New Floors

When Jason and I built our house in 2006 we wanted to install laminate wood floors on the entire main level, but since it was new construction on a freshly poured concrete slab we had to wait at least 1-2 years for the cement to completely cure (dry) before we could do that.  So, instead we installed carpet in the family room and linoleum in the kitchen/dinning.  Neither of us like carpet in the main living area's of the house.  We don't wear shoes in our house, but no matter what you do carpet will never be really sterile clean.  Since it was bran new carpet when Connor was born we considered it to be clean and fine for a baby to crawl around on.  But now that we've lived in our house for 8 years... it's time to get rid of the carpet and install something that will be clean and sterile for the new baby to crawl around on.  We had both real wood floors and laminate wood floors in our last house.  We liked the laminate wood better though because it holds up better to scratches (our 60 pound lab left scratches in the real wood with her nails), it was easier to maintain and keep sterile (I love the Hoover wet/dry vac) and it cost less.  I really wanted to install the same laminate we had in our other house, which was a light oak.  But Jason wanted to try something new.  He liked a dark single plank high gloss Vintners Reserve laminate... so, we decided to give that one a try.

Jason ripping up the old carpet in the family room

this is what my living room looked like for a few weeks until we were finished.  It may look dirty, but it's concrete with white paint splatters and glue marks from the carpet padding.

We all had jobs to help out with this project.  Jason ripped out the carpet, padding, scrapped the glue residue off the cement and took the baseboards off.  I removed the nails from the baseboards (we decided to use the same baseboards again since they match all the doors in the house, door trim, kitchen cupboards, etc.).  Connor and I took turns using the shop vac to clean up.

Our beautiful little Nala.  I named her Nathalia Malantey on her AKC papers, but we always called her Nala (like the lion on Lion King).  We had decided that it was time to say good bye to our beloved Yorkie, Nala.  She's 15 1/2 years old, going blind, deaf, has lost most of her teeth, was diagnosed with a disease yorkies are prone to getting several years ago that required 2 prescription pills and special diet food (which she hated so we took her off all meds and special food this summer and let her have whatever she wanted... which was typically whatever we ate for dinner).  She also has several cysts all over her body.  We had one surgically removed years ago, but at this age (and the amount she now has) it's not possible to remove them anymore.  Most of them are pretty small and just appear to be a small lump under the skin, but she does have one that's fairly large and bothers her if you touch it.  Physically she's in pretty good shape externally (no signs of arthritis or trouble getting around), but internally her organs are showing her age.  We can tell that she really misses Chloe too.   Nala was 2 years old when we got Chloe, so the two dogs grew up together and were very close.  Nala has appeared sad and lonely every since we had to say good bye to Chloe.  We have a new neighbor that moved in across the street this summer that has a chocolate lab that looks identical to Chloe.  When Nala was in the front yard with us and spotted their lab she took off in a sprint for the dog.... despite me calling her name.  She's always been a good dog and listens great.  We have never had to use a leash in the front yard.  But she was so excited to see her buddy Chloe (or so she thought) that she crossed the street and jumped up excitedly to greet the dog.  It wasn't until she sniffed the dog that she realized it wasn't her buddy Chloe.  We knew her time was limited and decided we needed to say good bye this fall.  At the point when she started to show signs of possibly being in pain... she started whining a lot and laying in the laundry room or sitting outside alone.  Unfortunately we waited too long to say good bye with Chloe and her last few days were extremely painful.  We didn't want to make that mistake again and have Nala suffer as well.  So, with a heavy heart on November 9 Jason and I drove her to the local vet's office to say good bye.  We talked to Connor about this for weeks prior, but I didn't want him to be there when they actually injected the anesthesia to put her to sleep... so he went to the neighbors house while Jason and I drove her to the vet's.  We stayed with her in the room while they gave her the shot.  I was amazed at just how quickly the anaesthesia works and grateful that the process is very fast and peaceful.  Literally within seconds of the needle entering her vein she was gone.  My beloved baby girl was gone.  It wasn't until then that I burst into tears and cried for several days (although never around Connor).  I will always love you Nala and remember you forever.

Stories of Nala:  Our "junk yard dog."  Our last house was south of the Spokane freeway in a cult-a-sac.  In 2003 Jason and I spent the day at the Toyota dealership buying my new 4-runner (which I still have and LOVE).  The dogs, Chloe and Nala were in the fenced backyard (which had a plush dog house built into the garage, courteously of Jason).  While we were gone our wonderfully behaved dogs, who never even attempted to escape from their pampered backyard.. did just that and escaped from our 6 foot fence.  Actually the fence was somehow opened?!?  We came home that evening to find Chloe sitting on our front door step waiting for us, but no sign of Nala.  We searched the neighborhood until after dark looking for her with no luck.  We thought we had lost our 5 pound little dog for sure.  Early the next morning we got a call from the junk yard, north of the freeway that they had found our dog sleeping in the back of a pickup truck in their junk yard.  I'm so glad she was wearing her id tag!  Somehow she had managed to get out of our 6 foot fenced yard, under a 8+ foot cement wall, down a steep bank, crossed a 4 lane freeway in the dark, under a 6 foot cyclone fence and found her way into a junk yard filled with old cars and climbed into the bed of a truck.  This gained her the nick name of "junk yard dog." 

She spent most of her life being spoiled.  She snuggled next to me on the bed (until we moved to our new house and Jason created the rule of NO dogs allowed outside the laundry room and family room rule).  She was also a lap dog that cuddled with me on the couch until we moved to our new house and Jason created the No dogs allowed on the couch rule.  Until Connor was born she got a fresh breakfast of pancakes/waffles, sausage and eggs every weekend and occasionally after he was born as well.  Throughout her life she occasionally enjoyed her own dinner plate filled with whatever I cooked for the rest of the family.  (Chloe and Nala had their own plates that ONLY they used.  I don't allow my dogs to eat off our plates).  She enjoyed camping, swimming, going to the park and walks with us.  For the last several years I stopped taking her to the groomers, since she didn't like the experience and I would cut her hair myself.  She loved to chew on rubber bones.  She also loved it when we would get on the floor and play tug-a-war with one of her stuffed toys.  As far as tricks go, she was a bit of a snob.  She really had no interest in learning any tricks other than sit, lay down and stay.  She was always a great listener though and we could take her off the leash at the park to run around and sniff everything in sight and she would instantly come the minute we called her.  She was great with kids.  She spent a lot of time sitting next to Connor, who would pet her the last few years.  Unlike some small dogs, Nala was never a barker or noisy dog.  Although the last few months after Chloe's death she did start to whine randomly (we could never tell if it was from pain or loneliness).  We actually got to see her 6th sense... when I miscarried before Connor... it was Nala who alerted us that something was wrong.  She wouldn't get near me.  I would sit on the couch in the family room and Nala would sit in the doorway to the laundry room and either stare at me with a strange look or turn her back to me.  Right after this started happening we found out the baby had died at 3 months... and apparently Nala knew before anyone else.  We miss you Nala (AKA Nala-Butt).

Jason put a plastic vapor barrier down on the concert before the laminate.  The concrete should be completely dry after 8 years, but the barrier is a "just in case" safety measure. 

He installed this much of the flooring before we realized the concrete slab wasn't perfectly level.  Although it appears to be level... if it's not exactly perfectly level when you install a floating laminate floor you can feel a slight movement in the floor when you walk on it.  Although nobody would probably notice the ever so slight movement in the floor... my husband is a perfectionist and if your going to do something you might as well do it right.  So, he took the floor back up and started from scratch.