[What have I done]

We originally had laminate flooring on the main level of our home. It was still in decent shape but it was 10 years old. It is waranted for 15 years so we had discussed taking out some carpet in the living room and replacing that and all the laminate with red oak. We got a good deal on 3/4" x 2 1/4" solid red oak. We also decided to do some details around an area rug in the living room and around the dining room table. Well here it is in progress! My wife, myself, 14 yr old son, and a couple brothers have been working on this part time. Living room and a couple halls are installed. Dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook are started. All in All we will be installing about 1100 sq ft. Staining and 4 coats of Poly to finish it all off.
Keep IN MIND we have never done anything crazy like this before. :no:

 

[gma2rjc]

That is beautiful! You're all doing a great job and what a great experience for a 14-year-old. Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[What have I done]

oops forgot to give credit also to my 11 yr old daughter for helping sort the boards and doing some stapling. Truly a family project!

 

[gma2rjc]

Well, I can see in picture #2 that she did a very good job. You're lucky to have such a great helper.

 

[shumakerscott]

Great Job

You are doing fantastic work! When you get this done don't stop there, you have talent. Keep it up. Dorf Dude...

 

[What have I done]

well the borders and designs looked good. We stained with EARLY AMERICAN then stained the rest of the floor with a NATURAL Stain. To our surprise the border and design disappeared with the application of the natural stain.

Scuffed the whole floor and re-taped off the border and deign areas and Stained a Darker color.

Tomorrow everything gets a good buffing and Vacuuming. 1st coat of poly hopefully will tie everything together.

hopefully by this weekend I can post some pics of some nice shiny floors

 

[gma2rjc]

It's looking very nice. Looking forward to seeing it finished. I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing it finished even more. lol

 

[What have I done]

i cant believe how sore this project has made me. Getting up/down constantly and swinging the mallet to sanding the floors has my old bones screeming "WTF are you doing!"

The end of this project is coming closer though my family has been a huge help. With the floors and putting up with me. IT cant be EASY????

 

[gma2rjc]

Makes you want to let the kids do all the work. :no:

 

[What have I done]

1st of 4 coats of Ploy-Urethene just put on.

 

[gma2rjc]

It looks great!

 

[jackie treehorn]

That looks awesome!

 

[What have I done]

4th coat of poly is now on! Now just have some painting and baseboards to go!

 

[drtbk4ever]

Very nice work.

 

[What have I done]

we slowed down a bit. I turned 40 last week and I didnt want the house back together for the wife to get a wild idea to throw a surprise party.

So nowthat that is over I am finishing up the baseboard. Here are some pics with the 4th coat of poly on and things getting back in order

 

[gma2rjc]

It looks beautiful. I like the pic with the dog peaking around the corner.

Happy birthday. Got any big projects planned for your 50th? LOL

 

[ConstantChange]

It looks great!

 

[Quadfam4]

all I can say is WOW!!!! so very beautiful. great job!

 

[Knucklez]

wow, that's a smooth finish.

i wonder if it would have been easier to stain your design boards before install?

anyway, the ends justifies the means. great job!

Knucklez

 

[What have I done]

yeah i thought about prestaining the design boards before install, but with the unfinished flooring it is off a little bit and needs to be sanded smooth after install.
Now that we have done for a few weeks it wasnt bad!:thumbup:

I do remember a Sunday morning laying on the floor disconnecting the dishwasher and just wanting to DIE. The previous couple of days of nailing, squatting, getting up/down wore my ass out.

But I rebounded and we are very happy with the outcome.