Floor Progress

If you were following my earlier blog on mixed-up.com, you know that way back in October of 2005 we bought some laminate flooring to put in our kitchen. Yes, it has been sitting in boxes underneath the grand piano for over a year. We've finally got down to doing something with it.

Of course, our $500 job has turned into more like a $1000 job with the table saw and compound miter saw we bought yesterday. At least we'll have some nice tools to show for it when we're done. That is, Mary will have some nice tools to show for it ... it is her birthday tomorrow, and she asked for the miter saw as a birthday present. I think the intention is that with tools in hand, she can put me to work indefinitely. Humbug!

We have to take out three layers of linoleum before we can install the new floor. Several people we've talked to, including Hank the Handyman who is teaching the Handy-person class we're taking, have suggested that we take out the pressboard underneath the linoleum, stripping down all the way to the tongue-and-groove subfloor. The advantage is that the pressboard is nailed or stapled to the subfloor and will come out easily. The disadvantage is that we'll have to replace the pressboard. The alternative is that we'd have to keep the existing pressboard intact, but remove the linoleum that is firmly glued to it.

Also, the consensus is that a good way to remove the old floor is to take a circular saw to it, with the blade depth set just deep enough to cut through the vinyl and pressboard but not into the subfloor. We can cut the floor into long strips or small squares. I'm leaning toward small squares because they can be tossed into the trash bin. But Mary favors cutting as little as possible because she wants as little linoleum dust as possible. Can't blame her.

We've actually moved the family room furniture and the china cabinet into the living room and most of the dining room furniture into the family room so we can still use it. We haven't moved the refrigerator, dishwasher, or stove out of the kitchen yet. We hope to leave the stove in there as long as possible, until it's actually necessary to rip out the linoleum directly underneath it. We also haven't set up the brand new table saw yet. That is going to be the fun part! I think Mary wants to spend her birthday doing that. We also need to take measurements so we know exactly how wide to lay the first row of boards. It'll be easier to do that before we rip out the old floor.

Mary wants to go for sushi dinner tomorrow night, then church, then ice cream if it times out right. With any luck, there won't be a lot of time for real actual work. Just thinking about it tires me out.

Why doesn't the spell checker like "pressboard" and "subfloor?"