New Floor

The next step in my huge house project was putting down my new floor. After much research on flooring types and brands I chose Pergo XP in Highland Hickory. The floor boards need to sit in the room they will be installed in for at least 48 hours to acclimate. It has been unusually cold so this step was even more important.

Saturday morning the room was cleared. The floor was scrapped, swept and vacuumed.

Two tiles that we found damaged when the carpet was pulled up were repaired. The corners of the tiles had broken off and they were sealed back in place.

The reason the floor need to be really clean is that the first thing to go down on the floor is a thick layer of plastic which is a water barrier. The plastic will block any water condensation from the concrete and protect the flooring.

Once the plastic is down and cut to the proper shape. it is time to start putting down the boards. Spacers go along the wall which give the floor space to expand and contract as needed.

The boards fit together but usually need to be tapped in with a tapping block and mallet.

Katie was very helpful during this process, she opened packages of boards and brought boards over to be placed in next. Over the course of the day the floor slowly went in With all of the weird walls in my living room there were a lot of boards that needed to be cut to complete each row. Once we were past that point the long rows across the room went in fairly fast.

By late Saturday night the floor was mostly in and we called it a day.

Sunday was time to work on the last row. Each board had to be measured and but to fit in. It was also the Golden Globes so getting the tv and couch set up was a priority. Some of Katie's toys came back in as well.

On Monday afternoon my brother put in the final piece of the floor, the molding that joins together the new floor and tile. The floor looks great and I am very happy with the color and texture of the floor. The next step will be to put the floor molding back in.