Maple for Christmas

For Christmas we are giving each other hardwood floors...and that includes the labor to install it!

The process began with several days of preparing the floors. The gypcrete had to be leveled some more in spots, the drywall had to be cut to let the hardwood to slide under, and the floors had to be vacuumed several times to clean up the construction mess.

We were so excited to have the prep worked finished Sunday afternoon and to be able to lay the first boards! Joe was nice enough to help us and rack out the different boards that we should install. That's a stressful job picking out the board order and keeping it random looking! The boards are 4.5", 5.5" and 6.5" widths and range in lengths of up to about 11'.

 

 The second day we made it around the entrance way transition piece (transitions to the black slate tile which has yet to be installed) and up to the edge of the fireplace. By the end of the day we are both exhausted...this is much harder work than sitting at a desk all day!

 

 

 The third day we framed around the fireplace hearth and connected into the kitchen and down the hall towards the master and laundry room. Some tricky spots, but everything still looks pretty straight and tight! The piles of wood are gradually moving into the great room as we select which boards to put in next. 

 

The fourth day we almost made it to the staircase. Andy wanted to finish the goal, but I wanted to go out to dinner and I won :) It's really starting to look like a floor and not just some boards on top of concrete. We made it around each side of the island and need to trim a board for the backside to connect the two paths tomorrow. Those were some long runs from the kitchen all the way over to the hallway by the two bedrooms. Joe was nice enough to spend another day helping. We are getting the hang of the process, but having 3 people sure is nice to get the boards in straight and prep for the next row.

Tomorrow we hope to finish the great room (without the stairs) and then that leaves five more days to do the three bedrooms and remaining hallway. The stacks of wood aren't getting much smaller, so we'll see if we have the correct amount.