Recent Activity by Mr. Fixit
Two weeks ago, it became clear that the garbage disposal had kicked the bucket. After holding off/being too busy for 4-5 days, the growing odor from what was left in the disposer forced the issue, so I grabbed the channel-locks and attacked. Turns out swapping a disposal unit out is pretty simple, minus the awkward angles dictated by the shelving beneath our counter. Much of the ease had to do with staying with Kenmore appliances — the old one and the new one have the same mounting hardware, so no irritating replacement of the drain. That would have been tough, given the lack of plumber’s putty in the house!
But there’s been another war on odor going on in the house. The cats (well, really just one of them, and I won’t name names, BOSWELL) have been using the hallway as a litterbox for liquid waste. We’ve been assaulting the “prime” areas with odor-defeating enzymes, using a CSI-style stain detector light (finds blood, too!), etc., etc. Predictably, all of this was useless. Well, the light is helpful in finding the exact spots.
So last night, after much dithering in the preceding weeks, I just buckled down and ripped out the carpet. Never really liked it anyway, so no loss. What’s beneath? Somewhat warped painted floorboards, which we suspect to be quarter-sawn oak tongue-in-groove boards (based on a few patches where the grey paint is worn away. Previous to revealing the boards, we had been leaning towards tile. Now, the lean is to sand and finish the floors, and let the original parts of the house start to show through. For the meantime, though, it’ll be a cheap runner rug that we can abuse over the winter. The ease of removal and the relative promise of the old floor will likely result in a ripping-out of the horrid grey crappy upstairs and stair carpet this weekend.
All this carpet-y stuff is hot on the heels of receiving a rather inflated carpet-installation quote from the Home Despot — nice carpet, but $500 over the stated max budget. Um, hello? So if the stairs and upstairs hall are as promising as the hallway floor, other options besides full carpet may well come out of the woodwork (so to speak). Yay home improvement!
