What Can I Say?... I Like Peel-n-Stick Tile

 

It was Mother's Day, after all, so I got to do a project that I wanted to... We started laying the flooring that will be in the dining room and run through into the kitchen. After considering the options; sanding down the tar paper and glue to get to the natural hardwood, laying ceramic or stone tile, or using the poor man's peel-n-stick vinyl, we opted for upper class vinyl tile.

 

$300 for a ten foot square room is definitely not poor man's peel-n-stick. This is a high grade, double layer, floating vinyl flooring. It goes down a lot like laminate wood flooring, but with sticky edges.

 

It is made to look like Travertine, which is a very expensive stone, but this is definitely softer under foot. and much easier to lay.

 

I'm very happy with the look and feel of this product, but I will say that it is a two man job. Or, one man and one woman job. I could not cut through the double layer tiles, so Terry had that job, and he did not have the finesse to interlock tiles, so that became my job. It also takes two to keep track of how the tiles interlock and how to best utilize extra pieces.

 

When all was said and done, we were quite happy. I would certainly use this type of tile again.

 

Happy Mother's Day !!! 

Turn the Lights On !

Yesterday was spent with mom. Brought her home from rehab and got her settled in. Bob and Peggy came down to help out, and we had a nice visit. We did go to the project house late in the day, but we never seem to accomplish much in short spurts like that.

 

 

So today... we ran hard. Terry crawled up in the attic to finish off heat registers and attic access panels. Then we focused on some lighting. Hung my fancy new dining room lamp. I measured twice, but Terry still hits his head on it, as I gracefully glide underneath it... just like the one at home.

 

The ceiling fan for what will be Sandy's room. Simple and White, but with more and brighter lighting, just as she requested.

 

The ceiling fan for what will be Kevin's room. He doesn't care what it looks like, so I picked a fun Black and Silver model. His request is high winds, and man, this one puts out some cool air.

 

We also started filling the holes in the walls left from the radiator inserts. Four down, Fifteen to go...

 

After taking a break for dinner, and mowing the lawn at home base, we went to the Home Depot to pick up odds and ends, and came back to the project house with tile for the dining room.

I chose a high end, floating, vinyl floor. It looks like Travertine, but much softer under foot. I am actually a big fan of peel-n-stick tiles. I like the cost, the easy install, and the "not forever" choice of flooring. For the project house, I have gone back and forth about a decision to refurbish the hardwoods or just lay tile over them. Ultimately, the decision was made for me, because the floors are so badly damaged and covered with nasty glue and paper residue, that tiling is the most effective option. This will be a new adventure for us, as we have not tried a "floating" vinyl floor yet.

I will report on our results, and you can bet, some swearing will be involved...

 

 

Mom's Day

 

Mom's happy. Took her to the doctor today and got some good news. They took out her stitches (from bypass in leg arteries), and gave her the green light to go home from the rehabilitation center, on Friday. She will have minimal in-home nursing care, and maximum Mother's Day joy this weekend.

Yard Work

 

Today was yard work day at the project house. See those thorns... I reached into some shrubbery to pull out these dead branches, and yikes !!!

 

Terry's losing a battle with English Ivy.

 

Terry's winning a battle with over-stuffed gutters.

 

Here's my Mother's Day present to myself... A brand new, light weight, self propelled lawn mower. Perfect for me to tool around the yard with. I wish I would have taken the picture before I got it dirty, because I called it the equivalent to a shiny new Black Camaro.

Wow, I've lowered my standards... 

 

After four hours of heavy duty work, we sat down and looked around, and proclaimed, "It doesn't look like we did a thing!"

 

 

Faucet Duty

 

Even when you're working on a project house, the actual house you live in sometimes needs some work. The faucet in the kitchen crapped out a couple of days ago and we have been using the bathroom for water. So, today we had to spend some time on the place where we actually do business. Took out the old faucet (not so old, just cheap)...

 

Terry squeezed under there, and cleaned out some pipes while he was working on the faucet stuff.

 

 

There it is, the replacement faucet, another builder grade cheapo, but I actually like it a lot.

Hopefully, it will last longer than the last cheapo...

 

Ta da !!!

 Nice. Brushed Nickel finish, and Terry finally got his stupid little sprayer attachment.

 

So, now we have a $60 dollar faucet on a nice sink at home, and a $200 faucet on a nasty old sink at the project house.

 

Go figure.

 

Nature and Needs

 

Took a picture of mom's Magnolia tree today. Since she is in the rehabilitation center, she will miss her backyard beauty in full bloom this year. She really appreciated the pic...

 

In my project house backyard, I found a huge patch of Lily of the Valley coming up. I love Lily of the Valley, and I can't wait for the pretty little bell flowers to blossom, and the heavenly scent that wafts from them.

 

Okay, enough nature... We need a functioning bathroom...

 

Here we are in the bathroom again. Major electrical crap going on in here. Redoing 1950's wiring, moving lights, adding an outlet, and hanging a mirror. We had to stop at 8:00 p.m., so tomorrow, hopefully, I will report on a finished project. Well see...

 

While Terry played electrician, I painted a bedroom ceiling, and did the cut-in to ready for wall paint.

 

I am working on the two downstairs bedrooms simultaneously. I go back and forth between the two, painting, fixing windows, closet doors, etc. There is much to do to get these two rooms finished and ready for my kids to move into. Ceiling fans, closet painting, properly locking doors, floor refinishing, new outlets (with three prongs and grounds), molding, window treatments, and blah, blah, blah. I will feel great when I get these two bedrooms done, and the main bathroom.

 Then, I can get to work on the kitchen.

Biggest project in this project house...

Robin Likes Her Bubblebath

 

The work week has been slow. Terry works until 3:00, and then we try to do what we can on the project house, but we also have Mom to think about these days. She is still at the rehabilitation center, and we try to go at least every other day, but there is also her house to take care of, mail, and errands, and such. 

At the beginning of the week, Terry finished up the heating ductwork up to the second story. He still needs to do some finish work, like caps, and access covers, and heat register installation. But on the giant checklist, heating can almost be checked off...

 

The last couple of days were spent on what was supposed to be an easy job, but the bathtub plumbing turned into a small nightmare. Once again, 1949 plumbing meets modern day renovation supplies.

The trap under the tub was a giant old battleship, 90% clogged, and needed to be replaced. The bathtub fixtures and plumbing behind the tub posed a problem because of a floor joist and, once again, new and old parts.

A couple of hour long drives to a decent plumbing retailer (Warren Pipe, thank you...) and some swearing, and a little bit of throwing things, and Terry saved the day... once again. I will be soaking in that tub soon.........

I love the tub. Deep, and a nice slanted back. Bubble Bath is on my shopping list.

 

 

Next up, the new lighting fixtures and mirror.

 

Keep challenging us, we will beat this old house into submission...