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I Think I’m Gonna Cry!
By JLP | November 7, 2008
I took some time this afternoon to finish installing laminate flooring in our dining and living room. I finished installing all the flooring and went around and cut off all the extra moisture barrier that ran along the walls. I then picked up all the trash and swept the room to get it ready to move stuff back in. I then pushed the credenza (which stayed in the room during the installation because I had no where else to store it) back up against the wall.
I picked up one of the two chairs that sit in front of the window and started carrying it into the room. The doorway that I was trying to go through was a little small so I was trying to carefully squeeze the chair through. Well, I lost my grip and the chair fell forward and SLAMMED onto the BRAND FREAKIN’ NEW FLOOR, crushing it:
It’s too much damage to leave it so I’ll have to replace that piece. The problem is that laminate flooring can only be laid one way and the damage occurred about 4 rows into the project. That means I’m going to have to undo about 9 rows of flooring just to get to the damaged piece. then I’ll have to put it all back again. It’s almost like doing the project TWICE!
I’m so ticked off right now I could say some really good cuss words!
UPDATE: I ended up replacing the damaged piece by undoing the floor all the way back to the damaged piece. It took about an hour and a half to do. I was very careful to keep track of the pieces so I knew how to put them back in order. Not having to cut the end pieces made putting the floor back together much easier.
It could have been much worse. I could have already painted an installed the quarter round, which would have had to come off when I had to undo the floor.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 11 Comments »
November 7th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
The first scratch is always the most painful.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Karma for not voting for Obama
Seriously, that sucks. And now you’ll be really good at it – all your friends and family will rely on you to do theirs, er, help.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Heather,
Cute…real cute!
It’s actually HIS fault because I was so down about the election that I put off finishing the floor until today.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Bummer! Sounds like you and I share the same kind of luck when it comes to house projects.
But have no fear. Obama will take care of you and that’s why you should have voted for him. (Actually, you probably DID vote for him through absentee ballots submitted by ACORN. But I digress.) He’ll arrange a bailout to make you, and others, whole.
Afterall, it’s not your fault and you shouldn’t have to bear any expense for your misfortune. Didn’t the “evil flooring sales reps” explain to you that this can happen with laminate? They led you, the innocent consumer, down the wrong path to buy an inappropriate product that wouldn’t stand up to your clumsiness. They should have known better! You bear no personal responsibility for this mess.
We need a Congressional investigation to make new laws and restrictions to punish the flooring industry for creating such a flawed product and marketing it to consumers who obviously aren’t qualified to buy flooring for their homes. Maybe some class-action pitbull attorneys will file lawsuits to shake down the industry. That’ll teach ‘em!
November 7th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Steve,
You should have been a lawyer!
This project is just par for the course for me. Remember when I fixed my toilet?
November 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Does it make you worried that you’ll be in the same situation every time you drop anything on your laminate floor? I love the look of my laminate floors, but I was in a similar situation and I can’t tell you how many times a day I worry about dropping anything on my floor again.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Mike,
No, I don’t worry about it. That chair fell so hard that it was almost like hitting it with a hammer. Besides, we have had laminate for over 4 years and haven’t had any problems.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Sorry JLP – but I read this and literally started laughing.
I installed 700sq ft of laminate myself, laid flowing to the back bedrooms of the home in 1 continuous piece without transitions. Where the floor in the living room meets the kitchen, you can pull it up. 2 days after i finished installing it, i tried sliding a new fridge across a soft cloth instead of rolling a dolly across the floor with wheels that had small rocks in it. Apparently there was a small piece of dirt or small rock underneath the cloth, and the 4th/5th row in near the kitchen, a gouge was made across the two pieces. What was so aggravating was I pulled rows 1,2, and 3, but because the laminate flows into the hall area as a single piece, I’d have to remove from the front of the house instead, which is about 18 rows.
See a pic of my floor plan @ my blog http://moaph.blogspot.com/2007/01/master-plan.html
Needless to say, nearly 2 years later I haven’t had the heart to do it
November 7th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Same thing happened to me a few years ago. I dropped something heavy on the laminate and it damaged the floor. I was upset. My wife cried.
If you are looking for some cuss words, you should contact Rahm Emmanuel, Obama’s new chief of staff. I’ve heard he’s got lots of them.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Watch out for the steakknives, too. And don’t get on his Christmas card list
Oh, what fun we’ll have w/the new blog! Hurry it up, JLP! If you had been working on the new blog instead of your honey-do floor chore, none of this would have happened…
Next time go red oak w/a warm oak stain.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
How brave / lazy are you, JLP?
There is another way, but it’s tricky. You can cut out the damaged piece (very carefully!!!!) with a circular saw and replace it with a new piece. As the tongue from the adjoining piece will also be cut away, you’ll have to secure the new piece with adhesive. I’ve done this repair three times, and it worked twice. It’s the same way that you can replace individual pieces of damaged hardwood flooring, but without the benefit of being able to use nails.