Beautiful New Floors!

Last week was my birthday so this past weekend my family came and helped install my birthday present! :)  I told you were were getting new floors for the den a few weeks ago.  And now three weeks later, here is the final result! 

Before I jump to the after pictures, I just want to highlight the installation process so you can appreciate the hard work involved (Thanks Josh!).  First things first, we tore up the carpet and foam underlayment.  Some glue scraping and vacuuming came next.  Then the floors sat all lonely and empty for a while.  Then Mr. Laminate Installer Extraordinaire (AKA my brother-in-law Josh) arrived!

He showed us how to lay out the new underlayment and tape the seams (with duck tape).  I was qualified to help with this step.  You always want to run your underlayment perpendicular to the flooring so the seams don’t coincide.  We decided to run the flooring parallel to the longest wall even though that meant it would run crosswise in the hallway.  Oh well. :)

While we laid out the underlayment, Josh cut off all the door trim moldings with a fancy saw.  This way the flooring can slip under the trim and look perfect!

Then it’s time to lay out the flooring, beginning in a corner and running out from there.  This is a floating, click-together floor so you use a nifty little tapping block to secure each piece into the groove left by the first one.  Josh made it look easy, but I didn’t get to help with this step. :)

Proceed laying pieces until you reach a wall or doorway at which point you have to cut things to fit exactly right.  Skill required. :)

He did a lovely job cutting out for all the doorways and trim. 

I love how the wood runs under the door and into the closet.  Seamless (ish). :) 

And when he was all done with the flooring, he quickly cut and installed shoe molding around the room to cover the seam between floor and baseboard.  The only place we broke the rules a smidge was around the fireplace.  You are technically supposed to cut a groove into the brick/mortar of the hearth and slip the wood into the groove so it looks seamless.  I really didn’t want to rent a saw to cut this, so we opted to use quarter round here, too, even though it is “not recommended”.  Whatever.  The white trim sticks out here so I’m thinking I might get the shoe molding to match the floors for this part.  Or I’ll paint it.  Haven’t really decided if it’s that important yet.  :)  Anyway, after the shoe molding went down, we vacuumed (some more) and then mopped before bringing all the furniture back in. 

Luckily I had a bunch of helpers on hand to move furniture.  :) Hooray!  Everything looks awesome with the new floors. 

I spent the past day and a half reorganizing all my stuff and decorating for fall!  And vacuuming… and mopping.. haha!

Here’s the other side of the den in a never-before-seen perspective.  I was totally standing on the coffee table for this shot.  :)  But see how nice the floors look from this angle?!!  The pretty little rug was a birthday gift from Mama.  It’s a nice anti-fatigue mat from Lowes.  It’s nice and cushy where I stand for cutting and ironing.

The floors are really easy to clean but incredibly hard to keep clean.  The dark stain shows every speck of everything… and in this house, that’s a lot of things.  Especially pet hair.  Guess I’m gonna get to be good friends with my Dyson.  :)  I am planning to get a runner for the hallway in an effort to stop some of the dirt from spreading.  I threw this one down from the laundry room.  Luckily Bandit seems to like a rug here… maybe he’ll just lay there instead of on my cutting table or couch. :)  Maybe?

Since Bandit has the best view of the new floors, I’m gonna let him take you on a brief tour… 

Let’s begin in the foyer where you trip people on the way down the stairs to get your dinner served to you!

Around the corner… gosh, it’s so clean it’s ridiculous!  I need to make a mess!

And past the laundry room (unless it’s dinner time in which case you stop there first) into the den.

Then you jump up on the table and get situated right in Sarah’s sewing spot.  Keep an eye on the stairs in case someone comes down with food…

Ack!  Too much glare, just scooch over and sit on the other side where she’s laid out her next project.  Much better. 

I’m glad to see Bandit enjoys gazing at the new floors. I know I do.  Now you know you want a before and after comparison!!

Now to find a rug! :)

P.S.  Fall Mantel Decorating post will be coming soon! :)

P.P.S.  Thanks to Josh especially, but also Hannah, Mama and Michael for all their help in installing the new floors.  I am so excited!  And I love vacuuming! haha!