Remodel Update: Office Progress - Floor Installation (Yay!)

I found out what all the blue lines are for.  Not tic-tac-toe.  There's one going down the center of the room - that's to make sure you're still straight as you get close to that target.  The others are perpendicular to the center-line, approximately every foot or so - these are to mark the floor joists.  In wood flooring, we're actually nailing the floor to the floor.  Hah!  Whereas in laminate, the flooring floats on the floor.  For whatever that's worth...

Anyhow.  We're getting closer and closer to getting the floor laid in the office.  It always amazes me how much work goes into a project before any "work" actually gets done.  We did a bunch of math - the room is four boards and one inch long, so we've got to figure out the cuts to minimize waste and offset seams.  Greg had to pre-drill holes; measure and cut away the hole for the floor vent; come up with spacers to hold the first row in place; and ensure all the supplies were on hand.

The first two boards took the most time.  He won't need to pre-drill the other boards, because the other nail gun (you know, the one that shoots the other nails?) doesn't need it.  But because of it's shape, he can't use it close to the wall, so the two boards closest to the wall will be hand-done.  This includes drilling the hole, nailing the board down, then using some kind of doohickey to get the nail flush or slightly below the level of the wood so the next board fits on nicely.  I tried to help, but since you have to put your fingers in the way so you don't mar the wood (if you miss the nail... and I miss the nail a lot), I opted to watch and bring Greg nails as he needed them.  You shouldn't hit the wood, you shouldn't bend the nail, and you should make sure the nail is down far enough.  If you don't pay attention to any one of those, the potential for disaster is monumental.  No wonder I don't do this kind of crap for a living - I'd be eaten up with stress and probably have had a heart attack by now.  But I'm glad it's suitable for other people...  =)

So that's all we got done this weekend.  The two hardest boards to set and all the prep work - in between a photo shoot, racquetball date, running, laundry and facebook-ing.  The rest of the room (at least until we hit the two boards closest to the other wall), should go in quick-as-pie.

On another note, it's getting noticeably lighter in the afternoons. This weekend was also a little bit warmer - not above freezing, but I think we may have gotten up to 30 degrees.  I'm looking forward to the longer days and the returning warmth, even though I know we typically have a cold spell in February.  A last-ditch effort by Old Man Winter to hold onto his domain, but Spring will win out - I just have to hang on 'til then...  Yay!