What a guy does with his money when he's not spending it at Disney

Walt Disney World Other
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Some folks noticed my absence around here for the past several days. I assure you, it was nothing any one here said or did. I was just…wait for it…busy!

Well, a week ago Tuesday, we were having internet issues at work, so that limited me to visiting via my phone (which I really hate). But starting Wednesday, May 1, I took off three days from work so that I would have a total of 5 days (including the weekend) to install new laminate flooring throughout our main floor (kitchen, dining, hallway, and living room). I had originally estimated the job to take 4 days, but left an extra day cushion.

But I quickly ran into two problems:

  1. The existing vinyl flooring that came with the house was installed over a 1/4" subfloor. This meant laying the laminate directly over the vinyl would not be possible since there was too much of a height difference between previously carpeted areas.

  2. My body, now 46 years old, apparently doesn’t appreciate the level of manual labor that it once did when it was 30 (the last time I did laminate flooring installation in my previous house).

As a result, I was working 12-14 hour days for 5 days and STILL didn’t finish. But I had to return to work yesterday and today, so I’m left with evenings to finish the work. Well, today should be the day when the flooring will be completely installed! (I’ll still have to go back and do some touch up painting on the base moulding eventually.) I think I nearly died in the process, due to the fact that each “morning after” I’ve woken up so stiff I could barely stand up!

All said, though, it means I saved at LEAST $1200 that I would have paid to have a professional do the installation. And this is important to these forums because it shows the dedication I have to the cause. That $1200 saved will help finance our upcoming Disney trips!

So, what does a guy spend his money on when he’s not spending on Disney? New flooring for his home? Yep! Paying someone else to install the new flooring in his home? NO WAY! :slight_smile:

BTW, after I finish up (hopefully tonight), I’ll post some photos of the final result of my efforts. In the meantime, I hope you all survived without me for almost a week! :wink: (Or, on the other end of the spectrum, didn’t party too hard in my absence!)

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Disney will gladly help in taking your pocket change!

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Wait, you’re wasting valuable Disney dollars on flooring?

Seriously, good on you doing it yourself. I hope it looks awesome. And I hope you feel better soon, too.

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Yes, I know. But, alas, the carpet in the living room was, well, embarrassing. The vinyl flooring was fine, but if we replaced just the living room with the laminate, it would have the laminate butting up against the vinyl flooring with not much chance of later, when we wanted to make the entire main floor match, finding the same flooring, which would mean throwing away even MORE money. So, in a sense, longer term, it saved money to just do it all now. We’ve been talking about doing this now for YEARS, so it is nice to finally get it done! (And had I waited a few more years, I think the effort really WOULD HAVE killed me!) :slight_smile:

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I get it. My kids have been begging us to finish the basement, but then, they also beg for DCL cruises and WDW, so what’s a girl to choose? Basement is still unfinished, of course, which has the added bonus of not being too attractive to prospective family members that might want to make, shall we say, extended stays at our house.

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Laminate flooring? Bah - you are a girly man. Lay hardwood flooring throughout your house and then we will talk.

Seriously though, you are not alone in noticing that projects take longer than they would have 10 years ago. I’m blaming inflation…

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I don’t really like hardwood flooring, though. We did discuss the idea.

I’m sure that’s it. :wink:

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Well, I should point out that I got to undercut several places with a jamb saw. That’s gotta give me a man point or two, no? :wink:

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Yep, but not as many points as wielding a Binford 6100 Pneumatic Flooring Gun. More power! Ar-ar-ar!

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Well, considering Tim Allen doesn’t live terribly far from us, I suppose that’s possible. But instead, I got a Hitachi pneumatic brad nailer from Lowe’s. They were fresh out of Binfords! :wink:

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This is why we have so many projects that have yet to be done at our house…DH REFUSES to pay someone else and he is 62 …but he still tries and often succeeds. I am willing to help, but would need his guidance

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Have you read the “Avoiding Princesses at CRT” thread?

It rapidly veered off topic and became one of those threads! You know what I mean. :smirk:

Of course, if you’d been around who knows if it would have been better or worse though? :joy::joy:

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I can appreciate this. We just redid the floor in our (large) Master Bedroom. We used vinyl “planking” vice laminate. If you think 46 is rough, just wait until you’re in your 60s…

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I have NO IDEA what you’re talking about. :pleading_face:

ETA: That emoji is supposed to look like me looking innocent. I’m not sure it is accomplishing that correctly, so I ultimately have to undermine my attempt at humor with this ETA.

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No, no. I don’t want to wait until I’m in my 60s. That’s why I did it now! :wink:

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This is the emoji you’re looking for. I get it from my keyboard emoji button.

:innocent:

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Ah. Thanks!

I mean. I knew that, of course. I was just testing. :innocent:

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I commiserate. We’re doing a whole-house remodel at our future residence. DH and I are contributing the painting to the cause- and lots of money. He’s actually a very good painter and likes it, whereas I just don’t want to pay someone else.

The good thing about working on houses is that WDW, in comparison, is peanuts. For example, my drapery lady called this morning and said we could do a pair of windows in a different way and save $2000. For two windows. Just the curtains. Just the FABRIC for the curtains. And that’s the savings, not the actual cost.:open_mouth:

Good thing I’m going to WDW next week. It’s positively a bargain in comparison. I’ll be drinking $14 cocktails at Nomad without a second though, trust me.

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See, I start something and Mr. Perfectionist comes along and finishes it properly. It may be two weeks and three brand new tools later, but it will get done. I’ve got his number now. For example, last week I sort of halfheartedly tried hanging some pictures at an odd sort of angle and a couple of days later I went downstairs and the whole gallery is done. Perfectly aligned.

He was an engineer before he became an internal medicine doctor. Minutiae and overthinking things are his bailiwick, not mine!

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This! We can’t stand paying for something we can do ourselves… and we have a garage full of tools.
But who has the time???
We finish up our homeschooling subject by subject over the next week and I am starting my project list. :heart: