Life in America - I made the move.

[Mr Zog]

A dog made a contribution to our GFM today.

There is no name that I can link to a WD name. You know who you are, please send either myself or Mrs Zog a PM so we can thank you. The GFM account now sits with just enough for me to pay the application fees for my citizenship 

Thanks you again to all who have assisted us with this, we truly appreciate your generosity 

[Mrs. Zog]

And it would be just enough for me to cover the lounge and passage (I hope).

If not, then it will be enough to do the two smaller bedrooms. It won't go to waste, and the color really is perfect, it's actually exactly what I would have chosen anyway.

Sorry for not posting lately. I have too much work and barely keeping my head above water right now.

[OomD]

Great score on the wooden flooring! Did you manage to get the underlying layer as well? When I did our rooms I first added a layer of about 3mm of a foam like sheeting. It really goes a long way towards soundproofing the floors, and makes them nice and soft(ish) to walk on, especially when barefoot.

[Blou Zebu]

@Mr Zog
How is the hand? You have not said anything in a while. So either it's much better or as I interpret your stoic silence it is still troubling you?

[Bikerboer1973]

Anyways, I digress. The flooring that the dude was returning was all open boxes, but still all there and undamaged. Lowes was gonna take it back, but they would have a moerofa hard time selling it again, so they usually just either send it back, or put it in the dumpster... That's where I came in... I took a pic of the colour and sent it to Mrs Zog. She immediately agreed that it was perfect for our place. And it would be just enough for me to cover the lounge and passage (I hope). So I got busy. I asked the guy at Lowes if I could buy the flooring from him at a reduced price. The dude told me that they could not sell it as it was not sealed and therefore could not be warranteed. So I asked him what they were going to do with it. He told me that they would throw it in the dumpster. So I asked him if I promised not to tell anyone    if we could pretend my van was a dumpster?

The dude saw I was serious, but would not make that decision. He called his manager and asked him, and the manager agreed!!!! So I loaded twelve opened boxes of flooring into my van and took them home! Free, mahala, LEKKER!!!

Congrats on the score, bit by bit it all comes together 

Just shows you what a waste full culture we have become, sell it at a reduced rate or give it away to some one needy (like Mr. Zog  ) but to just put it in the trash is a sin. Wonder with that business model how they can stay open, one just does not throw money away, and why would the client open 12 boxes and not use them  .

Any way enjoy the flooring job, and remember laying a floor is like getting married, if you do a good job laying it the first time you can walk over it the rest off your life.   
 

[steveindar]

A dog made a contribution to our GFM today.

There is no name that I can link to a WD name. You know who you are, please send either myself or Mrs Zog a PM so we can thank you. The GFM account now sits with just enough for me to pay the application fees for my citizenship 

Thanks you again to all who have assisted us with this, we truly appreciate your generosity 

Was going to mention it needs a bit of a kickstart again.

Cheers

[Mrs. Zog]

Whew. Friday usually is my "off" day for the week, it's my "get shit done" day: grocery shopping, errands. But I'm not feeling great today, so I plan to do as little as possible. I just got back from the supermarket, I'll call my mother in Germany just now and catch up, and then... maybe a nap. Also, baking some bread this afternoon.

why would the client open 12 boxes and not use them

I know, I was wondering the same thing, and then it made sense. I was watching an installation tutorial last night online for this brand of flooring, and they actually tell you to open all boxes and "mix and match" the planks from all boxes as you install because of minor variations in color. Ok. That makes sense. I guess this is as far as the guy got before he (or whoever) decided that they don't like it.

It would be a colossal waste to throw this away. But this is a wasteful culture I guess. Over the last couple of years I've been trying hard to do my bit - recycling, trying to use less plastic and paper, switching to bar soap from body wash in a plastic container, etc. I do as much as is practical, but I won't obsess over it either.

I bring my own bags to the supermarket, and they just don't get it - they want to pack my stuff in plastic bags and then put it into my reusable bags. I keep telling them no, and they just. don't. get. it. "What if this leaks into your bag?" "Then I'll throw it into the washing machine, thank you."

This morning I had the audacity (gasp!) to buy veggies and NOT put them into the thin plastic bags from the produce department. (Obviously, if it's something like tomatoes, I'll put them together into a bag, I mean things like a single large item like a cucumber or a bunch of bananas, etc.). I put them onto the conveyor belt at the checkout and the woman was upset. "It's unsanitary." If it's unsanitary, maybe you should clean that conveyor belt. How is a vegetable unsanitary? (I wash my fruit and veg off anyway before I use them.)

Ah well. I try.

[Mr Zog]

Congrats on the score, bit by bit it all comes together 

Just shows you what a waste full culture we have become, sell it at a reduced rate or give it away to some one needy (like Mr. Zog  ) but to just put it in the trash is a sin. Wonder with that business model how they can stay open, one just does not throw money away, and why would the client open 12 boxes and not use them  .

Any way enjoy the flooring job, and remember laying a floor is like getting married, if you do a good job laying it the first time you can walk over it the rest off your life. 

I think that the retailers still make enough profit that dumping the odd return into the trash doesn't hurt them much.

Shoplifting doesn't happen much here, so they don't lose much that way. And their margins are such that they do make big profits. I know for a fact that for instance PVC fittings cost about half that they do at the Home Depot at a wholesaler. My boss buys from a wholesaler, and still sells his fittings slightly cheaper than the HD does... I'm sure that everything they sell is double (or more) than what they paid for it. Returning the returned items to the supplier is often more expensive than what the value of the item actually is. The flooring I got is super heavy, at least 25kg's per box. So that is 300kg's for the shipment. Sending 300kg's across the country would cost a small fortune... Cheaper to just dump them. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and my big blue eyes and stunning smile and sexy accent and smooth talking got me through   

Mrs Zog is correct, you need to mix up the boxes when installing to get an even spread of very slightly different colours from different batches, just like with tiles. Also, the flooring needs to acclimate to the temp of the room in which it is being installed. For instance, you can't install very hot flooring into a room that is air conditioned. Because when they shrink back to the size they should be you may get small gaps between them. Likewise if the flooring is very cold, they may expand in a warm room and cause lifting in places. Very slightly I'm sure, but it could mean the difference between a perfect fit and one that has some issues.

I will have to purchase some underlayment, but that is cheap enough, and I will also need to buy some spacers for spacing the flooring off the walls. They need to be kept a quarter inch (5-6mm) off each wall to accommodate expansion etc. Tile spacers placed on their side are just the right size    Then I will also have to buy the transition strips where the flooring meets the carpets at each bedroom, and the tiles in the bathroom. For now I will just get the cheapest ones, and when we eventually do the bedrooms etc. we can choose a transition that matches/suits the flooring better. 

I am actually dreading doing the job, it's a shit-ton of work, but also excited to get rid of this smelly, dirty old carpet that I am sure is half the cause of my allergies and sinus half the time. One can only get it so clean with shampooing and vacuuming. I'm sure it has been on this floor since the house was built in 1984 

[Mr Zog]

Seems that the Global Warming phenomenon has been solved.

With all the hype about global warming, as well as the all the snowflakes and freedom of association and such like stuff, this guy has solved the problem of his V8 powered bakkie affecting the earth negatively.

You see, his big gas-guzzling truck now identifies as a fuel sipping, battery powered little Toyota Prius 

[Mr Zog]

And this dude...

His Honda Civic has a fancy exhaust pipe...

So fancy he can just plug it in and get HD resolution       

[Mr Zog]

@Mr Zog
How is the hand? You have not said anything in a while. So either it's much better or as I interpret your stoic silence it is still troubling you?

Right now I am calling the hand surgery a failure. 

I still have constant pain in the finger, and two weeks ago I purchased a finger splint and have been wearing it as much as possible. It does help with the pain, after a couple of hours in the splint the pain is almost gone.

I will say that the "snapping" sensation is gone when I move the finger, so that much is a success, but the first knuckle is the worst. The finger is still swollen, and any movement of the joint gets the pain right back where I started.

I am starting to believe that the joint itself may be fubar, either arthritis, of some degeneration-type issue. But right now going back to the doc isn't on the cards. Just yesterday I got a bill for $338 for the surgery (the doctor's portion that our health insurance didn't cover) that I now have to pay. They will just have to wait a bit, because right now I just ain't got it. Going back to the doc again will just mean more and more cash. We don't have it.

So I will continue to wear my finger splint. I have figured out how to do most things with it... 

[Tom van Brits]

So sad to read about your finger Gary, you can't afford damage to you hand 

Maybe it needs some more time......don't know but the post operative care was maybe partly what caused this, you needed more time off and rest.

[Fudmucker]

In my case, the LH carpel tunnel release improvement was so minimal and the recovery so long that I just put off the RH procedure completely... 

[Rooikoos]

Congrats on the score, bit by bit it all comes together 

Just shows you what a waste full culture we have become, sell it at a reduced rate or give it away to some one needy (like Mr. Zog  ) but to just put it in the trash is a sin. Wonder with that business model how they can stay open, one just does not throw money away, and why would the client open 12 boxes and not use them  .

Any way enjoy the flooring job, and remember laying a floor is like getting married, if you do a good job laying it the first time you can walk over it the rest off your life. 

I think that the retailers still make enough profit that dumping the odd return into the trash doesn't hurt them much.

Shoplifting doesn't happen much here, so they don't lose much that way. And their margins are such that they do make big profits. I know for a fact that for instance PVC fittings cost about half that they do at the Home Depot at a wholesaler. My boss buys from a wholesaler, and still sells his fittings slightly cheaper than the HD does... I'm sure that everything they sell is double (or more) than what they paid for it. Returning the returned items to the supplier is often more expensive than what the value of the item actually is. The flooring I got is super heavy, at least 25kg's per box. So that is 300kg's for the shipment. Sending 300kg's across the country would cost a small fortune... Cheaper to just dump them. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and my big blue eyes and stunning smile and sexy accent and smooth talking got me through   

Mrs Zog is correct, you need to mix up the boxes when installing to get an even spread of very slightly different colours from different batches, just like with tiles. Also, the flooring needs to acclimate to the temp of the room in which it is being installed. For instance, you can't install very hot flooring into a room that is air conditioned. Because when they shrink back to the size they should be you may get small gaps between them. Likewise if the flooring is very cold, they may expand in a warm room and cause lifting in places. Very slightly I'm sure, but it could mean the difference between a perfect fit and one that has some issues.

I will have to purchase some underlayment, but that is cheap enough, and I will also need to buy some spacers for spacing the flooring off the walls. They need to be kept a quarter inch (5-6mm) off each wall to accommodate expansion etc. Tile spacers placed on their side are just the right size    Then I will also have to buy the transition strips where the flooring meets the carpets at each bedroom, and the tiles in the bathroom. For now I will just get the cheapest ones, and when we eventually do the bedrooms etc. we can choose a transition that matches/suits the flooring better. 

I am actually dreading doing the job, it's a shit-ton of work, but also excited to get rid of this smelly, dirty old carpet that I am sure is half the cause of my allergies and sinus half the time. One can only get it so clean with shampooing and vacuuming. I'm sure it has been on this floor since the house was built in 1984 

I ripped out my carpets a couple of years ago and put in laminated flooring. The worst part is taking out the carpets. And wear knee guards when putting in the new flooring, I had serious carpet burns

Get the thicker underlay, you won’t be sorry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fudmucker]

Get the thicker underlay, you won’t be sorry

Agreed !   

[Mr Zog]

Get the thicker underlay, you won’t be sorry

Agreed !   

We went to Home Depot this morning and got the thicker, cork underlay 

I also got the tiling spacers that I wanted.

Mrs Zog bought two bags of potting soil for her potting pleasure   

I also grabbed a special that they were having, two household fire extinguishers for the price of one. 

You never know when you may need one, especially with a wood-frame house. 

Just after I got home I was called out, spent 3 hours working. Back home I continued pulling out the old carpet and pad...


At one stage this afternoon I was carrying out a roll of carpet when I saw a lovely big Black Racer sticking his head out from the bush in the vacant lot next door. They are completely harmless constrictors that eat frogs and lizards etc. Nothing like the black snakes of Africa that kill within seconds of their lethal bite     

[Mr Zog]

Some before, during, and after pics of today's work.

I pulled out all of the carpet in the passage and the lounge, I removed all of the carpet tabs that hold the carpets down, and I removed all but 1 of the skirting boards.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the tiles at the front door, and when they are out I'll be able to remove the last strip of skirting.

Then I need to use my "zoom-zoom" tool to undercut all of the door frames so that the flooring will fit under them. This gives a really professional finish to the flooring job. It's a heck of a lot of extra work, but will definitely be worth it.

[Tom van Brits]

Looking forward to see the floor

I haven't spotted any black racers here in Kansas and Oklahoma, only bull and rattlesnake and the latter is rather dangerous!

[grizz]

Changing flooring and carpets makes such a massive difference


Looking forward to the changes.

[silvrav]

Looking good mr Zog  Cant wait to see the final product!