I know we've not had many updates lately which is ironic because so much has been happening. We have had another switch-a-roo with the builder (yet another GC to manage the completion of the project). And they have acknowledged that they could do a better job. And finally, the actions are starting to back up the words.
Our target closing date is approaching fast and there is a lot of work left to do, and many problems that remain unsolved. But they are tackling them all and that's all we ask.
So what should we discuss first...how about the upstairs flooring?
While we have had a firm vision for most of the house the upstairs flooring has always been a wildcard. We kept our minds open to all options right up to the moment we had to decide. The house is clean and simple downstairs without any soft surfaces so we considered putting in Sisal or carpet on the 2nd floor just to give us some new textures. For a long time we were thinking of hardwood in the hallway and then using bright pops of color in each bedroom carpet. After some investigation we were surprised how much carpet was and figured for the $$ we may as well just put in wood flooring.
We settled on a 5/8" strand woven Bamboo in a Ultra-low VOC finish. The coloring is great - it's gray. And the other thing that is nice is it's a click-lock application which chopped time and money off the install.
The upstairs flooring was another element of the house that was our responsibility which meant we had to get it delivered, in the house to acclimate, and then installed. And this proved to be another character building exercise. We ordered the bamboo from a warehouse in California so it was sent by LTL truck on a 5 day journey. While this truck was bounding down the interstates towards Austin, Mother Nature decided after 2 years of hardly any rain, to let it rip. It poured for 2 days.
Hard Rain.
Noah's ark kind of rain.
And when it stopped we had a 800' driveway more suited for mud bog racing than a tractor trailer. If the truck tried to make it to the garage it would have never made it back out. The next complication was the trailer showed up with 2500 lbs of bamboo on two pallets and didn't have a lift gate to get it off the truck. By the way, I was at the office and Roberta was handling the delivery. She was able to coerce the driver and a trim carpenter to unload it one box at a time and place it on the side of the road. Then she called the company we hired to install the floor and asked them to bring a truck and haul the wood in the house - best $50 we have spent to date.
While we have had a firm vision for most of the house the upstairs flooring has always been a wildcard. We kept our minds open to all options right up to the moment we had to decide. The house is clean and simple downstairs without any soft surfaces so we considered putting in Sisal or carpet on the 2nd floor just to give us some new textures. For a long time we were thinking of hardwood in the hallway and then using bright pops of color in each bedroom carpet. After some investigation we were surprised how much carpet was and figured for the $$ we may as well just put in wood flooring.
We settled on a 5/8" strand woven Bamboo in a Ultra-low VOC finish. The coloring is great - it's gray. And the other thing that is nice is it's a click-lock application which chopped time and money off the install.
The upstairs flooring was another element of the house that was our responsibility which meant we had to get it delivered, in the house to acclimate, and then installed. And this proved to be another character building exercise. We ordered the bamboo from a warehouse in California so it was sent by LTL truck on a 5 day journey. While this truck was bounding down the interstates towards Austin, Mother Nature decided after 2 years of hardly any rain, to let it rip. It poured for 2 days.
Hard Rain.
Noah's ark kind of rain.
And when it stopped we had a 800' driveway more suited for mud bog racing than a tractor trailer. If the truck tried to make it to the garage it would have never made it back out. The next complication was the trailer showed up with 2500 lbs of bamboo on two pallets and didn't have a lift gate to get it off the truck. By the way, I was at the office and Roberta was handling the delivery. She was able to coerce the driver and a trim carpenter to unload it one box at a time and place it on the side of the road. Then she called the company we hired to install the floor and asked them to bring a truck and haul the wood in the house - best $50 we have spent to date.
The installers had everything in place in just one day. We're happy with the results. Will post more pictures when everything is cleaned up.
One last comment. Stranded bamboo is hard stuff. We have horizontal bamboo in our current home and it doesn't take much to leave a mark. The stranded bamboo we just installed will fold a nail in half if you try to pound it in! Can you say 'Kid Resistant'?
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by.
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