Yesterday, I spent several hours patching the many holes in the floor upstairs. It was the first time I have done any renovation work since the plumber finished the heating system more than 2 months ago. Some of the holes were from the plumber cutting access points to run the pipes, some were cut by the guys who installed the air handler to run their duct work, and there is the hole where the chimney had been before the contractor knocked it down almost three years ago, as well as the exposed joists that had been part of the side attic before the knee walls were moved. The floor has not been intact since a month after we moved in, and it has been hacked at by anyone who has done any work for us since.
No rush, what with our current finances and all….
I didn’t accomplish much, but right now there is no rush as we are still in “hibernation mode” with our finances. I do not want to accumulate any more debt, which means paying cash for everything. I don’t want to fall into the old trap of buying materials now and worrying about how to pay the bill at the end of the monthly billing cycle.
We have managed to save enough money for the insurance on our house and cars which comes due at the end of October. Our next focus will be saving to have the bamboo flooring installed and it will probably be November when we can proceed with this stage of the renovation. That gives me about 4 weeks or so to finish patching the floor, which may seem like a long time, but it is only 4 weekends. I am going to have to get motivated and start working on some of this stuff during the week.
Hack jobs
Did I mention that the plumber and the air handler guys hacked into the floor. I do mean “hacked”. Patching the floor was not part of their jobs, so no forethought went into how the holes were cut. I have cut the holes larger, either to expose part of the floor joist to use as a nailing surface, or to allow access to glue and screw 2×4 or 2×6 lumber to the joists to support the flooring. In some cases, this was straight forward and easy to accomplish. But there are other cases which are a bit more of a challenge, such as along the outside walls where the radiators have been installed.
Hole cut in floor by plumber.
In this picture, you can see that the floor has been cut allowing the plumber easy access to run his pipes and solder his joints. However, the edge at the top of the picture does not have any kind of nailing edge to support a patch. The rad and the pipes are both in the way of adding a sister, which would not be wider than the floorboards under the rad, and therefore would not be able to catch the edge of a piece of plywood. This is but one example of where a solution is not immediately obvious (though I do have one in mind)
A couple more sheets of plywood
I started out with two sheets of plywood that I bought at the same time as the sheet I used for the pumps in the basement. I knew that I would need more. Since I’ve already used about half a sheet on a very small area, it is obvious that I will likely need at least one or two more sheets. I will also need more screws and adhesive (everything is glued and screwed to the point of overkill, but any squeaks upstairs will not be the result of my work). Patching the floor seemed to be such a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of the entire renovation project, but it is going to end up costing a couple hundred bucks and a fair amount of time.
New toy
My first jig saw was a Mastercraft, which I replaced under warranty just before the 3 year warranty period was up about 5 years ago. It was a decent tool, but it had seen its better days, so a couple of months ago, before our current “hibernation mode,” I bought a DeWalt to replace it. I’ve been putting the DeWalt to good use cutting some of the floor boards and the plywood upstairs. So far I really like it, especially the tool-less blade. No more stripping screws or losing the Allen key from frequent blade changes. I also like the amount of control I have over my cuts. It’s a heavier tool, so it is less likely to wander because of vibration. All in all, it’s a very solid tool and, I believe, a good investment. It should last a very long time.
What’s next:
Once the floor is patched and we have enough money saved, we will have the bamboo installed. Then there is the trim and the doors and closet organizers to install. I also have a few finishing touches planned, like a window seat in my daughter’s room and wainscoting in the hallway which don’t have to be done right away, but which I want to get done, finances allowing, by next summer. The guest room will be finished by the time the in-laws come to stay with us again next year.
