Beginning the Flooring Process

After completion of the structure of the addition and the building of a support beam structure bridging the edge of the existing house, it is time to open the original wall. Don Skinner and Johnny are tearing out the frame of the old glass doors, opening the wall to the new addition.

Meanwhile the outside trim had been finished and painted, so the focus was now on the inside.

The house is now fully open to the new addition! Note that the doors and window glass has been put in, so that the structure has been secured against the weather. With tarpaper put down on the subflooring, the bundles of hardwood flooring have been placed for the beginning of the flooring process. Don has engaged Terry Underwood to put down the hardwood flooring. As you can see below, we have moved as much furniture as possible to the fireplace end of the den. That was one of the difficulties of the whole process, dealing with a house full of furniture while it is being renovated.

The vinyl floor covering has been removed from the den so that the entire length of the den-kitchen-breakfast room area is now clear and ready for the hardwood flooring.

In the middle of the process of putting down the hardwood floor in this area. Note the interior wall which separates off the bathroom and utility room. A careful look will reveal a bit of white of the large tub that has been placed in the bathroom. It had to be installed before the full floor structure could be completed.

To the right of the large room view above, these structures in the bathroom area have been taking place. The bathroom with shower and tub have been framed up and the large tub installed.

A major phase of the renovation project is now well underway. Terry Underwood has all his wood tools in place. An air compressor and a special flooring nail gun aid the process of installation. While all the upstairs activity was going on, they had also punched a hole in the basement wall to provide a door into the shop area. Johnny is finishing the concrete on the transition from the inside of the basement to the new shop area.

We were confident in the strength of Johnny's work in building a support beam to span the old area of glass doors and kitchen. He used four beams tied together in flitzplate structure. And we were definitely loving the perspective of the big windows out to the woods!

As the hardwood flooring progressed, a new offset wall into the old kitchen area was constructed for an alcove to hold the refrigerator and a side cabinet. We were interested in Terry Hunter's strategy of cutting back some of the boards in the hardwood dining room floor so that he could blend in the new wood better and attach it to the den and old kitchen floors, which had previously been vinyl.

The large expanse of new hardwood floor now covered the room addition and the old den area. We were beginning to see the final form of the project and were anxious for completion.