Day 2: The Reinforcements

What a weekend. We had our buddy Mark over again to lead the way in our kitchen renovation project.  Day 2 consisted primarily of adding reinforcement to our dining room flooring that was poorly constructed whenever the addition was put on (mid to late 70s perhaps, judging by the linoleum we found underneath). Scroll down to photo #3 to see how much the floor had sagged over the years. About 1.5 inches! Oops, I just gave you the answer, didn't I?

While I typed up the blog post this morning about our adventures Saturday, and got a jump start on some work for the week, the men had fun digging to China up the floor. At one moment I heard some cursing followed by a door slam, and later found out Evan had discovered a bumble bee's nest. These suckers were huge! A few hours later when the guys were off at Menards, I heard one buzzing around by the front door. I thanked him for visiting but was happy to send him on his way, and I may have muttered a few lines from Home Alone that started with "get your ugly, yeller, no-good-keaster off my property ..."

Here's my fearless husband in the thick of things:

We left the old supports in place, and attached new ones to them at the appropriate height. Here you can see the side that shows off the new wood (we had already added a layer of 3 mil poly below)

Sunken floor!

New puffy insulation to serve as a blanket under our floors and hopefully keep the Minnesota cold from creeping in. I thought it looked so pretty ... like a hay bale.

We double-layered the insulation. But you have to keep the layers thick and puffy because the warmth lies between the layers ... like winter socks. 

Nice golden color, eh?

Cover her up with another layer of 3 mil poly, and you've got yourself a sandwich! If you don't mind fiber glass ...

Top it off with a sheet of 5/8" plywood

Mark the studs with a line of chalk, then screw down with 2-3/4" torx screws

Caulk your joints and repeat the final layer so you have two sheets of plywood on top of each other (four total since we used two across).

I had my own adventure this afternoon driving Mark's big truck 30 miles to pick up our new flooring! All went well, but I think I got a few weird looks by passer-bys ... and there were quite a few people passing me as I didn't dare push it past 60 mph. 

Next up?

Prepping and laying our heated floor while preparing for laminate flooring installation.

Maybe some plumbing and electrical if we have time!

But before that, Evan has a 4am shift at the airport, where he'll be lugging 50 lb bags. Uffda.

To read about our first day of renovation, click here. For more info on our project and to see our intended floor plan, go here.