Quick Floor Update

I have a few photographs, but no time to post right now.

The floor is down in the kitchen and dining room. I need to glue down the very last row where the boards cross the threshold from the kitchen into the entry hallway. The underlayment boards in the hallway are ever-so-slightly higher than in the kitchen, so I can't glue down that last row until some compensation is made. I'm considering planing down the edge of the higher surface so the floor will lay flat without any stress, but that last row will be angled upward very slightly.

I still have to lay down the floor in the entry hallway, but it's very square, about 12-15 boards, and I think it will take only a couple of hours.

I need to buy all the floor molding to go where the floor joins ends in open spaces, especially the doorways but also at the step-downs into the family room and the garage. And I haven't figured out the front door yet. I already bought one piece that will join the wood in the entry hallway to the carpet in the main hallway. My intention was to shop for those transition pieces today, but the rain and cold is leaving me unmotivated to get out.

Mary has already painted all of the wall molding, but we need to cut it to fit with the miter saw, putty over the joints, and touch up the paint. Handyman Hank suggested doing it that way instead of nailing it to the wall first, then painting. My back hurts just thinking about doing it that way.

We aren't going to finish all the trim until next week, because we'll be at a dance this weekend. And we need to leave on the heat this weekend because the floor needs to remain above 65 degrees for 48 hours after installation.

Rough summary of the work so far:

• 1 day to remove the old linoleum flooring from the kitchen
• 1 day to remove the tile and sand down the glue in the hallway
• 1.5 days to install the new plywood underlayment
• 3 days so far to lay down the new floor, with one more day to go

Oh, Mary started a new job this week! Which, as far as the floor is concerned, means that I've been working on it by myself, which is OK because you can really only lay one piece at a time, so two people doesn't necessarily mean faster. But it also means I may get stuck with doing the finishing work, a more artistic endeavor that Mary is more suited for. We'll see what happens next week. And more about Mary's new job later ...