Installing Hardwood Floors

Posted by Kristin Abraham Dec 15, 2006

Ok, I've had one busy week. I took on some extra work a few weeks back so I could begin buying stuff for the condo and I'm still working on these projects and my purchases have started rolling in.

Last week I got the call that my special order pergo floors had arrived. Unfortunately, my friend and home improvement partner in crime was in Hawaii (ah, the life of a travel writer). So the floors would have to wait a week.

This Wednesday I picked up the floors and enlisted Kevin's help for the day. And what a day it was. In fact I dont think it officially ended until 5pm the following day. It began for me at 1am when i finally finished Tuesday's work. So my day began with a bit of a nap. At 7am Kevin was chomping at the bit to start floor day. So I called Home Depot to let them know I would be picking up my flooring (as they requested). I was then told they need 2 hours after I call to have it ready. Really wish I had been told that before. At 9am Kevin and I met at Home Depot and picked up the flooring. And a saw blade and then another blade and two packs of jigsaw blades and then we rented a chop (mitre) saw because the one we had wasnt big enough. So after an hour and a half and about a hundred extra dollars we were done.

I'd like to mention that we also spent forever talking to about 6 sales associates. Here is where I explain that I'm a type A personality and Kevin isnt. For me this was an absolutely excruciating experience, worse than anything that would follow. I'm not a big fan of asking questions or getting directions, or even taking directions for that matter. My theory is skim the instructions on the box and figure it out on your on, just get the job done as quickly as possible. And never spend time worrying about a problem that you havent had yet.

So finally we get home, have some breakfast, unload the cars and he has to run to borrow someone's saw to trim the end off the starter pieces and run some other errands. At 4pm we begin laying the floor. By 6pm half of the floor was done and we were starving.

By 9pm we were worried about the saw noise and the neighbors. But we were almost done. The last row of Pergo needed to be ripped to fit the room and this had to be done at Kevin's friends house. And the closet was unfinished, but that also required some finessing with the jigsaw so we decided to put everything on hold for the rest of the night.

The following day Kevin managed to make it over by 2pm and after some fancy sawing that I avoided completely, the floor was done! And it's absolutely wonderful!

Keep your eyes out for my article on the specifics of laying a Pergo laminate hardwood floor. I'm working on it right now. It's really a project that pretty much anyone can complete but it does take some skill when it comes to cutting. And for that - Thanks Kevin!