Starting the Hardwood and Friendsgiving

This weekend was quite a busy weekend for us. We were hosting the first Friendsgiving's at our house and started laying the hardwood. Dan laid down the underlayment the night before, and Steve and Karen came over Saturday morning to help us get started. While the turkey was finishing in the brine (sledge hammer was used to make sure it stayed submerged...that's why we bought it right?), Steve and Dan worked on rebuilding the step to make sure the stair nose would be flush with the floor so we would have a good place to start. 

 Once the stair nose was installed, the guys got to work on laying the hardwood. Here was the first nail that was laid in the floor. 

 In the first row, Steve helped us cut the boards lengthwise so we were able to square everything with the plywood sub floor, which was factory cut and made a straight line through the room that we were able to use as a guide for our measurements. 

Working with the step and cutting that first row took most of the afternoon, so we called it a day. Steve did a great job teaching Dan the tricks of the trade. We would pick things up Sunday morning. Now onto Friendsgiving! 

The theme of Friendsgiving was classy reno. We had fabulous food off of fancy paper plates with plastic utensils and drank fall sangria out of solo cups. 

After having our fill of food, we cleared out some space in the family room and rocked out with some Just Dance. Hopefully this is the start of many many more! 

Sunday morning, Steve and Karen came over to get back to work on the hardwood. Laying the next couple of rows was slower than we anticipated due to the sub floor not being perfectly level. The wood is so dense that we have a tough time gauging the pressure needed to set the staples flush with the tongue of the boards without splitting them. We try to err on the side of caution and finish the staples by hand before laying the next row. 

We were able to lay seven rows by dinner time on Sunday and two more this evening. Needless to say this is going to take some time. We cannot thank Steve and Karen enough for taking the time to help us out with this. We would not have known where to start, let alone have the confidence that we could even tackle a project like this. It is going to be hard to repay them for all their help, but hopefully the new stove for the cabin is a start :)

At then end of the day Sunday, here is our floor! It already changes the look and feel of the house when you first walk in. We cannot wait to see how its going to look when its all done...but we have some work cut our for us until then! 

 Happy Thanksgiving! D&L