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Blueprints, John&Kate
Joe, no rush on your analysis with the blueprints. (Please rush on my 2 ordering questions, thanks!) I’m doing the floors in Jan/Feb. I sent the bp to the general discussion-learning your website.
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9 Replies
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Joe, thanks for your replies. Especially for your Sunday note. I won’t make a practice of Sunday notes. Thanks for the shipping inspection suggestion. Weshipfloors price beat “local”. Local is from 95 (Home Depot) to 60 miles (Freeds) away in opposite directions. The earliest we receive our planks is after 28 Jan (I asked for plank delivery after that date (WSF was out of stock, agreed to honor their cyberweek sale in exchange for delivery in late Jan or Feb). (Joe, we tried placing a weekend order that didn’t go through as ‘not available’ – we sent a kind note on the website popup DM message, and were shocked receiving a phone call from the company owner on Sunday. He explained the situation in a manner that allowed us to close our modest order the next morning. I mention this to include in your calculus of recommendations. It’s a sample size of one. And they don’t control shipping.).
(Joe we have life, 3 sinks, 3 countertops, and a shower to first work on before the planks.) Enjoy your holidays. Put this aside until mid-late January, at the earliest.
Our house generally orients long-axis N-S, with the tuck-under garage, fireplace, and kitchen N, the loft S, and the front door facing E. Joists run E-W; but note from the photos that the ceiling material runs N-S, as does the hallway. So, we suspect that a plank floor orientation of N-S running parallel with the hallway and ceiling boards may yield the more pleasing aspect. To follow along, below, the floor planking is Project 4.
Our Level 2 flooring Project 4 includes the 2 bathrooms, hallway with 2 closets, living room, kitchen, and 2 pantries. The subfloor is wood. Demolition includes carpet in the hallway, 2 closets, living room, linoleum in the bathrooms, kitchen and 2 pantries. We plan leaving carpet in the 2 bedrooms and their closets. The stairs from Level 2 to 3 are rough lumber with a carpeted landing – all remaining unchanged. This is not a large project. Given my inexperience, it’s Mt Everest – which is why we engaged your advice and coaching. In addition to the normal challenging points, working under the stairs will be tedious.
Photo 1: note the ceiling boards, the stairs, hallway, the general long aspect, give a passing note to the storage crawlspace “triangle” on the E and W flanks of Level 3. (Level 3 is an open loft, carpeted outside of the crawl spaces, the loft has potential of a much later project. Much later.)
Photo 2: note the ceiling boards, the kitchen backdoor (white), the stairway door (open),
The optional project on Level 1. (optional if I have planks available and energy). Level 1 is a concrete slab. Level 1 is mostly carpeted; it’s an open bay with finished walls but open ceiling. The mechanical, laundry room, and closet floors are bare concrete slab that we intend to leave that way-2 slope to floor drains. The plank aspiration is a plank floor foyer at the busy area that includes the entry from the garage, bottom of the carpeted stairs (stairs will remain carpeted), the doorways to the laundry and mechanical room. Roughly its an imperfect 63ft sq rectangle ending at a right angle from the East trim on the walking door to the garage. This is an area of heavy traffic that should not have carpet. It’s the main traffic into the house, hauling groceries, laundry, and the driveway is 110 yards of gravel – grit from the garage arrives in the house. My wild aspiration is enclosing this basement ceiling using grooved carsonite N-S to flow with Level 2 & 3 ceilings . . . so this plank flooring is better if it also flows N-S, even though the foyer longer axis is E-W by a few inches. (Wild longer aspiration is adding a bathroom and bedroom/craft room in this basement – retaining the carpet.)
Photo 3: note the ceiling boards, Project 3 is replacing the kitchen sink and countertops.
Photo 4: note the ceiling boards
Photo 5: note the joists E-W AND the more decorative N-S ceiling boards (grooved carsonite?), our 1st project is replacing this sink and countertop
Photo 6: another photo of the main bathroom with this taken from the bedroom
We spared you the bad photo of the master bath, our 2d project is replacing the sink, countertop, and shower.
Find a screen shot of my small order. I was guessing when ordering the transitions. The WSF associate worked hard on being helpful; but my inexperience leaves me confused with transitions.
We’re accumulating tools and have use of a friend’s guillotine.
If you ask for better, more floor-oriented photos – we are able to provide those. We took the attached photos for using them to “store match” flooring . . . then watched your AudroMax video. Thank. You. Joe, without your videos it’s likely we would have hated our “bargain” purchase and the process. I was a relatively easy sell to Kate for updating the 4 out-dated kitchen appliances. I was not so easy with updating the sinks, countertops, shower, and my “warm” carpet. Your work tipped my attitude and enthusiasm. Thank you, again. “See you” in January.
John
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Joe, many thanks for your replies. Obviously, I/we, were ahead of ourselves with the plank flooring purchase and your education. Yet, that allowed us to better think and plan what we’re doing. We completed our renovation on the master bathroom (S in your video reply). We are 99% complete on the renovation of the main bathroom (N on your video reply #1623). We installed plank on the master bathroom. We ran the plank E-W via your drawing in your video reply. It was a challenge as a first time project, with many small pieces, etc. Yet, your training made it doable with minimal waste and frustration.
Re: your video reply #1623. Our next project is installing plank on the 2d level. This is an OSB subfloor that is in good shape. We will put plank in the living room (SE on your video reply), kitchen, down the hall, into the 2 hall closets (working backwards in the larger hall closet (S closet on your drawing), and in the main bathroom. The kitchen has the same linoleum that is glued to the subfloor in both bathrooms. That laminate is about a 1/16 of an inch, as you thought on your video reply. We are not putting plank in the bedrooms, they’ll remain carpeted.
When I did the master bathroom I removed the glued linoleum, per my photo. (Not fun.) Per your suggestion, I will feather the kitchen and main bathroom linoleum, remove curled edges, and lay plank over the linoleum.
Based on your suggestions, and our review of your Youtubes and University/Bootcamp,we will begin the main floor living room in the SE corner (per your drawing). We will work E-W, laying plank from S to N to the kitchen (per your drawing). This means that we only have to work backwards in the larger hall closet and one plank width along the North side (per your drawing) of the extend kitchen counter top.
We ran a line down the center of the hall, and used a small (tiny) laser level to extend that line to the fireplace. We’ll verify the square of the line as is possible by measuring from the S outside wall to the line. Then we’ll try tackling the 10-plank method as we shuffle our furniture.
The stairs from Level 2 to 3 is open rough lumber with a carpeted landing and will remain unchanged. Joe, we do not plan putting plank on Level 3; that will remain carpeted.
Our project on Level 1 is about a 63 ft sq paneling of the foyer / entryway from the garage to the basement, the bottom of the stairs. (About an imperfect 9 x 7 foot rectangle, long axis N-S per your drawing. The basement, poured concrete floor, is carpeted, as are the stairs between Level 1 to 2. The mechanical room, laundry room, and basement closet have bare concrete floor. If we have panel available, we’ll paneled floor at the base of the stairs, outside the doors to the laundry and mechanical rooms- to the far edge (eastern) of the walking door to the garage (an imperfect rectangle). This foyer receives heavy use and probably never should have received carpet. We will not panel the rest of the basement, the mechanical room, the laundry room, or the small closet.
As always, appreciate your input, John & Kate
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John, it’s been awhile. Are you looking for a blueprint? I guess I am not sure if you were just giving an update or if you were asking a question? What areas would you like me to address. I am out of the office until Wednesday and cannot give a video reply until then.
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Joe, thanks for responding and tolerating our infrequent schedule. We interrupted our progress by waiting for bathroom supplies from 2 vendors, renovating 2 bathrooms, had 2 parental passings (anticipated), grandkids visits, travel, etc. We do not need a blueprint. But we could use your advice.
What suggestions do you have for keeping the planks and rows together? We are tiring of installing the same row several times. Super glue and weights?
We ‘began’ 5 rows in the living room. We started in the SE corner, per your video #1623. The past 3 days were 2 steps forward, one step back. I half-heartedly asked Kate if she just wanted new carpet. Too often when we added a new row a previous row or two ‘popped up’ in the long axis. This required us to rebuild the rows. Then it often occurred again. And again. And again. (If I could get away with it, I’d be tempted to just drill the damn VPF to the subfloor.) I’m under-impressed with the Adura Max locking system. The tiny master bathroom VPF was less aggravating than is the wide open real estate of the living room.
Our floor panel color is brown. The locking system is grey. So when the grey, or gaps, appear after attempting to join planks I know that the planks are not locked.
We began in the SE corner (based on your drawing and discussion of moving forward, not backwards) and moved ‘westerly’ along the outside wall. We considered your ‘first row last’ but waived it because the front door threshold is out-dented from the outside wall – and a HVAC vent, at the faux door (East per your drawing) left us with sub-optimal options to use full planks. We did a little gluing to support the front door floor and the foot torque that will likely be transferred to the VPF in this high traffic area.
Joe, the incomplete ‘beginning’ of rows in the top left (East, via your drawing), are merely our frustration this evening of having begin again with re-establishing a row that didn’t lock.
We look forward to your coaching.
Joe, this project is our life until Tuesday, Nov, 14. We’ll return to this project Dec 4th. We’d like to complete it by Dec 20th.
Thanks, John & Kate
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Joe,
Thanks! I think you’re saving my bacon and sanity.
I think you are absolutely correct that the emerging floor is unattached, and moves with every tap trying to lock the locking systems. The spacers reverberate the tapping. Physics. I should have thought of that.
Joe, can I attach the first row to the floor using screws that will be covered by the baseboards? It’s unconventional. NEVERMIND, I wrote that after watching only the first few minutes of your coaching. After watching the entire tutorial. I’m going to follow your method by screwing remnants to anchor second row, then do the first row, last.
The chalkline we dropped is down the hallway, from the hallway to the fireplace. Your suggestion drop another chalkline from the wall is spot on. We’ll do that, too. We may find it useful to drop staggered chalklines.
Thanks again! John & Kate
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