Junk in the Trunk

When we moved in, the storage area was already full. After we removed the carpet and dumped everything in there, we couldn't open it without risking getting rolls of nasty carpet falling on top of us.

So we got the folks from junk removal to, uh, remove the junk. Before they left, the following conversation happened.

Junk Removal Guy #1: I didn't lock the door.
Me: Oh that's okay, you guys emptied it so it's not like there's anything to steal.
Junk Removal Guy #2: But if tomorrow you see it's full of somebody else's junk, you know who to call. *cryptic smirk*
Me: What? Does that happen?
Junk Removal Guy #2: *silently walks away, smirk still on*

Two weeks later, I saw this sign pasted on the building elevator.

The first paragraph says: "Someone has placed items into the locker #222 and put a padlock on the door." The rest of the notice basically requests that whoever put their stuff in there remove it.

I laughed out loud by myself in the lift that day, because I, funnily enough, got the answer to my question pretty promptly. Also, as horrible as this sounds, because it wasn't my locker that was filled with somebody else's junk. I probably wouldn't have laughed it if was.

Laminate Flooring and Baseboard Heaters

After much, much, much thought, here's how we did the part of our laminate flooring that's right by our baseboard heaters.

 
We decided on doing it this way only after a long process. First, we drew on our limited DIY experience and thought long and hard. Then, like any other 21st-century person who is stumped on anything, we did some Googling. Then, we called several home improvement stores for advice.

When installing laminate flooring against the wall, you're supposed to leave a small gap so the material can expand and contract with different conditions. You then cover the gap later by installing baseboard molding.

Our first plank with the spacers against the walls.

This was pretty straightforward when it was just against the walls, but we weren't sure what to do when we got to the baseboard heater: end the flooring right before the heater so we leave a gap between the flooring and the baseboard heater OR slide the flooring underneath the heater? If we slide it underneath the heater, would the flooring expand and dislocate the heater? If we leave a gap, how do we cover the gap?

It just seemed like nobody knew how to do it. Googling resulted in nothing; just similar questions with no answers. We had to call three different home improvement stores before we got a good answer.

First store: Home Depot #1
Home Depot (HD): "You need to leave as much space as possible between the flooring and the heater."
Me(M): "How much?"
HD: "As much as possible. Hold on (She asks associate: "Hey, how much space between flooring and heater?...Okay.") Yeap. About 3 inches."
M: (Decided the Home Depot person either didn't understand my question or didn't know what she was talking about.) "Okay, thanks."

Second store: Home Depot #2
HD: "So is the heater on the floor?"
M: "No, it's a baseboard heater. It's on the wall, but really low so there's very little space underneath. It's just enough for the laminate, but the laminate won't have space to expand."
HD: "Okay...So the laminate, it's on the floor or the wall?"
M: "Uhh...on the floor." (At this point decided she also didn't know what she was talking about and stopped listening.)

Third store: Rona
Rona (R): "You can do it either way."
M: "But if I leave a gap between the laminate and the heater, then how do I cover the gap?"
R: "Well, you gotta sacrifice something, right?"
M: "Um yeah...but is there a way to cover the gap?"
R: "You can use a quarter-round molding. Just glue it to the laminate."
M: "I didn't think of that!"
R: "If you don't use the heater, then you can probably get away with sliding the laminate underneath 'cos it won't expand too much."

So that was how we finally discovered a good way to handle the baseboard heater situation. We were ready to accept that it was some sort of an industry secret that professional laminate floor installers guard with their lives to preserve the profession. That Rona guy was a lifesaver.

This is how the flooring looks when you get closer.

We still have to install some quarter-round molding around the heaters, but we can live with the gap for now while we tackle more urgent projects. After the molding goes on, I imagine it'll look seamless and the floor will have enough room to expand.

Moving is Fun!!!

Well, it depends on whose opinion it is you're asking, really. Vee and I hated moving so much that the sight of our cluttered, tiny unit almost drove us to tears. But someone enjoyed it...

See her? She's in the picture somewhere... No?

How 'bout now? ...still nothing? Oh, come on, you've never played "Where's Waldo?" before? (Fun fact: Waldo also goes by Wally and a plethora of other names, depending on the country.)

Okay, there she is. That's Em, our six-year-old furball.

This was hours after we moved in, so she was still a little apprehensive and probably decided the highest place would be safest.

But overall, she seemed to think the whole moving thing was a big adventure. She got to explore the mysterious top side of the bed slats...

Lounge in a fortress of cardboard boxes...

And try out new nap spots. Nothing's better than fresh, warm laundry, right?

So much fun, and she hasn't even explored the deck yet!

Look at her, all curious about the goings-on outside, but didn't even know that she could use the cat door that's right beside her to slink out...

Choosing Laminate Floor: Cheap vs. Expensive

We originally wanted cheap laminate floors. We just couldn't see how the expensive ones were better. But after a lot of enlightening research, we decided to dig deeper into our pocket and go with a middle-of-the-line product. After all, installing the laminate ourselves will save us a lot of money. 

So how does one know what to look for when choosing laminate flooring?

1.  Laminate products come in thicknesses of 7 to 12mm. The thicker they are, the better (and the more expensive). Thicker planks feel and sound more solid. It's hard to explain, but going into a home improvement store and knocking on laminate planks of different thicknesses gave us a good idea.

2. The flooring specialist in Home Depot told us that cheaper laminates are harder to install. He recommended products that are $2.50/sq. feet and above for beginner DIYers.

3.  According to the same guy, premium laminates look more real. Laminate flooring basically imitates real hardwood. Each hardwood plank is different because it's a natural product, but the patterns on laminates are printed on, so repetitions are bound to happen. More expensive products usually have fewer repetitions.

Pattern repetition on our laminate floor planks.

Interestingly, the flooring specialist also said that the grain or the finish (glossy or matte) of the planks didn't really affect how real they look. But I notice that top-of-the-line laminates often have a glossy finish, so maybe the gloss gives a more polished look .

4. Additionally, I think each individual laminate plank should only have the pattern of one separate hardwood plank on it. Some laminate products have wide planks, with each plank trying to pass off as multiple hardwood planks. These have printed-on borders between each fake hardwood plank. The thing is, under some lighting conditions and/or after being used for some time, it can be pretty obvious that the actual joints of the laminate planks don't match the fake printed joints.

See the white lines of the real planks?

In the photo above, I've highlighted the edges of the laminate planks, which have discolored over time. It's now painfully obvious that they are laminate planks and not real hardwood, because each plank is masquerading as three planks. Even before the laminates lose color, it's possible to see the edges of the real planks under some lighting conditions.

Price considerations aside, from personal experience, it pays to talk to someone in charge of the apartment or townhouse complex before buying laminates. We went through some unnecessary drama just because we didn't ask our strata manager to specify the kind of flooring we have to get to meet the building requirements.

Anyway, we got ourselves laminates that are 12mm thick for $2.49 per square feet. Because we got a 19-percent discount, we only paid $2.02 per square feet (plus tax) for them. Each individual piece looks like a separate hardwood plank. We've installed the laminate on two-thirds of the living room and so far, we think the repetition is not too obvious.

We think we did really well choosing our flooring and we give ourselves little pats on the back every time we see the installed laminate because it just looks so good.

Our Laminate Floor is (Finally) Here!

One week from our order date, we got a call from Home Depot saying that they had our laminate flooring at the store. That was great news, because at first they told us it was going to take at least two weeks for us to get our flooring.

The laminate floor boxes were pretty heavy, so it was a good thing that we found some shopping trolleys in the parking lot. Instead of having to take the boxes one by one, we hauled six at a time with these babies.

Let me zoom in on one part of the scene above.

Vee has done this at least twice, taking off his gloves and leaving them where he last put his hands. They look a little creepy, like they come alive when you're not looking.

By the way, you know those grocery stores with trolleys that automatically lock their wheels once you're a certain distance away from the store? Apparently, they lie because we see some of those "locking" trolleys in the parking lot and they work fine.

Anyway, this is what our new floor looks like. It's called Oslo Walnut from Beaulieu Canada. It's a nice medium brown and so far we're really happy with our decision.

But our laminate-floor-shopping experience was a saga.

First, the cheapskates that we were, we liked the 97-cent-per-square-feet laminates with nice pattern and coloring.

Then, after talking to a flooring specialist at a Home Depot store and getting some advice on choosing laminates, we decided on a 2.99-bucks-per-square-feet product with attached foam underlayment. Also, there was a 10-percent-off promotion for flooring products and 10-percent-off promotion for the first purchase on new Home Depot cards. In total, we got 19 percent off and also saved a little because we didn't having to buy a separate underlayment.

Then, our building manager said he wanted at least a certain level of soundproofing. We went back to Home Depot and found out that:
1. the laminate product we ordered did not have the required level of soundproofing in the attached underlayment.
2. we had to get the most expensive underlayment product in the store to get that kind of soundproofing.
3. we couldn't just add the soundproofing product under the said laminate because the attached underlayment would make the floor unstable.
4. therefore, we had to cancel our original order and choose another product.
5. the product we finally decided to buy instead had to be special-ordered and could take up to three weeks to arrive.
6. therefore, we might have to live on concrete sub-floor for a few days while we wait for the laminates to arrive.
7. Home Depot was going to honor our 19-percent discount again because it was the last day of the promotion on the flooring products and even though it wasn't technically our first purchase. This was the huge silver lining in the horrible shopping trip that it was.

But now that our new laminates are here, only about one week from the order date, we've almost forgotten all about the buying process. We're just happy we don't have to live on concrete because we can at least finish the flooring in one room before moving in. And it turned out for the best, because a friend offered to help deliver these boxes to our apartment (saving us $60 in delivery) and we spent the one-week wait time stripping and cleaning the concrete sub-floor anyway.