I'm Floored

You've heard me say that we live in the house that my parents previously occupied ....anyway...about 15 or so years ago, before we moved back to MA, my folks were on a big "beach house" kick and decided to decorate their home in a beachy motif...which included model lighthouses at every turn and light, off-white carpet. It just so happened that the dining room was also carpeted. Fast forward to us moving in, having kids, and living in this home.....off-white carpeting and 2 little kids = bad news...ESPECIALLY when it's in the dining room.

Chrissy and I had been talking about putting some hardwood or laminate flooring in the dining room for years....well, we saved some cash and when push came to shove and back in June or July I promised Chrissy that she would have new flooring in the dining room by Thanksgiving....the clock was ticking, and it all came down this weekend. I've never laid flooring before so it was a bit of an adventure...throw in some baseboard moulding and thresholds and this project got a bit complicated....but, I got to gettin' and it turned out alright.

I'd like to thank the fine fellows at Lumber Liquidators, Home Depot, and Youtube DIY vids for helping make this happen...not to mention my dad, who taught me just about everything I've ever learned about tools, machinery, and building....my wife thanks you too.

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After:




We've got a saying around here, especially in the areas of home improvement and maintenance projects...."Daddy Done It".

Daddy Done It refers to a home project that gets taken care of by daddy....it may not turn out as sweet as if a professional came in and did it...if you look hard enough, you can find all sorts of little mistakes....but Daddy Done it...we saved a ton of money by doing it ourselves, it looks quite good enough...and daddy took care of business for his family. Win. Win. Win.

I remember back in the day when Chrissy and I lived in New Jersey...We lived in a house with her mom and twin sister....Chrissy's dad had passed away about 10 years earlier. Chrissy and I lived upstairs in an attic room that was finished by her dad before the twins were born. She'll be the first to admit that her dad was no carpenter. I remember there was this closet door...the moulding at the bottom of the door frame was about 2 inches from the corner of the wall....by the time he got to the top of the door, it was out of square and the moulding was about flush to the wall corner. It wasn't the most pro job ever....if you looked hard enough, you could see the error...BUT...Daddy Done It. His kids needed a place to sleep and a closet. His desire to provide for his family outweighed his talent but, no matter, there was a job that needed to be done and he did it. At the end of the day, the closet door worked, the room was finished, his kids had a fine place to live, he upped his home improvement skills, and he saved a ton of cake by doing it himself. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win.

I never met Chrissy's dad. He passed away about 5 years before I met Chrissy...for me, he lives only in stories told by his children and a few faded photos that Chrissy holds on to. But I always remember that door frame in that attic room on 116 Stratford Ave. in Westmont, New Jersey. And today, as I was laying this floor, thinking the whole time of the blessing it was going to be to my family...I feel like I spent the morning with Chrissy's dad, Al Shipe...in my mind, he was rooting me on...proud of the job that I had done...proud that I was providing for my family despite that the task was foreign and a bit daunting...and not giving a damn about the little mistakes that I made.