Friday, June 1, 2012

The Floor

Here's an interesting (well, maybe not) side story to the house addition saga.  Part of the renovation involves replacing a good portion of the first floor with hardwood flooring.  The Mrs.' vision has the same hardwood going from the front door foyer, through the kitchen, den, hallway and new addition.  You add that up and it comes to just over 1,100 square feet.  The wood she selected back in January (something called Rosewood) was still unavailable at the beginning of May, so she had to make another selection (something called Koa or Tiger Wood).  I just know somewhere in a South American rain forest, a crew chief went running into the woods yelling "Don't cut down that forest, move across the road and cut down THAT forest!".

So here was the problem (as I perceived it) with this flooring - the cost.  The flooring with the underlayment cost about $6.50 a square foot (do the math - this is why my stomach hurts all the time).  The 7% NJ sales tax and delivery charge (if we bought it in New Jersey) would be about $800.  But wait, we live next to tax-free Delaware. 

It is common practice for people in Jersey (especially South Jersey) to make a run across the boarder to buy big ticket items like TVs and appliances.  So when I went to Budget rental to get a truck and told them where I was going, there were no questions asked. 

We went on a Sunday because the rates are 1/2 that of Saturday rentals (there's a cost savings tip for you do-it-yourself-movers out there).  I had to rent a 24 foot truck because even though the packets of wood are only 7 feet long and would easily fit into a 12 foot truck, they weigh over 3,700 pounds.  Even with the larger truck, 80 miles worth of diesel fuel (I had to return the truck full) and tolls, it only cost me a little under $200. 

The Pudge in front of the first truck we rented.  After doing all of the paperwork, we went to start it and the battery was dead.  We ended up with the truck on the right.


I've driven a pickup truck all my life, but never a truck this big. 


The Pudge ready to put the hammer down.

Fortunately, when we were at the floor place in Delaware, they were able to forklift the pallet of floor (48 boxes) into the truck using 2 forklifts and 1 guy.  It was interesting to watch how he did that.  Years of experience I'm guessing. 

The Pudge before he and I carried all 48 boxes into the house.  20 went right into the garage, but the other 28 had to go into the addition from the back door. 

We had to be careful where and how we stacked the boxes.  A stack of 5 boxes weighs 400 pounds.  We tried to keep the stacks near the foundations.

It took The Pudge and me about an hour and a half to unload.  The Pudge had bruises up and down the inside of both arms by the time we were done.  I was expecting a visit from DYFS when he went to school the next day.  Oh yeah, he had to suit up and play soccer right after we were done.  He played on defense because he was so tired he couldn't run and the coach needled me about it the whole game.

The floors are installed as of this writing and The Mrs. got to take back 6 leftover boxes of wood and 1 roll of under-layment when she went down to Delaware this week for work. 

I think she's happy with the floor - but you just never know.

18 comments:

Heff said...

Isn't it AMAZING how much a project costs these days, even if you DO IT YOURSELF ??

Donna and I laid hardwood upstairs (400 sq ft area) in 2002, that I tore out of a house that was about to be torn down.

We still have YET to sand & re-finish it ourselves, lol.

Karl said...

Good afternoon Buzz Kill

Tax evasion and child abuse I'll have to add this to your file.

moi said...

Every time I do a home improvement project, I kick myself for not having children.

PNW Gal said...

@Moi - I was thinking the same thing. Who else can you get to work for that many hours without them requiring payment or a break? We used to live in Portland, OR and they have no sales tax and every weekend the neighoring towns in Washington would create big traffic getting into the state. I'm glad you're stil married during this process. The Mister and me had some of the most epic fights during ours... it's one reason why I'm not big on taking any more on. More posts please! (and, it's Boxer under a new name.)

moi said...

S.B. holds his breath whenever anything goes down of an improving nature around here. In fact, he desperately wanted me out of the house for the new carpet on Friday (the fumes! the mess! the tummult!) and just may send me away for the 5-7 days end June the guest bath is getting re-done. I'd hell to the yes to that if it weren't for my workload.

Buzz Kill said...

Heff
Removing hardwood floor for re-use is a lot of work. Our floor guys tried to salvage our den floor, but it had so many nails that it just broke apart. Can you get us some pictures of Donna working on the floor? Bwahahahaha

Karl
You having a file on me doesn't surprize me at all.

Moi/Boxer
You two are so cute, I wish I had a camera. Do you really think The Pudge would do this without the promise of money from his mother?

czar said...

This week's haiku was for you, Buzz. I just didn't mention it. And I only call you out because we're operating in parallel slots. Well, except for the fact that I'm useless at everything you describe.

But I will agree that things go more quickly when the offspring are around. And awake. And cooperative.

Awaiting eye's calm . . .
Still . . . some storms never slacken:
House-and-spouse vortex.

LaDivaCucina said...

Smart guy, Buzzy! Wife must be thrilled. As you know I did a lot of buying and picking up and CARTING of our materials myself. Although hubby was there when the cork flooring came in...thank God. He wasn't there when the very heavy rubber or whatever the heck it was material sublayer was bought by me....And I was proud to have saved myself the money for getting it wholesale. (even though I almost had a Final Destination moment while driving it home on the free way...meh!) Can't wait to see the finished results!

Jenny said...

hey! You DIY Wizard! What's going on now?

Buzz Kill said...

Czar
Sorry I'm late in replying - been busy. The vortex just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Diva
You're thinking of underlayment. Ours came in rolls that weighed about 40 pounds - 9 of them. We're almost done and I will probably have a post about it in a few weeks.

Boxer
Contractors are finishing this week. We have a defective ceiling fan that they will come back and install once we get a replacement (we bought the fan/light/remote kits). We've pretty much moved into the space. It looks nice. Still don't know if it was worth it - yet.

Aunty Belle said...

BuzzK, youse amazin'--top rating fer Hubby Awards. An' luck Pudge bride in future--she'll git herself one well trained fella.

Know you woan let the missus enjoy ALL the beauty of the new addition--hope thar's a great Man-Area fer yore comfort.

Lookin' forward to the pictures.

chickory said...

i gar un tee ya Pudge will study hard and avoid a future of loading out of a warehouse! Cant wait to see the floor. and look, you guys are still married!! You beat the odds, buzzy!

Buzz Kill said...

Aunty/Chicky

The Pudge doesn't mind the work - as long as he gets paid. I'm glad he was there or else I would have had to do it all myself. It would have taken me twice the time and twice the aches and pains.

Chicky - I'm not sure about the marriage part. The Mrs. is crazy.

I do have some finished pictures. It's just finding the time to put a post together. Maybe this weekend.

Aunty Belle said...

Pics???

BuzzK, youse missed. Hope all be well wif' y'all.

Aunty Belle said...

Hallooooo?

Hope y'all is all well.

Tyrone Obey said...

It's a good thing that you rented a 24-foot truck to carry all those 48 boxes of wood flooring. The flooring might have gotten damaged if you chose to stack it up on a 12-foot truck. So, how did ‘The Pudge’ do after he went to classes the next day? Did a person working for DYFS visit you the next day? :) I'm just kidding. Heheh.

Karl said...

Good evening Buzz Kill,

I'm hoping you're aware this, but just in case. It's beginning to look like Sandy is going to take a stroll right at the Delaware River. And the wind shear between her and the high pressure system to the west is likely to create wind affects well above what one would anticipate with a storm of this size. Rainfall in excess of 6 inches is also likely.

Sheltering in place for several days should be anticipated as the wind may cause long-term power outages. Have your preparations done by tomorrow. The shelves may be empty by Sunday.

Stay safe.

Aunty Belle said...

Ah...Karl beat me to it. Hope The BuzzK's is safe.