Grille Inlays

For a long time the grilles have been laying on top of the floor. They don't sit up too high, about an eighth of an inch but they need to be flush.

It was a job I wasn't looking forward to but the time had come.

I had to rout out the oak flooring so that the grilles would sit down flush with the floor. On this particular grille I had to create an inlay because the floor was gapped where the vent was.  At one time this was actually a wall so the flooring stopped where the bottom plate of the wall was at. Since the drywall on the wall was 1/2" thick it covered the gaps. Once the wall was gone it looked irregular and the grille didn't cover the entire vent hole in the floor.

I firred out the difference with about a 1/2" strip of oak inlay to compensate for the gap.

Then I cut a rabbet in the inlay so that the grille would sit flush with the floor. It was a lot of work. The routing was the worst part.

I put a piece of 1/4 ply on the floor against a pencil line that I had marked around the grille. At first I nailed it to the floor with brads so it wouldn't move. But I found out that I didn't need to do that. A little bit of tape and my weight kneeling on it worked fine. It was tedious and made a big mess.

It ended up working out okay though. The other two grilles did entirely cover up the holes in the floor so I didn't make inlays for those. I just routed them so the vents would sit flush with the floor.

Details....

Bamboo Ceiling

Underlayment on ceiling

The old ceiling in the bathroom was stippled with a "crow's foot" pattern which looked like crap.

Without tearing out the ceiling, which I did not want to do, the only obvious choice was to cover it up. It's only 40 square feet so it isn't that big of a job so we decided to use bamboo flooring.

The first step is to install an underlayment over the stippled ceiling first to level it out. This is just a thin foam pad that is stapled in place. Cheap and simple fix.

The bamboo flooring is tongue and groove so it goes together fairly easy. The bamboo is pretty forgiving and not hard to work.

It was kind of an afterthought because it would have been easier to install it first, but it worked out okay and it looks very cool!

Hardwood Flooring Update

 BEFORE..









AFTER!

Bona! Can't say enough good things about these products. Bona Amber Seal is essentially a stain that is applied before the Bona Mega, which is the clear protective finish. They are waterbourne products and contain low amounts of VOC's. Though it is pretty pungent while wet, after a day or two it is hardly noticeable.

There was a learning curve with the application. I basically ended up sanding the first application of Amber Seal off.  I left puddles and pools and it ended up looking blotchy. As long as you even it out and don't leave any pools it will come out looking good.

The Amber Seal has a very warm look and feel. I bought two gallons of the Amber Seal and three gallons of the Bona Mega. The total was less than $300. I finished around six hundred square feet and I have leftover of both products.

Renting a buffer and screening after the Amber Seal really is necessary.

Finish your floors last! This remodel would have destroyed the finish on these floors. I'm glad I waited until nearly the end to do it.

 Vi Vi did not help...

Hardwood Flooring

Time to sand the nasty floor.

I was able to get most of the bad spots out but the worst stuff in the middle was through to the sub floor. Probably dog pee.

The bad boards had to come out. It's a pain to take out single boards and not wreck the ones right beside them. You've got to saw two times along the length of each board and then chisel the rest out.

It took me all day Friday to patch up this area.













 The final result of the patchwork. Next, more sanding.

7 bundles of red oak flooring for the kitchen.

Original linoleum floor. Who came up with this crap?

Ricardo working on the old floor.

 Subfloor was in decent condition. It is 3/4" ply. But we had to remove 3/4" MDF that was laid on top of it. The linoleum was on top of that.

We took up the old roofing felt and put down red rosin paper.

In the foreground you can see where we have taken out every other board to interlace in the new flooring.

One third of the way. The pneumatic nailer is a must.

 Two thirds done

Hardwood kitchen floor installed.
The several gaps in the foreground I didn't worry about since there will be an island where they are.

Cabinets and appliances replaced.

Discovered later on that the original flooring was white oak not red oak. Doh!