rent wouldn't work on engineered hardwood, and that HD didn't rent the tool we actually needed. So we bought a compressor and a pneumatic stapler on tool guy's recommendation. It utterly failed to work, leaving nasty bulges where the wood joined up, so back it went and up came two rows of flooring.
On Saturday we did the moving assistance and my grandmother's birthday as planned.
On Sunday we tried another tool. This one also failed to work. So we decided the floor would go down manually.
I learned how to hammer nails properly (no, I didn't take shop in high school) and to use a nail set. Darthsatyr arranged the flooring and drilled nail holes, and I banged in the nails and assisted with the nail setting. Note that we were doing this in the blinding heat we had this weekend. Also note that we are without a stove or dishwasher and so were pretty much living on takeout.
On Monday, we returned all the defective tools and did more flooring. In the evening, we went to the drive-in because we were going to have some fun, dammit! We saw a double feature of Kung Fu Panda II and Thor, which were both very enjoyable.
On Tuesday I went back to work and darthsatyr, who was still off, did more flooring. That evening we had a barbecue because again, fun, dammit! We made s'mores with jumbo marshmallows, which would have worked better if we'd found something better than chopsticks on which to roast them.
It could have been worse. The floor is making good progress and looks really nice. And I learned a new skill, which is good. (I also nail-set my finger, making a nice little puncture wound, which is less good.) But it's frustrating to think that if HD guy hadn't given us such bad advice, it could have been DONE, and we could have had more of a real holiday.