Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Let the Home Improvements Begin!

Owning your own home is all about changing it, right? Wouldn't it be nice to get a house that is already perfect for you in every way? Some people probably get that lucky. We have a pretty good house, but one of the most horrible things about it is the flooring. First of all, whoever decided carpet in the dining room was acceptable? It's sooooo much easier to clean up a hard surface than carpet. And whoever decided ugly linoleum in the kitchen was acceptable? We certainly didn't, which is why we've spent the last couple of weeks remodeling our floors! We got the dining room finished and are in the process of doing the kitchen. So here's the before (with stupid carpet)... And the after!!!! Beautiful, isn't it?!
But the in between is what really matters. It took a lot of work, but was so worth it!
Luckily, we had some help. After pulling up the carpet, we (meaning Lance) had to nail backer board down. His friend, Dave, came over one night to help with it.
I cleaned. Oh yeah.
And Skye helped by keeping us entertained!
She also helped paint the primer on the floor (the picture turned out blurry). Then it was time to lay the first tile. Luckily, my sister and brother-in-law were there to help. They put this kind of flooring (peel and stick vinyl tile) in their house so it was great having them there to help.
There's no turning back now!
The girls were the assembly line. We'd get a tile, peel off the back, then hand it to one of the boys! So exhausting...he he he! And talking of help, my younger brother helped a bunch, too.
This is after laying all the tiles, but before putting the grout on.
Lance grouting the floor. This is what took forever.

Me cleaning the grout off.
Lance helped, too!
And there is our beautiful, new floor. We love it! I can't wait to have the kitchen finished. It is such an improvement!

3 comments:

Jess said...

Looks great! Must be SOOO nice to get rid of that carpet under your dining table. I have had that for the last 5 years and I HATE it!

Lance Stine said...

I'm ready to write a small we b article on how to do it and ways to avaoid common iptfalls

Cookie said...

Oh yeah!!!! It looks great in the pictures and even better in real life! Lance--I think you should definitely write that article! But I'd call it avoiding the pitfalls, not the iptfalls! Hee hee... You guys did a great job!