Two Silos Farm

Finally getting around to posting pictures. A week ago Friday, we picked out carpet - found something that would work in stock at the Carpet place on the west end of town. Went home and pulled up the front half of the laminate in the kitchen (the part between the south wall and were the cabinets start). Hardest part was getting all the furniture and “stuff” off the floor first. Most of this will be reused in Hubby’s reloading room, and upstairs.

Figured out that we could put down 5/8" particle board and that would equalize the level between that part of the kitchen and the den (is about 7' opening between the two areas).

Hubby arranged to rent the carpet stretcher for Saturday morning, and we went to Menards and picked up the subfloor. Got home and installed that. Wasn’t too hard, the width is just under 8’. Of course it’s still an old house, and not exactly square, so it still needed to be individually fitted in place.

Hubby put some floor leveler where needed, and we called it quits for the night (was about 10:30 pm). Got up Saturday around 6 and I got to work cleaning and when hubby got up around 7:30 he put down the tackless strips. We headed into town around 9:30 and picked up the carpet. Stretcher had not been returned yet - rental company said they would call when it came in. Not a big deal, we had a lot to do before we needed the stretcher. Got home and started laying out the carpet. Well, we had to put the pad down first . . .

The carpet needed to be seemed between the two rooms. We had the store cut it into two pieces to make it way easier to deal with. Got the carpet loosely fitted and ready to seam.

Son was still sleeping when he friend showed up with the flatbed trailer - hauled off the first of two derelict vehicles that have been sitting in the back yard for about a year.

Had lunch and the rental place called - so hubby took off to get it. He passed the friend returning for the second trip just as he got to the rental place, so he picked up the stretcher and hurried home. The second car wasn't startable (alternator and battery removed) so hubby needed to push it on the trailer with the skidsteer. Got that all loaded up and we got back to the carpet.

By this time, Tikka had decided the carpet passed with her “cat approval” test.

Got it edge of the carpet cut and seamed, and started planning for the stretching. Did the hallway first, and then moved to the kitchen part. We had visitors coming to spend the night, and about 4pm, sister called and said they were getting a late start, but were coming. Figured they would not get in until after 10pm, but that gave us plenty of time to get the carpet down.

So we kept working at it. Was more work than hubby expected, but it is a very dense, short pile. More like berber than plush. We kept at it all afternoon, and sister and BIL showed up just as we were getting done. I vacuumed and set out the air mattress for them to use. They brought there own bedding, which was fine since I had hauled my extra stuff out from the closet to hang outside for a while, but with the rain and humidity we had the last few days, it was a bit musty smelling.

We got to bed around midnight. Sunday we made a big breakfast and visited. Showed them around the place. Sister took a nap in the afternoon while the guys did some target shooting.

I started working on putting up wallpaper. They left around 4pm. BIL has work to do in Sioux Falls this morning.

Put down plastic and towels to protect the new floor.

I worked on the wallpaper, until about 11pm. Have one short section to complete, but did not want to stop in the middle of the wall.

I wasn’t sure how much I liked the look, with the sage green carpet, and birch bark looking wallpaper, but after a week, I’m getting use to it.

I’ve ordered the border, and hope it will show up early next week. This week Hubby has been gluing boards together and we have several ready to router and paint and install. YEA!! I may end up with one room completely done soon! The trim will be painted the same color as the ceiling. We opted to use the pine flooring from the kitchen to make the trim. We had planned on using boards from the barn, but have not had time to take anything down. We’ll have lots more pine flooring when we tear up the 2 story section.

And for those who may lament that we are pulling up that floor (and remember, Pine is not considered “hardwood”) we have no choice. We have to fix the floor joists and the rotted sill plate so it has to come up. We are salvaging it as much as possible, but won’t be reusing it as flooring.

I’ve got over ripe bananas, so I’ll be making banana bread (quick bread) and too many eggs, so I’ll make a few custard pies (will cheat, bought ready made pie crusts). I have to get the paper up on the last wall section so I can clean up the room. Maybe by that time my hubby and son will be up, and we can head to Sioux Falls to get more paint, a couple of 36” baseboard heaters (can only get 30” or 48” locally, and hubby wants 36”) and we’ll stop at Stan Houston’s to look at router bits (that place is dangerous to go to, almost as bad as gun shops LOL!!)

Looks like hubby may be back to work for a week soon. His old boss is desperate for operators for a special project. Hubby has also got a few other things in the works, and I’m sure gonna miss having him home. He is sick of working on the house, so very ready to get back to working for someone else.

You all have a good day, I’d better get to work!

Cathy