Flooring and Stairs

Today was my first visit to the building site in over a week.  There have been lots of changes!  For example, when I arrived, Chad and Ben, the flooring subs, were just completing the first application of finish to the white oak.  They told me they had spent Thursday and Friday sanding the floors — five sandings, I believe, each with increasingly fine pads.  At mid-morning today they were applying the first coat (or sanding coat) of water-based polyurethane.  In fact, the three of us were squeezed into the front entry, from where they could exit to their truck while the finish dried.  This product "flash" dries; you can walk on it about an hour after application.  When I returned from Rogers City a couple hours later, a second coat was down and dried, and they were getting ready to sand the floors again.  At least two more coats of finish, with sanding in between, will follow.

Dave was right — the floors look spectacular!  I'm really pleased with the generally light tone, and the color variations.  The finish seems to make the grain pop.  Judge for yourself!  (Note that the color varies a bit depending on the light.)

Ben applies finish near the first floor bedroom.

The kitchen after the first coat of finish.

Ben sands along the walls.  A sanding
machine does the rest of the floor. 

Kitchen and dining area.  Note the painted beam.

The floor tones in this photo are fairly accurate.

Today I also got my first look at Kyle's and Dave's staircase.  As Kyle would say, it is "a thing of beauty!"  Indeed, in my opinion, a thing of great beauty, cleverly designed and elegantly executed.  The two side stringers are secured to the side- and center-wall studs with 6-inch lag bolts; and all three stringers are securely screwed to the wood beams at top and bottom.  Each 12-inch-wide oak tread is affixed to the stringers with 3-inch deck screws — nine screws for each tread.  Then, below the bullnose leading edge of each tread, a 3/4x2-inch trim piece reduces the rise (the distance between treads) so that this "air space" meets code.  (The intent here is to prevent a child's head from being caught between treads.)  All the hardware has been countersunk.  Therefore, next week the holes will be filled with oak plugs which will be sanded down even with the surface of treads and stringers.  Then the whole stairway will be finished with a clear polyurethane, just like the oak flooring.

Dave reports that when the first set of stairs (ground floor to landing) were finished, Kyle gave it a "stress test."  He ran up and down the stairs, and jumped up and down on the treads, doing a pretty faithful imitation of a kid on the playground.  Clearly, a stairway has to be stable, and I suppose this is as good a way as any to determine if it is safe and solid!  Dave says Kyle was quite pleased with the results!  (By this I think he meant Kyle was "hooting and hollering with glee.")

Ben sands along the base of my open stairway.

The (nearly) completed stairway.  While not
technically a "floating" staircase, it looks quite airy!

Triple-stringer construction makes this stair very sable.
Lag bolts attach side stringers to the wall studs.

Deck screws suck down each tread to the stringers, while the
trim piece under the bullnose conforms the rise to code.

The landing-to-second-floor run of stairs overlaps
the bookcase, which will be trimmed out this week.

Finally, on the second floor Chad was making quick work of the wall-to-wall carpeting.  He and Ben carried the carpet rolls into the house yesterday so that it could warm up.  Cold carpet is stiff and hard to work with.  After tacking down the pad, Chad quickly opened up, measured, and cut the carpet to size, with as few seams as possible.

Chad unrolls carpeting in the upstairs guest bedroom...

...and then muscles the carpet into position.

In the master bedroom, it's "measure twice, cut once...."

The carpeting covers most of the master bedroom, plus
the hallway beyond, all without a seam.

I'll have more photos tomorrow. •••