Christmas!

Whew!....

My favorite part of Christmas is the time after the activities....this time.  My guests just left around 3:30.  I had Christmas brunch cum lunch (late!) to accommodate worship services.  I'm glad that I didn't have brunch, for I would have never been ready!

After consuming a large and delicious meal last evening, when I came home, I didn't have energy for anything other than pouring the brine into a bag for the pork roast and pouring a glass of wine.  We still had EPA cleanup to do before guests arrived the next day.  We managed to get everything done.

I didn't make a fancy lunch, but it was quite lovely.  I purchased a pork loin (not tenderloin) roast.  It's the type that is beautifully doubled over and tied nicely.  I brined it; brought it to room temp on the microwave low setting (Power 2); browned in a heavy pan over the flame; covered in mustard and then garlic that was mortar and pestled with kosher salt and rubbed through.  I then coated with Italian Breadcrumbs.  I put quarter onions, pears and apples in the pan as well. I put oven on convection at 375 and cooked with a temperature probe to reach 155 degrees.  Took it out and let it rest.  I then mashed the roasted vegetables/fruit in the pan and put on the flame on slightly to incorporate drippings.  I then pureed in food processor. I used this "butter" to slather onto each succulent slice of beautifully roasted and very moist from the brine pork.

Sam's had fingerling potatoes.  I sliced and then coated these with oil and my proprietary blend of spices.  Actually, it was going through the spice carousel in the corner cabinet and grabbing this and that.  No two attempts are the same.  They also had beautiful asparagus.  I simply prepped them, drizzled oil and then roasted them on the grill.  I made a fresh cranberry sauce and had store bought croissants.  Also, we a a smoked turkey, courtesy of one of my husband's colleagues.  I sliced this up in advance.

My stepmom brought a beautiful pound cake (that had been gifted to her--and she and now two!).  I simply sliced it, put ice cream on it and made a quick fudge sauce (bittersweet and milk chocolate discs melted with some half and half).  It was sublime.

It was a wonderful day. I have a clean house and leftovers!    I then sat on the couch with two of my dogs and watched a movie by myself.  Such a nice holiday. I hope that yours was enjoyable too.

Good Tidings

In just a couple of hours I'll fly away to have a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner at my stepmom's.  She is a wonderful cook, and we are fortunate to have the bounty of food, family and health this year.

This is a time of year where many different religious and spiritual paths celebrate.  That we approach the shortest day of the year, and the longest night, it is no wonder that so much activity surrounds this time period.  In most modern cultures, we are no longer close to the edge of living and dying.  But for those that were close to that edge, making it through the longest night of the year was an accomplishment.  And each subsequent night would be less long.

Hope is a powerful force that carries us through dire circumstances.  And we have hope when there are courageous individuals who lift themselves above the fray--unbounded from pettiness, consumerism, politicism, and all other 'isms' that deserve our cutting loose from their hold.

Our beloved belief systems are often founded by individuals who were courageous, and spoke out against the contemporary insanities that grip every culture and divide humankind.  Peace on earth and goodwill toward men is more easily said than done---and achieved after much effort and bloodshed.

My message today is for each of us to embody the responsibility of being a courageous individual.  I found this in one of Thich Nhat Hanh's books.  It always resonates with me when I read it.  I wanted to share it with you today.  It is a reminder to me that all things can be reconciled so long as we approach conflict correctly and take action to reconcile.

Not your standard holiday message, but what you shouldn't be surprised!



In the time of war
Raise in yourself the Mind of Compassion
Help living beings
Abandon the will to fight
Wherever there is a furious battle
Use all you might
To keep both sides' strength equal
And then step into the conflict to reconcile.

Vimalakirti Nirdesa

Friday Melange

Ugh...waking up hot and sneezy.  Husbando is going duck hunting, so he is out the door.  I did plan the Christmas brunch last evening.  I hope my daughter gets the house clean by then! My MIL used to cook Christmas dinner, but she is in her late 70's and frail.  It will be a small gathering as my B/SIL are heading to her mother's.  I prefer the brunch option as it is a time to commune with loved ones and then relax after all of the busy season's preparations.  Well, I didn't have season's preparations...just that @%#!#^ house. 

I felt the pull of the salvage store yesterday.  My intent was to pick up 'stuff' to put in Christmas gift bags for neighbors. Useful things, but not ordinary things.  They had some terrific food stuff (diced tomatoes, black eyed peas, fruit sectionals) all at great prices and unexpired dates--those for my pantry.  You have to watch expiration dates!  I scored some gourmet peppercorns, sea salt, barbeque spices, chicken and beef base--all things to make a nice bag of gourmet gifts for friends and neighbors.  I also acquired several small bamboo cutting boards.  They are functional and pretty.  Of course I bought the bags there too--lovely, colorful but-not- quite-Christmas bags.  I still may make some Almond Toffee or perhaps Molasses Cookies...so long as the house gets cleaned for guests.

I also scored a recessed light hole saw--husbando will need a new one of those for the next project.  I plan to put recessed lighting extensively in the great room/kitchen and downstairs too if access permits.  I bought a leather punch too...Actually, several.  A punch is a useful thing...I'll put it in selected bags.  Wandering down the kitchen aisle (this is where I scored the $189 ScanPan for $19.99 last year--still rated as the #1 pan to own and love by all of last year's gift recipients (and me)), I found . . . .

some free range (unboxed) wine glasses.  They were Stolzle and just $1.99 a piece.  A bargain!  On my last gathering, I was running a little short on wine glasses.  My delicate crystal ones have been broken one by one over the years.  I don't worry about them as I scored them from Tuesday Morning...beautiful and cheap!  I only bought 4 as my cart was full, but I'll go back and pick up the remainders.

With husbando and I in the rehab mode, our eye is now turning toward our own home.  I have cheap light fixtures and cheap knobs on my sold wood doors.  It is not something I noticed so much until the completion of the last project.  So, I'm on a bent to systematically upgrade some of the original fixtures.  I'm cruising the LampsPlus Open Box site.  


I found this light to put in my office. (Merry Christmas to me!). I don't have that many overhead fixtures....just my bedroom, office, son's bedroom, and antechamber room, oh...and 3 bathrooms.  Hmmm...well anyway,  there is one light down! 

We have to be careful what we turn our attention to! I say that partially in jest, but the power of our focused attention is just that...powerful.  And, our attention can be misplaced (hence, 'unwanted attention' or OCD), unfocused (vacuous), laser-beamed (preoccupied--which I think also has OCD tendencies), critical or objective.  Now I am focused on the maintenance needs of my own home.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.








Waxing Nostalgic on the Rehab

My reward for finishing the project was a tired immune system that snagged the first bug coming its way.  In fairness, it fought mightily as each member of my household was felled with it before I finally succumbed. Thank goodness for DayQuil....I'm functional.  I'm staying close to home as no one needs the generosity of a shared cold for the holidays.

Other than the wreath on my door; I have no decorations up.  Our spirits are up, though, because the house is finished (or as finished as we plan to partake in).  The appraiser comes next Monday.  I surely hope for the buyer that there are no snags.  I'm confident that the home will appraise for the price in the purchase contract.

I've prepared a little before/after on Picasa.  You can see it here:

The kitchen looks particularly good:

Here is a before/after picture.  I sent these two photos to the lovely woman who sold me the double oven and the glass cooktop and stainless steel hood.






I'm looking forward to creating another portfolio of pictures for the next property. 

This is my LAST post on this rehab project. So with that, I will provide consolidated (geez, it does not look too consolidated) specifics:

  • Flooring:  
    • AFter pulling up carpet, carpet tack strips, underlayment staples etc, sealed putrid floors with Zinser B-I-N.  Adhere to ventilation precautions.  It is alcohol based, and will send you to an alternative consciousness.
    • Installed 1/2" engineered hardwood by Robina:  Gunstock.  Supplied by WoodFloorsPlus.  I purchased close out.  Used DVR Floor Muffler for the underlayment.  The floors are stunning.  Every single piece of flooring from the box was perfect and went together easily.  No warranty as I purchased during super low closeout....but I'm okay with that. Most flooring warranties are to the original purchase. We laid the floor on ALL surfaces, including the bathroom and utility.  Cost $2.30 (for floor and underlayment) per square foot.
    • Silicone sealed bathroom edges.
    • Protected floors from continuing construction with the flooring boxes.
  • Kitchen Cabinets. 
    • Degreased with TSP. Wear gloves and goggles.
    • Sanded where needed.  Wear a mask!
    • Used Bondo and Rockhard to repair deep grooves in the handles.  Sanded all repairs carefully. 
    • Primed cabinets (interior AND exterior) with 2 coats of Zinser B-I-N (found at super low price @ N&W Salvage.  Sanded after each coat.
    • Wiped with a vinegar water solution to neutralize any residue.  Primed with Zinser B-I-N and sanded between bothNote that the instructions tell you not to use TSP; hence the vinegar/water solution.  
    • A word about grease: I had no problems EXCEPT a couple of pin-hole bubbles from some speck residue of grease that remained.  NOTHING covers grease.
    • Painted with Benjamin Moore Cabinet Coat in Chantilly Lace.   Applied paint with Wooster mohair blend, shed resistant mini-roller. 
    • New hardware from N&W Salvage.  Self closing hinges from Home Depot.
  • Other Kitchen:  Formica FX80 countertop supplied by West Coast Tops.  Kohler Enameled Cast Iron sink from the ReStore.    Appliances found on Craig's list ($600).  Gently used, but upscale.  Yes, that is a double oven in the picture.
  •  Doors:  All doors were replaced due to significant damage.  All but 1 passage way door was secured at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a price of $25 each for a solid wood door. Click on the link to find one near you. (Primed, sanded, painted--3 coats needed).  Bifolds and remaining passage way and closet door supplied by Steves and Sons. 
  • Windows:  All exterior windows had to be replaced.  Mid-South Building Supply supplied Vinylmax windows. Cost was $1600 to include installation.
  • Front door and back patio door were replaced with Fiberglass doors from ProBuild. Cost of about $1000 for both.
  • Paint:  Used Benjamin Moore paint throughout.  Applied Aura Paint in matte for the walls and semi gloss for trim.  In the bathroom, used Aura Bath and Spa. It has a built in mildewside.  Aura is quite expensive, even with a contractor discount.  Nevertheless, it touches up beautifully, has exceptional coverage and color.  With all of the other budget-minded things done, the splurge was on the paint.  I'm confident it will last many years!
  • Colors..wall/trim
    • Riviera Azure/Chantilly Lace (bedroom custom match to customer's textiles)
    • Balboa Mist/Chantilly Lace (ditto)
    • Crisp Straw/Ivory Tower  (Bathroom and ditto)
    • Cameo White/Decorator white (bathroom and ditto).
    • Hawthorne Yellow/Chantilly Lace: Great room, front room, halls.
    • Harbortown Green/Chantilly Lace:  Back room.
  • Plumbing Fixtures:  Faucet Direct.
  • Lighting Fixtures:  Lighting Direct.
  • Toilets:  Toto Drake  National Builders Supply.
  • Electrical:  New Panel from Square D's HomeLine.  You can get it at Home Depot.  Make sure you get the right breakers!  I slept with one of the electricians (who happens to be my husband), so I got a great deal on the electrical work.  
  • Masonry:  Great friend of husband's provided brick repair.  
  • Plumbing:  We had a melange of plumbers who tore out the old oxidized copper pipes and replaced with PVC.  No small task.
  • Heavy lifting for carpentry :  Fitzgerald General Contracting.  They did a terrific job fixing the joists, installing the windows, repairing drywall and providing feedback on other jobs we tackled ourselves.
  • Trim:  We reused (prepped for painting) wherever possible, though see takeaway below).
 
Takeaways:
  • Urine/other stained subfloors can be contained with Zinser B-I-N.
  • Select quality contractors whom you know and trust.  Use referrals.  The cheapest guy in town or work done as a favor may not always the most reliable.
  • Grease on kitchen cabinets must be completely eradicated--any speck will bubble through.
  • There are NO shortcuts in well-prepped wood surfaces.  Use your fingers to ensure smooth prep on all wood surfaces.  IF your fingers can feel it, your eye will see it.
  • For plumbing fixtures purchased on line, make sure to check availability highly discounted items. I had to cancel two orderswith a supplier, because they could not get one of the products, and the other product had more than 3 week lead time.
  • CAULK.  Caulk your trim to the wall.  It makes for a beautiful, finished look.
  • SHOP internet. The internet had great deals and most things shipped free.  I did not have ONE mis-step from any supplier.  Compare prices...the same fixtures can be found more cheaply elsewhere and/or free shipping might be replaced with a lower net price.
  • Shop locally. Designing around spectacular deals (flooring, appliances, fixtures, lighting) can provide many upscale inclusions at a budget price.
    • Go to your Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  You can find some great buys plus you are supporting a local charitable effort. Also, don't forget Goodwill and Salvation Army, both of which have good deals.
    • Craig's List, or similar list.  We were lucky to find upscale, gently used appliances at a very good price.  
  • Minimize custom paint choices.  The end-purchaser had custom color choices.  The next rehab is only going to use 3 paint colors.  It is hard to paint efficiently when each room is a different color choice.
  • Use the right tool for the job.  Missing a tool?  Think of the money that you are saving by doing work yourself and go BUY yourself the tool that you wished that you had.
  • If trim is banged up, and you are moving from natural to painted trim, consider replacing the trim rather than prepping for painting.  Paint grade trim is affordable.  Banged up trim is still banged up when painted.
  • Don't dither on replacement windows.  If the windows look bad now, they are going to look even worse when you spruce up everything that houses them!  The last thing want is for people to see your great work and then immediately say, "but the windows look like shit!".
  • Plans....rules are made to be broken and plans are made to be amended.  It will likely cost you more and take more time than you originally expected.  However, if you plan well, you will be able to minimize deviations to the plan and make considered judgments regarding those deviations. Plan for the worst, expect the best. Keep your budget updated, and reforecast your price to finish so that you know where you are costs.
  • Don't get overwhelmed.  When every where you look something needs to be done or looks like it is half-done, undone, unhinged, then regroup.  I found that as soon as I could call one room complete, I immediately felt refreshed.  We had some real low moments when it seemed that nothing could get completed.  Retrenching to ONE room and doing ALL things, made a huge difference.
  • Be safe. 
    • Buy a first aid kit and make sure that everyone on your job knows where it is. 
    • Buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a bottle of sterile eye wash and put them by the sink if there is one. 
    • Wear appropriate protective equipment.  Eye and ear protection are critical. Have safety glasses and ear protection handy.  Protect your skin and eyes from caustic materials.  Have chemical resistant gloves handy.
  • Protect your finished work. Use cardboard boxes from flooring/fixtures to set tool boxes and other items that might damage floors or walls.
  • Organize tools.  We spent too much time looking for stuff because we had to keep moving things.  On my next job, I'm going to buy one of those large chrome shelves from Costco.  I'm going to keep all job stuff and tools on or near the shelf. Put rollers on it to move it easily.  Disassemble and take to the next job.
  • Buy a big trash can and splurge on the thick, contractor bags. 
  • Rags in a Box (by Scott)--...man are these handy. 
  • No water/plumbing? Baby wipes can refresh hands and other areas.







Finito

On Sunday, the final plumbing work was done to render this house passable for an appraisal.  Is it finished?  Largely so; however, there is about a day's worth of painting/touchup that needs to be done...but not by me.  I say that with a large exhale.

I am accumulating my pictures and will do a before and after when I get some better after pictures.

Pinterest seems to be all the rage with the young adults in my sphere.  My daughter is addicted to it.  Another bit of voyeurism...but a wonderful way to find ideas to inspire you.  I stumbled upon it when I was searching for paint color combinations.

I'm looking forward to moving onto my next project.  Already stuff is coming in.  The vanity and the several light fixtures that I've picked out have been delivered, and I couldn't be more pleased.  Because I can shop closeouts, I'm able to get some great deals. 

I have finally decided on the colors for the interior.  I'm balancing an "Ah! not Blah!" neutral look.  For the great room, the walls/ceiling will be Benjamin Moore's Winter Wheat matte and Winter Wheat (232) semi-gloss on the woodwork.  I have Winter Wheat in my home, and I love the color.  The master bedroom will be Cream Fleece (233) walls with Linen White woodwork and ceiling.  The other bedrooms will be Linen White on Linen White.

We are no longer going to paint the cabinets, but rather clean them and change out the hardware. That will be work enough as there are many cabinets!  I plan to use Skimstone on the counterops...transforming perfect working condition, but perfectly dated dark butcher block formica to something exciting.  Outside of my Spreadstone project, I have no experience.  But my Spreadstone turned out pretty well even though my color was not all that pretty.  I just used what I could get to get the application learned.  I was happy with the results.

I'm confident that I will have the same problems (hinge throws slightly different) as I had on the other house, but forewarned is forearmed!   I'm toying with the idea of putting glass inserts in the front facing cabinets.  I'll try not to get too fancy!














Q@#$%^$Q%&&

My beautiful blog template is bastardized beyond my time and energy to repair.  While Blogger has made its templates more easily customizable for folks without their learning CSS (which I bothered to do in a very rudimentary way), it rendered my "Notebook" by Ray's Creations unusable.

Oh well.  I nabbed a template and made a few adjustments.  I've no energy or time to figure out a better fix.  Who knows what you might find here.  At least my other blog template is working.

Yesterday I called in the calvary for help in re-hanging my kitchen cabinets. If you are going to tackle the job of putting on new hardware onto 30 year old cabinetry, you should keep these two points in mind:

Cabinets are made to fit the available hinges
  Hinges today are not the hinges of yesterday (many, many yesterdays).  There is a little something called the "throw".  The throw + the inset are likely not the same on a different brand of hinge than the original.  While your cabinet might close, it might not fit as snugly at the hinge.
So...I had to suffer the indignity of my husband's certitude that I had just bought the wrong type of hinge.  In honesty, I did buy the wrong hinge on two separate occasions.  (Time 1, I failed to get inset.  Time 2, I failed to get self-closing). However, at Time 3, I had the right hinge, but all manner of issues that I had no experience in working through.  With 17 doors to hang, and 4 of those miserably failures, I tooted the horn to call the calvary.

To my credit, with each of my 4 failures, I got a little further along--but not fer enuf (sic).  I had learned that when applying the new hinges, I had to scoot the hinge up enough to fully clear the previous holes. If your holes line up perfectly centered with the new hinge, then you'll be fine so long as there is enough grip for the screw.  In my case, the hinge holes were just a wee bit off.  When you are a wee bit off, the old holes will act like a neutron star and suck your screw into the previous recess.  This will make your hinge crooked, and there is no good that can come from that. Same goes for the cabinet faces. 



Gerald came to the rescue. When he rolled up the work van, I did a happy dance. (My happy dance is hopping in a circle with both feet together and clapping my hands.  I don't do this often.)  Calling in the calvary was not without its embarrassment on two counts.  Count 1:  you have to admit defeat.  Count 2:  you have show someone your goof-ball work.  Pride really must be pushed aside at times if progress is to be made.  I needed a bulldozer to push my pride aside. 

He was kind enough to tell me that I was on the right track (but truly that train had jumped the tracks).  Not only did we have to hang the remaining cabinets, we had to rework my mishaps.  He decided that it would be best to start with a fresh door (to which I had already applied the hinges clearing all of the old holes).  He had the same issue that I had, with the hinge pulling once screwed in.  The fix?  Pressing hard on the butt of the hinge to flatten it, and then screw it to the cabinet face.



Oh....there are neutron stars of past screw holes on the cabinet faces.  There is a fix.  The glorious toothpick. (Image pinched from American.com)  Insert the toothpick into the hole (bigger holes may require more than one), and then snap them flush with your hand.  Use a hammer to make them flush.  Yes, had I known this trick, I might have been able to leave my hinges at the same spot on the door.  But tomorrow's knowledge is of no help today, and you have to work with what you got.

But the toothpicks were placed in the cabinet frames with impunity.  Because I had moved the hinge on the door, the "indentations" on the pine faces are evident.  It is an imperfection that is not all that noticeable.

Gerald worked with two drills.  One of them armed with a self-centering hinge bit.  If I learned anything from my screw ups (I now see a pun), precision does count. (More later).  So a beautifully centered pilot hole for your hinge-setting projects will enhance your project experience.

Once we got all of the cabinets working properly (happy dance!), the task list was to hang 2 pairs of bi-fold doors, hang a solid wood door (mortise hinges and  bore for latch) and a closet door (already bored.  When we finished, I did another happy dance.  I had some minor things left on my list, but Mark and I can do those.  The heavy lifting was done.  I only have a cell phone pic of the cabinets...I'll take a decent pic and post before and after pictures.

The day was not done yet.  Gerald left, and I sat down and rested my head on my knees.  I was tired.  We had steadily worked all day without a break.  My feet hurt, and my arms hurt (from the cabinets).  They really hurt today!

The next task was to bore 4 holes in the brick steps to re-mount a broken rail.  This is a 'must' for an FHA appraiser.  Two days night before, I brought home the hollow core drill, and it worked for 10 seconds.  We could not revive it.  It appeared to be an electrical problem in the GFI.  I returned it to Rental Works.  Those folks are fantastic.  They could not get it looked at until the next day (yesterday), and it was ready to be picked up for a second try.

Four holes and two wet feet (Mark's) later, we had successfully cut the brick without....ooops...yes, the very last hole managed to break the brick.  An easy fix.

We now just have a small bit of plumbing hookups to execute, and we are ready to wash our hands of this project.

I was very tired today from yesterday. I had to take the drill back, meet a truck for the vanity that was delivered, pick up some stain and paint. I have to finish staining the pine steps the same color as the flooring.  I didn't have it in me to do that.  I went to Lowe's to get an oscillating multi-tool.  I then saw all manner of things that  were interesting.  I'll write on that tomorrow, as this post is getting long winded.









IKIWISI

I'm transitioning from Hannah's house to the "new" house. This house is on a tight budget too, but not so much as Hannah's house.  Unlike Hannah's house, I have no plans to execute the painting.  However, I have to choose the paint colors.  I might as well be working to bring cold fusion to a marketable concept!

The good news is that I have sourced the flooring for the kitchen and the bathrooms. Having the floor will eliminate many of the color choices that I might want to consider--getting me that much closer to making a frickin decision.  So many colors!  So many possibilities.

I was hovering the "backroom" of my local Best Tile like a buzzard an eagle intent on its next meal.  I stopped and talked to a gentleman who was looking at some marble for his fireplace.  As I turned to re-inspect the center aisle of goods, I spotted the Wildland Canyon.  I had already missed it in the first two passes.

I didn't have my measurements with me (though I was 'sure' that I had them upon leaving the house).  I said !$@%@5% it, I'll get it anyway. It is regularly  $6.99/sqf tile, but with 81 sqf left in stock, they were offering it $2.99.  There was just enough square feet (within a mouse's whisker short) to be used in the kitchen. 

It is a porcelain tile, so the color goes all the way through.  It is textured, so it will not be slippery.  Yes, it will be hard underfoot, but the gel-mat people need to make a living too.  I'm really drawn to the earthen tones and the tactile look and feel of this tile.


The unfortunate thing about being highly intuitive (well there are many unfortunate things about it), is that you take "I know it when I see it" (IKIWISI) to a whole new level.  Seeing the Wildand Canyon was one of those instant IKIWISI moments.  It is a 12" x 18" tile, so I think that it will look good in the kitchen which has a much narrower floor than its length.

I was also drawn to this 12 x 24 tile. (Mora Medley in Creme)

I purchased this for the bathrooms, but it would look equally good in the kitchen.    No discount, on this, but given that the bathrooms need eye wow without budget pow, I elected to go with small sqf pow!  This tile looks super cool on the walls too.

The case for the basement.  Much space.  Much potential.  Here is the "great room" of the basement.  It truly is a great room.  Wood stove (needs some fixing).  Fire box.  Great brick chimney.  All the woodwork will be painted.  I will leave the brick alone. . .. for now.


At some point in time the basement had water casualty. I'm not sure exactly from what as I can see a number of contributory issues:  there was an upstairs plumbing leak, as well as some downstairs plumbing issues and a clogged outside drain.  There is a wall shared by the bathroom that has some major issues.  I'll let my contractors due the heavy lifting on that.  There was carpet down there as evidenced by (1) the roll of unremoved, badly stained carpet and (2) the carpet tack strips around the full perimeter of the room.  This is a 1300 sqf, fully finished basement.

I've received competent, professional, though conflicting, advice:  Paint the floors and let the new owners decide v. install floor covering.  The first advice was to keep costs down.  The second advice was from the realtor to resale.  My gut tells me that any person contemplating buying this house will only see the additional expense needed to cover the floor.  And, given the square footage, it is quite a bit of floor to cover.  The best thing to do is marry the best attributes of both tendered opinions:  scrounge up an inexpensive, attractive flooring option.

I went to my favorite flooring supplier, Wood Floors Plus.  They have a beautiful pre-finished engineered hickory.  I would LOVE to put that down in this space.  However, it has to be glued or stapled--and in the basement, it can only be glued.  That is not a DIY project, and it will be another $1.50 a sqf to install (my guess), and the glue is an expense as well.  To keep costs down, choosing a floor that we could competently put down (or sub out cost effectively) was the answer.

WFP had a premium laminate, Pergo Elegant Expressions, 10mm, in Buchanan Maple, at the very special closeout price of $1.59 per sqf. They had limited sqf, and I ordered about 1/2 their remaining stock.   It is a discontinued product, and the closest price comparison was $2.69 on special from FloorOne.com There are some other styles priced at $3.69.  All in all, I feel that I got a very good deal. 

It has pre-attached, 2mm, backing and requires an inexpensive 6mil vapor barrier.  This is a floor that we can easily lay.  It is a double plank, so it should be much speedier than the individual boards.  I think that it will make for a durable, beautiful floor.  It has a lifetime warranty,however, because I bought it at super-duper clearance, I don't get that.   I'm okay with that. After reading the warranty language of most flooring folks, I've concluded that there are enough loopholes to trip you up should something happen requiring a warranty claim.  I consider the shipping, almost free. It is about the cost of the sales tax, and it is delivered on a lift-gate truck.  I'll choose the paint once the flooring comes...I still need to narrow my choices.

I sourced a 50"  bathroom vanity at a very attractive price from Modern Bathroom. It is clearance priced at $899--that includes the mirror and marble top and free shipping (no faucet). It's a quick, beautiful and attractively priced fix for the downstairs bathroom. 


That poor cabinet was presumably chewed by a dog, and both the upstairs and downstairs vanities are far too low to be used comfortably. The upstairs vanity requires a new top (sink, etc).  A   I have to figure out what to do with the upstairs.  I may order a second one for the upstairs bathroom if the stock holds.  I'd like to see it first.  It appears that their products are highly rated, and an exceptional value.  I'll give feedback when this cabinet comes.