Hardwood floors

So - I've mentioned that we recently had hardwood floors installed. Technically, it's not 100% finished. The floor is down, but we still have a few "odds and ends" to put back in their appropriate place!

We decided on bamboo. "Bamboo" you say? Yep - bamboo. To be more specific it's stranded bamboo. They take the bamboo stalks, shred them into strands. Then they take the strands and "roast" them. That's what gives the color - and it means that the color goes all the way through (unlike stain, which is only on the surface). Then they stack the strands 5 to 6 feet tall, add some adhesive, and compress them into a 1/2" thick board.

After all of that, you have a plank that's a nice color (which goes all the way through), and is twice as hard as oak or rock maple. Yep - that's right. And that means it weighs a ton (22 square feet weighs about 100 pounds!). And for the eco-friendly aspect - the bamboo plant can be regrown and ready for harvest in 8 years (compared to 60 for oak). How cool is that?

We put it down in the living room, down the hall, and in the bedroom. It sounded like it would be easy enough (especially when somebody else is laying the floor) but it turned out to be a semi-major undertaking.

First was getting everything out of the rooms so we could get the carpet up. Wow. Where in the world are we going to store all of the stuff in the bedroom, the walk-in closet, the hall closet, and the living room?

The new and improved laundry room

The spare bedroom

Yep - that's a lot of junk. It was right about this point when we decided that it would be a good idea to paint the bedroom (it REALLY needed it!) before the hardwood the hardwood went down. And hey - while we are at it, let's put up some crown molding too and replace all of the baseboard! So - it's a scramble to pick out a paint color - buy all of the trim and paint and get everything painted and hung in a weekend.

Let the painting begin!

Foxy was less than impressed with the entire process. She spent most of the time outside (surprise!). She was scared of the POP from the nail gun and couldn't understand why we were sleeping in another room. But she wasn't afraid to let us know that the couch was still hers.

Foxy on the couch

Izzy on the other hand was not scared of the noise at all. Very interesting since she is terrified of thunder and fireworks. She was more interested in the progress of the installation and would wander from room to room to check the progress. The guys doing to work found this absolutely hilarious!

Izzy checks out the floor

All in all, we are very happy with the floor. Here's a couple of pics of the final product! And if anyone wants to come over and help us put the rest of the stuff away - give us a call...

The view out of the bedroom and down the hall...

The living room...