Author: Matt

Back when we started this project, we decided we wanted hardwood floors. The house had hardwood floors originally, but they were too far gone to save. For one, they didn’t go through the whole house, as areas like the kitchen had been torn up and replaced with plywood at some point. Next, we were changing the floorplan, so we couldn’t leave them in place. Perhaps most importantly, they were buried under layers of laminate floors, full of nails, and had been refinished so many times there wasn’t much left. We pulled the original floors up as part of demo and had a fun time trying to give them away.

We had the new floors done professionally and thus didn’t have to do much, but there were a few items. First, the GC dropped off a stack of unfinished red oak tongue and groove planks. We met with a few different contractors until the GC settled on the third and they got to work almost immediately. The started with the second floor and laid everything in a few days. Like most contractors, they gave us a timeline that was only loosed correlated with reality, but by this point we’re fairly used to it.

Our biggest worry throughout the install was that they were going to put a staple through one of the radiant heat pex lines. They said they’d installed over them before, but this contractor also said they preferred not to use only glue since the boards sometimes pulled apart if you didn’t put staples at the end. Despite the knots in our stomachs, they managed to complete the whole thing with no puddles or leaks.

Of course, that’s not to say it was perfect. The first issue was on the landing, where they installed a bullnose edge around the outside perimeter. Rather than a mitered return, they just had the unfinished edge of the bullnose sticking out the side of the landing. Since I was already working on the stairs at the time, I noticed this and used some of the remaining bullnose left out to redo the piece myself. Could I have asked them to redo it? Probably, but our experiences with contractors to date have made us a bit jaded about how certain things will be taken care of, and we prefer to just do some things ourselves and save on hassle.

Next they laid the first floor, which mostly looked good except where they put bullnose around the opening for the future basement stairs. Where the bullnose met the base of the column, they just skipped over the column, I assume because it will be mostly covered by trim. But it won’t entirely be covered in trim, and you could certainly see it if you were coming up the stairs, so here again I just redid the section myself, cutting out a small piece of the existing bullnose, cutting back a miter where the new piece would fit the corner, and then making a piece to fit around the column and fit into the corner. This didn’t turn out completely perfectly, but it was close enough that some woodfill made it blend in. I glued it and clamped it until everything was set.

They finished laying the floors on Monday, but then didn’t return. We contacted the GC, who said they were going to finish the floors at the end, when everything else was done. That’s not unusual, just not what we’d expected, and it presented some challenges around things like appliances being delivered. So we said ok and started making plans to get the cabinets assembled and installed.

Then the GC contacted us to let us know they actually would be coming back to finish the floors starting on Monday and they’d finish up Wednesday. We kind of roll with the punches and adapt to the situation as it comes, so we shifted to finishing the stairs so that they could finish the treads when they finished the floors.

Monday they sanded and put down more wood fill, Monday evening Sarah and I went up and added some woodfill ourselves to some spots they missed, and Tuesday through today (Thursday) they put down three coats of varnish and buffed. I think they’re done and aren’t coming back, but I’m not certain, nor do I know how long I’m supposed to stay off the floors. They’re mostly dry at this point, but generally I believe we’re supposed to stay off at least 24 hours. I managed to get all of the above photos without walking on the floors, mostly because the attic and stairs to the attic will all be carpeted. We’ll see if they come back tomorrow and, assuming they don’t, we’ll start on base kitchen cabinets this weekend. Our interior doors are on order and supposedly about two weeks out, so we have that much time to finish the cabinets before trim starts.

After the whirlwind post I did almost a month ago, I was planning to be better about posting more frequently to keep up to date on everything, but that didn’t happen. So here we are again with a whole bunch of updates to get you current. The good news is that this time around there are some things that are actually finished.

We’ll start with tile. The tile installers didn’t show up on Monday, but they did show up later that week and got to work. I bought twelve 50lb bags of thinset (8 modified, 4 unmodified) based on some square footage calculations, but that was apparently insufficient. I had to run out and buy another ten bags of modified, then six more bags on unmodified. Ultimately, there were three left over (this is really sounding like a math problem). I also had to run out and buy more grout, and some random extra tiles, and then return some extra tiles. In short, I made a lot of trips to the store through the process, which was a bit over a week.

When they were done, we noticed a couple of issues and we had to ask them to come back. The powder room on the first floor was uneven, and they didn’t make the shower drain opening big enough to fit the drain, but they came back and got everything fixed, so the bathroom tile is now complete. The kitchen backsplash has to wait until cabinets and counters are in.

Meanwhile, work on the back porch continued. We had a bit of a back and forth on color. They originally told us we could paint it whatever color we wanted, so we said white, since that would match the front porch and the trim. Then they forgot about that, and started bringing some items pre-painted black. We asked about the color and they said it was fine, then later said white would look bad “like hospital”. I suggested the stair and railings could be black and the frame could stay white, but then they said they would pain the inside of the frame black regardless, so finally we said just to paint it black. We’re actually fine with black, and if they had said at the start it had to be black we wouldn’t have minded, but it was a bit frustrating to be given the option and then basically not given the option. The famous quote of Henry Ford “any color so long as it is black” was literally our experience here.

On the other end of the house, the front porch is done! I had mentioned in a previous post that they hadn’t finished the roofline, the fascia, soffit, and gutters. They did most of the front porch work back in July but said they needed materials to come in that would take about a month. It had been a few, so I contacted them and they were surprised to learn it wasn’t finished. Unfortunately, that’s fairly typical of our experience with contractors. Fortunately, they did come back out and the front of our house finally looks done.

The back porch was finally completed yesterday, along with some adjusted concrete footings. It was just eight and a half short weeks after they told us it would take about two. On the plus side, it does look really nice, and it includes angled sheeting under the second floor to drain water. We may add a gutter and downspout down the road.

We also started work on the cabinets. My sister Jessica came up from Indiana for the day to help assemble the upper cabinets for the kitchen. We figured we could install those before the floors were done. Because we’re putting in a hardwood floor that will be sanded and finished after it’s installed, we don’t want to put the base cabinets in first, so we didn’t want to assemble them either. I learned some tricks with the cabinet assembly, including the importance of sanding some of the dovetail edges so they go together a bit more easily, using enough glue so they stay together, and also how to staple without it popping into the back of the cabinet, something I wish I’d figured out before I did so in a place it will be visible.

Painting work continues. We realized the “light gray” color we had for the hall and stairwell was more “light blue” and we didn’t like it. At the same time, the taupe we had in the kitchen and living room seemed a bit too dark and a bit cool for the cabinet finish, so we repainted all of it with a light taupe called “Mocha Light”. We haven’t finished repainting the living room, but we may get to that tonight. Sarah started on the den, the only other room we have left.

With help from our friend Dan, we hung the upper kitchen cabinets (except for one that gets attached to a full-height floor cabinet). We had debated whether to hang them 54″ or 56″ above the floor and finally settled on 56 to give us a bit more height above the counter. Unfortunately, I later realized the aforementioned floor cabinet is 114″ tall, and the upper cabinets are 60″ (uh oh, another math problem), meaning we needed to hang them at 54″ after all. So, we’ll have to take those down and re-hang them. That’s honestly not the worst thing in the world, since a couple of gaps had opened up between cabinet edges, so a second try at getting everything tight will hopefully resolve that.

With word that the hardwood flooring was going to be installed, we had to get everything cleared off the floor, meaning our freshly tiles bathrooms and the attic became dumping grounds for all the cabinet parts, stair parts, light fixtures and plumbing fixtures still in boxes, assorted tools and other construction accoutrements. With Dan’s help to haul the AC condensers up the stairs and out onto the second floor deck (where they’ll be installed), as well as moving the bathroom vanity this morning now that the glue is dry, we were ready, and as I type this, they’re going to town. I’m terrified that they’ll puncture a radiant heat pex line, but they said they’ve installed over this before, so hopefully it will go smoothly. Allegedly they’ll be done Saturday, so we’re planning not to be here for the smelliest parts of that. It’s getting a bit cold outside to air the house out.

Once the floors are done we’ll go full bore on the kitchen cabinets and the stair cladding. Hopefully the AC installers will be out to finish that up, and the trim guy can start work not long after that. We need to get the shower glass lined up, pick out countertops, and get the painting done. Things are starting to feel like we’re closing in on being able to live upstairs. A big thanks go out to Jessica and Dan for helping out!