Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Tool Time

A couple of weeks ago Charmed and I were feeling ambitious. (OK, she was feeling ambitious, I was somewhere between nervous and filled-with-dread). I've never been big on home improvement projects, but Charmed convinced me that we could handle this and the results would be worth the trouble.

The project? My old house has a narrow back room (about 7 by 23) that was wasted space and had carpet that had to go. It used to be a dining room but we moved that furniture to the front of the house where it belongs. Join me on a photographic journey, won't you?

I think most people have a room in which they keep golf clubs, a vacuum cleaner and a coffee table, right? Plus a bookshelf filled with mouse poop.











I don't know if this was the work of one or more dogs, the aforementioned poopy mice, or Father Time, but this is not what you want to see in a quality carpet.











If only this stain had been shaped more like the Virgin Mary I could have made a bundle, because no matter what I did it always came back.











So after removing the various junk seen above, the next step was to rip up the carpet. Not nearly as bad as I had feared, although prying up this crap got a little tedious.













The biggest unknown in all of this, and what could have made it a real nightmare, was the condition of the subfloor. As you can see, it was in pretty good shape. Not quite "baby butt smooth", as we declared to the Home Depot lady with our fingers crossed, but still in decent shape.

So we swept up the scraps and started making it spiffy.












I don't have a close-up of the floor, but I think you get the idea here. We did a heck of a job on the quarter-round trim too, I think.

I'm sure HGTV will be calling any day now.

14 comments:

Voix said...

I'm all for banishing mouse poop wherever it may lay. Just ask Dave about his utensil drawers...

I Love Fleurs said...

Loved the photo journey - great-looking floor! keep that Charmed girl around!!

David said...

Apparently chicks don't like mouse crap in kitchens. Whatever.

Anonymous said...

Dave, FYI - Chicks don't like mouse crap ANYWHERE!!

Oh yeah, Congrats on your good news. Enjoy your time together, time flies when you are having fun.

Dunnski Love said...

Yeah, dames are funny that way. All anti-rodent and stuff.

David said...

Thanks, Charmed.

I'll buy some mouse traps before she moves in.

Dunnski Love said...

I'm just excited that a female inhabitant should greatly increase the availability of a clean towel when I next come to visit.

David said...

Dude, get over yourself. I cleaned towels last year.

Voix said...

Did Dave mention that I had just finished like TEN loads of laundry when the fire started?

O. M. F. G. What a waste.

But there is a nice batch of people gonna do ALL the textiles in the house to make them fabulous again.

And we get a complete remodel for the low, low price of a 2500 dollar deductible.

That's a bright side, right?

Voix said...

AND

I've been dreaming that the mice all got FRIED in the fire.

That's probably over optimistic of me, though. Nothing kills those little fuckers.

David said...

I believe the fire cleared out the mice, the dirty towels, and the family of homeless midgets living under the furnace.

Dunnski Love said...

Even little Jimmy???

David said...

Yes. Although we will miss his smell.

Voix said...

Don't forget about the feral cats in the garage. I think they all took off to live under the rafters of the cranky lady next door. You know, the one who always sounds like she's shrieking when she talks?