Wood Flooring

Stacey and I decided that we wanted to replace the linoleum and carpet in the kitchen/living room area with laminate wood flooring. It just so happened that Costco was having a sale on their flooring, so we decided to take the plunge and buy it. Then came the installation decision...do I do it myself or pay someone to install it. The cheapest labor would've cost us $2.00/sq. ft. for a total of about $600. That's a lot of money, so we decided to try it ourselves. I did a lot of research online on how to do it, called the manufacturer for tips, and then we started. I concentrated on doing it right, now worrying about how long it took me. I would rather sacrifice a little bit more time than regret a mistake or incorrectly installed flooring for years to come.

Honestly, the hardest part was the prep work. We ripped out the carpet, pad, and tack strips fairly quickly, but then began ripping out the linoleum and the sub floor underneath it. That took a bit longer. I took one day off from work, and we were able to get the whole thing ripped out and prepped that day. We started the next day to lay it down. It was pretty easy to lay it down, just lay it down and snap it together.

Overall, I would do it again any day in order to save $600. I took some pictures of the installation and finished product. You can see the album here:



I realize that I took a lot of pictures, but you don't have to look at them all. I forgot to take some "before" pictures, so I included a few pictures that I have taken in the past that happen to be in that area, so you can get an idea of what it looked like. Just ignore the people in them. :)

Aaron on Studio 5 - video

Today was the big day, and Aaron was very excited. He came down with Stacey and Kaylee and I could tell he was a little nervous. We took him in and he met Brooke and Darin, and I think that helped him so he wasn't quite so nervous. They told him what they wanted to do, and he drove around a little bit to practice.

Anyway, here is the video of him on the show:


Download video

Here are a few pictures that I took:















He did a great job, and sure did like doing it. Way to go, Aaron!

Aaron on Studio 5

Tomorrow, Aaron is going to be on Studio 5. About a week ago, one of the producers asked me if he would like to come on and drive one of those mini electric cars. It's not going to be a lot of TV time, but it should be fun nonetheless. Watch for it tomorrow - Studio 5 is on from 11:00 to 12:00. I will try to get some video from it and get it posted after the fact for those who can't watch it live.