Not having any idea what kind of flooring was underneath the beautiful red carpet..Ryan went full force ahead and ripped out the carpet. What we found was only a tiny bit scary. Laminet flooring that has been down for only heaven knows how long. The subfloor was generally ok except in front of the dishwasher so we lucked out not having to completely replace the kitchen floor. It only took an hour or so to get the floor ready for the new stuff. With some Christmas gift cards and our sweet Craigslist deal we were off and running with what was supposed to be a cheap and easy upgrade.
4 boxes of new floor measured cut and layed down we came to a screeching hault. 2 of the 6 boxes of flooring were not the same. Different pattern, different color, different size. It was terrible. Just about 3/4th of the floor had been done. The stove was in the middle of the kitchen as only half of the cubby underneath it had been done, the fridge was in the dinning room. We were at a stand still. Home Depot looked at us like we were crazy when we told them we needed to match the floor we were putting down. Why didn't you bring your recipt and we could match the UPC numbers? Where did you buy the first 4 boxes? That kind of flooring has been discontinued. Of course it has. Because nothing is ever easy.
After many internet searches and many phone calls to the maker of the flooring we learned that they upgraded the flooring type and were no longer making the kind we had already put down in the kitchen. We would need to order two new boxes that would match the color and just hope that the locking fit would be close enough to hold them together. The old stuff required you to lay down some insulation padding first. The new stuff comes with the pad already on the back of the floor piece. Oh, and lucky Us, Depot would have to special order the flooring and it would take 7-10 business days to arrive in the store. SO... that left us with a half done kitchen, a lopesided stove and a fridge in the dinning room for what could be two weeks. Good thing I'm a go with the flow kind of women. Besides, with a kitchen torn apart, I don't have to cook dinner.
We finally got the call that the new floor was in and Ryan went and picked it up that same day. The kitchen is finally finished and it looks AMAZING. Totally worth the wait and hassel. We also finished the paint in the dinning room and front room and hung pictures up on the wall. It looks like a home now and I love it. I owe many thank yous and much appreciation to my wonderful Husband for all his hard work. I would be lost without him. Here are some pictures of the process.
The old laminet flooring and tac strip. Really pretty yellow color isn't it?
Notice the darker yellow spots and the green boarder...
In front of the dishwasher had to be replaced because the sub floor had rotted out. we can blame the leaking pipe from the dishwasher for that one.
Don't mind my Giant puppy Harley, but this shows that red foam pad that was under the new floor and how only half the room was finished for 2 weeks while we waited for the new floor to come in.
Finished product!
Isn't it so nice? Its a dark pine. I love it. we put a white tall floor board around the cupboards.
I tried to find a picture of the red carpet that was in the kitchen when we started but i was unsucessful.
I have to throw in a picture of Kiya's first bath time in the kitchen sink. She looks like a drowned rat. poor thing. She really loves the warm blow dryer after the bath though. Makes her look like a giant fluff ball.
Poor Kiya. good thing Mama loves her.
