New Floor Install, Day 1

Big day, in a lot of ways. Liz and I went to our early voting location where I cast my ballot (and she dropped off hers). While it’s closer to actual Election Day, the line wasn’t too bad and moved along fairly quickly.

A first for me: the electronic portion of the voting. I was given a credit-card type object, used a large touch-screen to select my candidates/judges, and at the end of the process my selections were printed out on a sheet of paper (which had a QR code).

Instead of the normal large ballot where I connected the arrows with a pen, I fed this piece of paper into the machine to count my vote. A mixture of technologies.

At home, looking at the tools the flooring guys brought it.

Discussing and measuring out the living room fireplace tile.

Given the damaged nature of some of the tile, there was talk of making the rows shorter… reducing the overall number of tiles needed, and allowing us to have a few spare tiles around.

Wood being moved around.

Tile outline in the living room.

The first of the floor vents, framed.

Living room floor vent, framed. The previous style had these grates sitting flush with the floor. We learned though that these were designed to sit on top of the wooden floor.

If they were flush (with the wood flooring coming up to the side of the vent), the vent itself wouldn’t be supported by anything, other than the duct below. And the moment someone stepped on it, walking to open the window perhaps, there would be nothing to support their weight.

Bob was able to work out a cut on the wood, using the table saw, to provide a notch where the vent cover could sit. With these cuts, the vent would actually be resting on the floor boards, but would be down enough to where they’re all flush with the floor.

Bob, opening up and starting to reframe the first floor bathroom window.

Nearer the end of the day, tools lined up.

They brought their own chop and table saws, incidentally.

Plans for the fireplace tile in the dining room.

A stretch of floor down in the main hall, from the vestibule to the closet.

A lot of planning today, with a majority of the time spent figuring out what needed to be done, measurements for the fireplace tile frame, and framing up all the floor vents.

My rough understanding is that all of this is normal, preliminary work in establishing a base. And from here, additional flooring will get installed a lot quicker.

The first few times I walked by, I tried jumping over the wood because I was afraid to walk on it. We were assured things are fine, but it’s definitely going to take some getting used to.

Related:
Cleaning the First Floor
Living Room Fireplace Tile Demo