Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Hall it off
Yay back to house stuff. Started on the hall floor so that I can actually finish something. First we had to strip off all of the old vinyl flooring to expose a disappointing find, the fir floor underneath is crap. I had visions of a simple sanding job and finishing fast and easy, no such luck.
Now it was choice time. As you can see the hall floor is something of a fun house attraction. It slopes 1 1/4 in its 36 inch width. That sucks big time and is very noticeable.
If I was just to level it off and put a new fir floor on top we would be looking a a 2 inch step down into the bathroom a 3/4 step up into the hall and a 3/4 step down into the bedroom. Not a very satisfying choice but relatively simple. The other option was to cut out the first layer of old floor and instal new. This will give me a 1 1/4 step down into the bathroom but no steps into the hall or bedroom. Not perfect but better. The hard part is carrying this out. Not only are all of the renovations I have done sitting on this floor but all of the original house is as well. This means flush cutting through the flooring right up against the walls. Now a smarter person than I might have pointed out that had I done this before finishing the walls the process might be less traumatic. Not me, I like to work this way keeps things interesting. Its like my own personal fung- shui, that means ‘dumb ass’ right?
The Skill saw cuts it like butter but the blade guard keeps the saw 1 1/2 off the wall so that is no good. Using the sawz-all was a simple choice but since I am only cutting with the first inch or so of blade I can only get a foot or so before that one inch is too dull to cut. When I mounted the blade in the machine upside down I was able to get a better angle and doubled the blade life but I am still looking at 20-25 linear feet of wall to cut and it is going to take forever.
I am blessed with all sorts of big tools I’ve picked up at auctions over the years and I have a devious modification idea that might turn one of them into a floor cutting god. I will show it only if it works and I keep all of my fingers, okay, I will show it if it works and I keep most of my fingers.
Now it was choice time. As you can see the hall floor is something of a fun house attraction. It slopes 1 1/4 in its 36 inch width. That sucks big time and is very noticeable.
If I was just to level it off and put a new fir floor on top we would be looking a a 2 inch step down into the bathroom a 3/4 step up into the hall and a 3/4 step down into the bedroom. Not a very satisfying choice but relatively simple. The other option was to cut out the first layer of old floor and instal new. This will give me a 1 1/4 step down into the bathroom but no steps into the hall or bedroom. Not perfect but better. The hard part is carrying this out. Not only are all of the renovations I have done sitting on this floor but all of the original house is as well. This means flush cutting through the flooring right up against the walls. Now a smarter person than I might have pointed out that had I done this before finishing the walls the process might be less traumatic. Not me, I like to work this way keeps things interesting. Its like my own personal fung- shui, that means ‘dumb ass’ right?
The Skill saw cuts it like butter but the blade guard keeps the saw 1 1/2 off the wall so that is no good. Using the sawz-all was a simple choice but since I am only cutting with the first inch or so of blade I can only get a foot or so before that one inch is too dull to cut. When I mounted the blade in the machine upside down I was able to get a better angle and doubled the blade life but I am still looking at 20-25 linear feet of wall to cut and it is going to take forever.
I am blessed with all sorts of big tools I’ve picked up at auctions over the years and I have a devious modification idea that might turn one of them into a floor cutting god. I will show it only if it works and I keep all of my fingers, okay, I will show it if it works and I keep most of my fingers.
