Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask Part 22!

I'm taking a little vacation.

But just like break in college, you get a little homework.

I know some of you are a tad scared to try the big stuff,
so I'm going to share how I got started as your first step in

 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask!

These fabulous books by Stevie Henderson are in my library.
Stevie? She's a chick.
And she explains her projects like one.

You can start small, or tackle something huge.

Organize, store, decorate, accentuate.

Feather your nest for peanuts.

Or deck out the yard.

This will teach you how to get started.
They pay for themselves.
Go read.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask Part 21!

 Okay, dated rough-hewn cedar woodwork...

 ...it's time for a facelift.

 And not the kind Debbie Boone is hawking.

 This needs a good lighten and brighten, and to that end, what we're going to do on

 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask!

is what we do best:

hide the crap and pretend it never happened.

Say hello to my little friend.
This is an orbital sander, and they mean business.
These are designed for heavy duty surface smoothing.
 The sanding pads attach with velcro- how cool is that?

Simply line up the holes on the tool's pad and the sander sheets...

and press into place.

Our trim is a stain-grade lumber.

We're going to give it three to four coats of a semi-gloss white with primer built in.
This will be scrubbable and will bounce light, helping to expand and brighten
the rooms in a condo with little natural light.

Mark used joint compound on the lumber after Samwow applied the first two coats.
This was done to smooth any knots that were still visible or uneven,
which becomes apparent after a little paint.

Sanding will also rough up the surface, making the final coat(s)
adhere better.

And we do want this perfect.
Why, you ask?
What? You don't have a mother?

After sanding, wipe all surfaces with a soft dry cloth to remove the dust.

Grab your gear, a good quality brush and a thick nap roller.

Line several boards up on a sawhorse and roll the pain over all of them
at once, as if it was one large surface.
This saves a ton of time.

Turn the boards up to get the edges.
The ends are not a huge concern as we'll be cutting them
as we wrap the ugly cedar in crisp white trim.

Flip them over and keep going.
Use the brush for detail work and touch ups.
This actually goes pretty fast, and that's a good thing...

...because there's a whole lotta cedar around here.
And I don't wanna see it ever again.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask Part 20!

 Before we get started today,

 let's take a little trip down memory lane.

The floors on that lane were hideous.

 I mean BAD.

 None of them matched, the transitions were a wreck.

and the adhesives were loose.

 Some thresholds were impossible for my mother to get her wheelchair over.

The white tile was laid over a previous tile floor, so you can imagine

how perfectly level that was.

 The whole place was a mismatched crazy quilt of dated flooring

with no warmth that was hard to navigate.

 How does one decorate around MAUVE???

 This stuff was begging to come up, and here at

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hard Core Remodeling but Were Afraid to Ask!

we were happy to oblige.

 Our solution to this fiasco under foot was bamboo hardwood in a warm toast shade.

 At $1.88, 1100 square feet of this gorgeous, environmentally friendly flooring

came in under $2100, and there will be NO thresholds.

Seamless.

So no obstacles for the wheelchair!

And in a disability remodel, these are major considerations.

Now, wanna find out how easy it is to put down your own flooring?

Strap on those knee pads and let's get it on!

Not. One. Word.

Unwrap the flooring and let it acclimate for 24 hours

so it can come to temperature and expand or contract in your environment.

Do yourself a favor...

don't skip that step.

There is a "male" side of the board...

...and a "female" side.

These fit together by inserting them at a slight angle and snapping them

gently together by bringing them level.

Start by dry fitting them just to get a feel and to

decide on the pattern you want to lay them in.

 Find the center of the room and mark the Center Line.

 Measure across...

 ...and then down from the door about 8 inches.

 Nailing a 2x4 into your starting position to butt up against will make this a breeze.

 Set the center of two flooring planks at the center line.

 This is your flooring adhesive.

 Slathet it all over the ends and the female joint of the plank.

 With a damp rag, wipe any glue that oozes up through the cracks immediately.

 Make the run all the way to the walls.

Use a circular saw to make the cuts for the end boards.

Keep in mind, the edges will be hidden when you put down the molding.

 Now, repeat.

 Is it really that easy?

 Oh yeah.

Before you know it, you'll have this fresh, durable new floor.

Make sure your sub floor is level and clean before you start,

and then go put your best foot forward, saving a small fortune over having it installed

by doing it yourself!