The kitchen floor project in photos...

Earlier this fall we started noticing something strange. Our linoleum was peeling at the seam. Hmmm. It's old, it's a high traffic area, not a huge surprise. Then moisture started oozing out of the cracks. Ooh. That's not good. We started wondering if it might be related to our dishwasher which hasn't seemed to work right since we moved in. A very expensive visit from the Kenmore repairman last year didn't improve anything (and cost half of what a new machine would have cost) to figure out why there always seemed to be water sitting in the bottom. Then the crack started growing and more gross things were discovered.

We're accustomed to fixing most things ourselves around here. Especially after some of the hefty bills we've gotten the times the experts have been called in. In the busy-ness of our fall semester we decided to wait until Christmas break to tackle the issue. Afterall, the floor didn't feel 'spongy' and there was no sign of water damage in the garage ceiling down below. Not to mention, there was never a good time to tear our kitchen apart. Christmas break came and went and the project got pushed back til after ski retreat in early February. Until one night I got the urge to look at kitchen flooring again. So Friday night we're at Lowes and find some solid hardwood on sale. It was a reputable brand and was as cheap as laminate -- just an overstock they were trying to move. We decided to go for it, hoping the color would work with our cabinetry.

Warning: some of the photos you are about to view are 1.) slightly embarassing -- my kitchen is tiny and not a picture of neatness and tidy-ness, and 2.) explicit in the volume of mold and other unidentified gross lifeforms which were living under our feet. As Ellie says all the time (scrunching her nose), "Ewwww! Groooossss!"

Friday evening: we photograph the old floor for posterity's sake. I'm giddy with excitement. I must admit I never really cared for it. See those ugly brown cracks in the middle? Our first sign of bad things to come.

So the next day Nathan started peeling up the floor -- which turned out to be an easy task since the glue had dissolved under about 2/3 of the space. The tricky part was determining how to photograph the pools of standing water in a short amount of time. You'll have to take my word for it.

What we discovered under the linoleum was a soggy layer of particle board growing some scary stuff. Didn't smell too good either. The fans were brought out. And the crow bars, work gloves, and pliers. Can I say somebody had WAY too much fun with the staple gun? As in someone used a completely unnecessary volume of staples. That particle board wasn't going anywhere.

Saturday: Nathan moves the fridge and stove, then pulls up the first layer of subfloor under Ellie's careful supervision. He also rents a numatic (?) nailer for Monday (the store is closed on Sunday) so he can begin installing the floor first thing on Monday. After the particle board is gone, we watch water trickle out from under the dishwasher. Source identified! Dishwasher removed!

Sunday: the subfloor was gone so in between church and Global Cafe` we're now removing the rest of the staples that we missed the night before. We're also using a steamer, Lysol, and buckets of bleach water to treat the original layer of linoleum which has its own unusual layer of white gunk on it. We need the floor to be ready for the wood to go down first thing Monday morning.

Monday morning: 8AM -- Nathan and Mark start laying the first strips of hardwood. This proves to be one of the trickiest parts of project. Then the air compressor goes kaput. Lunch is eaten standing up. Work continues with a short break for supper and Mark continues to work while Nathan facilitates a meeting with the Spain team. The meeting wraps up and Nathan goes back to work and they ruefully quit at midnight as we had guests staying with us and the nail gun, rattling air compressor, and the compound miter saw aren't exactly quiet tools.

Tuesday -- Nathan and Mark start working again at 7:30. Around 11:30, the last strip of wood is laid. Meanwhile the porch is a jungle of circular saws, sawhorses, wood scraps and lots of sawdust and our dining room is crammed with a kitchen table and lots of small tools. Nathan installs new dishwasher.

Wednesday, Nathan lays the transitions and places the quarter round back into place (for a photo until we can buy finishing nails), Ellie oohs and ahs over the 'pretty floor'. I think she understood that her daddy worked really, really hard on the floor. She repeats her praises of the floor several times throughout the day and into today. I told Nathan it will probably outlast the center.

We're thrilled with the results, probably even moreso because of having done the work ourselves.