Carpeting…Day 7

The Interior Design Carpet crew was back this morning to install carpet in the stairwell between the garage and bonus room. The first photo shows Jimmy as he cuts carpeting to fit the stairs on the paver surface in front of the garage. I picked this carpeting (it will be the only time) from the giant supply Rick Armstrong keeps in his Minnetonka warehouse.

The next photo shows the rubber stair treads on the first two steps up from the garage floor. We decided to use rubber treads to make sure any moisture from the garage does not get to the carpet. I think the combination of black treads, speckled carpeting, and grey walls looks pretty good.

The third photo shows the carpeting at the first landing as the stairs wind toward bonus room above.

Jimmy and his crew ran their 100 lb roller over the carpet in the bonus room again. Almost all of the bubbles disappeared after this rolling and he tells us that they will all go away once the glue is fully cured. The two photos below show the new carpeting from opposite ends of the bonus room.  This room looks amazing with the carpet in place…almost all the workers are threatening to move into the space!

Carpeting…Day 6

Rick Armstrong’s crew from Interior Design Carpet was back this morning installing carpet in the “L” Shaped House. The first two photos show the carpet runner installed on the front stairs after the edges were bound over the weekend. The first shows the runner from the cork flooring and the molding at the bottom flight. The second shows the details of the runner at the landing.

The Interior Design Carpet guys also went to work on the carpet in the bonus room. The first photo shows Jimmy spreading adhesive on the plywood flooring before they lay out the carpeting. We decided to use an 80 lb. commercial carpet without a pad in the bonus room because the dancers (Helen and Anna) and the Karate guy (Sam) don’t want a “spongy” surface as they work out.

The next photo shows the bonus room as the guys worked to fit the carpet to the room. They hauled two 12’ wide pieces up the steps from the garage that run the entire length of the room so that there will be only one seam (down the middle).

The last photo shows the door leading to the upstairs hall from the bonus room with the new carpet installed.

Carpeting…Day 5

Rick Armstrong and his crew stopped by the “L” Shaped House early this afternoon to go to work on the carpet runner in the front staircase. The photo below shows the carpeting laid out on the the stairs after everyone agreed on a width. They plan to get the edges bound this evening and install it tomorrow.

Carpeting…Day 5

Rick Armstrong’s crew finished installing carpet in the basement stairway late this afternoon. The first photo shows the new carpeting as it comes down the second flight of stairs to the basement floor in the family room. The last five stair treads have exposed ends while the carpet is installed from wall-to-wall above.

The next photo shows the new carpeting from the doorway at the top of the stairs. The last photo shows how we decided to have the carpeting extend down the last five treads while leaving the ends exposed in the family room. The color and subtle pattern in the carpet looks very nice with the carpet tiles on the floor.

Carpeting…The basement family room

I stopped by the “L” Shaped House on my way home late last night and took a few photos of the basement family room after Rick Armstrong and his crew finished installing the new carpet tiles. The first shows a panoramic view of the family room from the far corner by the doors to the patio.

The next photo shows a close up shot of the basement kitchen.

Carpeting…Day 4

Rick Armstrong called me over to the “L” Shaped House at about 10 am to approve the pattern he plans to use as they lay the carpet tiles in the basement. We laid out a few of the patterns shown on the Shaw Carpet website but pretty quickly decided to use a method they have used in other carpet tile installations. We are using two tiles from the Shaw Carpet … Philadelphia Commercial collection (Ad-Lib and Unscripted) in the Hall Meeting color and have arranged them in a pattern that is both ordered and random at the same time. The first photo shows Rick and Jimmy working together as they got underway laying tiles.

The next photo shows the new carpet tiles spilling across the basement floor from the patio doors in the North wall. We elected to have Rick start at the doorway so that any carpet replacement required at the doors would involve full tiles.

I think a good word to describe the new basement carpet might be…Bold!

Carpeting…Day 3 (evening report)

The Interior Design Carpet crew finished installing carpet in the music room and living room early this afternoon. The three photos below show the carpet in both rooms and up against the front of the fireplace. This end of first floor feels completely different with the carpeting in place…it’s amazing how much quieter it is. The installers spent a little time preparing the cement floor in the basement for the carpet tiles before they left for the day. I think they plan to get both the basement and bonus room carpeted this week.

Exciting stuff!

Carpeting…Day 3

Our friends at Interior Design Carpet are back today installing carpet in the music room and living room at the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows two of their guys working in the living room as they get started laying out and seaming the carpeting.

The next photo shows the carpeting as it runs through one of the music room doorways. Here we can see the Spillguard carpet pad and nail strips they installed earlier.

the last photo shows the vast expanse of carpet laid out in the living room as the installers started working their way around the room stretching and trimming. The new carpet looks great and whole room is amazingly less noisy with the carpet and pad installed.

Carpeting…Day 2 (evening report)

We stopped by the “L” Shaped House after supper to check out the new carpets on the second floor. The carpeting has absolutely transformed the place…making the house seem like a home! The photos here pretty much speak for themselves but I will say that I think that Katie and Deb have done a fantastic job with the textures and colors throughout the space.

The view out of (and in to) the master bedroom walk-in closets.

The master bedroom.

The book nook, stairs, and hallway.

Carpeting…Day 2

Jason Armstrong and his crew from Interior Design Carpet spent the morning installing carpet on the second floor of the “L” Shaped House. When Sam and I stopped by around noon they were working their way down the hallway toward the bonus room expecting to be done upstairs tonight. The first photo shows the view looking into the book nook, and master bedroom from the top of the stairs.

 

The next photo shows one of the guys gluing seams in the master bedroom. We decided to run the carpeting in all the bedrooms all through the closets and attic spaces. The third photo shows the new carpeting laid out in Helen’s room ready to be stretched and secured to the tack strips.

The last photo shows the basement guest bedroom with the new carpet completely installed, the scraps cleaned up, and the room vacuumed…ready for action!

Carpeting…Day 1

Our friends from Interior Design Carpet spent their first day at the “L” Shaped House preparing the second floor for carpeting. By the time they are done Rick and Jason will have installed carpeting in 12 rooms, 3 stairwells, and some interesting closet spaces throughout the house.

The first photo shows the 11 rolls of new carpeting piled in the first stall of the garage. A few rolls of carpet pad material can be seen piled up in the background. Rick and his crew have pre-cut some of the carpet at their shop but plan to use our garage and bonus room if necessary.

Sam and I stopped by the house right after lunch to look around and took a few photos on the second floor after the tack strips were installed. In the first the tack strip can be seen extending all the way around the upstairs hallway. In the second Sam is about to get his first good look at a PowerHold tack strip.

The next photo shows the right hand closet in Sam’s room after the tack strip installation. We plan to have carpeting running all through the second floor… including the closets and attic spaces.

The next couple photos were taken on my way home from work and show the carpet padding installed in the second floor hallway. We are having Rick and his guys install 5/8” Spillguard carpet padding under all of the carpet roll materials (we are using carpet squares in the basement). The second photo below shows the Spillguard pad and tack strip along the outside wall of the book nook.

The last photo shows the carpet padding running into Sam’s room from the hallway and around the corners into the walk-in closets on both sides of the doorway. The entire upstairs much quieter with the carpet padding installed.