Hallway Carpet

Have you thought about hallway carpets at hotels? Have you noticed, even at real nice hotels, that they have wild carpets in their hallways? Mike & I were recently at this Holiday Inn and I found myself pondering some of life's deep questions such as this. I would never ever consider that kind of carpet for my own home, but I kind of like it at a hotel. The more I thought about it, the smarter I thought it was. You could spill practically anything on such a carpet and no one would ever know.


So, are you thinking to yourself, "I can't believe she is posting about such a dumb subject! Is she really talking about hotel hallway carpets?" Well, sorry, but sometimes it is hard to come up with fascinating topics on a daily basis. I will try harder tomorrow... maybe.

New Carpet - AGAIN!

It is new carpet day.... AGAIN! 

Our house has been in some form of disarray since late June.  In case you don't remember, our first new carpet was installed in July.  Just before the last room was to be completed we discovered the carpet was VERY faulty.  The fibers just plucked right out.  So, we lived with half done carpeting while the replacement carpet was being shipped.  That took several weeks.  When it arrived I went in to the store to see it and it was just as faulty.  SO, that was returned and I ordered a totally new carpet.  That took several more weeks.  When it came in I went in and approved it (yay!) but our carpet-layer friend was tied up for a few weeks.  Last week his calendar cleared but I was in training for my first weekat hospice and so we had to postpone to today.  So, here's how we are living today:

The living room furniture has been smooshed into the dining area.

Our bedroom furniture is mostly in the guestroom...

And Dan, our carpet-installer, has already put down the pad in our bedroom this morning.  That was the room that never got finished last time.

So, a busy day but at least we are making some progress!

I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday!

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Updates and a Fun Friday

It occurred to me that I've left some things dangling.  Let me supply some updates because I am certain you are all dying to know the REST OF THE STORY...

1)    Maria named our nameless lady Simone.

2)    The carpet story is still not complete.  The THIRD new carpet has made it to town.  I went to the store and checked it out and when I tugged on the fibers they STAYED IN THE CARPET!  Yay!!!!!  I called my carpet-layer guy and he said he is busy for a couple weeks on other jobs.  At this point, what is another few weeks, right?  I'm ok with that.  I'm also ok with the third carpet being totally a different style and color than what I first chose.  I think it will look just as good and maybe even better.  I'm just glad that it isn't pluckable!

3)    Curves is FUN!  I love exercising there!  It is a really nice work-out and I think it is a very common sense approach to fitness.  I'll no doubt write more about that in the future.

OK.  Have I picked up on all those stories where I've left you hanging?  I know, the suspense must've been awful. 

Now, on to tell you about yesterday...

I had Cordelia here most of the day and we had FUN!  We bounced on the trampoline a lot, read books, played with toys, ate lunch and then watched Wonder Pets.  Cordy fell asleep while I crocheted.  When she'd slept long enough I started talking to her and moving her around but she just flickered those long lovely lashes and fell back to sleep.  Then, I remembered Maria telling me that she wakes up when she hears the intro music to Psych.  So, via the wonder of NetFlix I turned it on.  She sat up and said, "It's music; I like music!"  It was pretty funny!

Yesterday afternoon I decided it was high time that I become a cookie-baking kind of grandma.  Cordy agreed so we got to it.  I found a recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook that did not call for eggs (Cordy is a vegan) and we set to work. 

We used Smart Balance Light, which is also vegan.

Cordy really likes Smart Balance Light.
The bottle in the background are coffee flavorings, like Tiramasu...just so you know.

Notice her tongue as she dumped in the powdered sugar.

I guess she had a plan for using that tongue.

So we washed the measuring cup.  That's really not a very interesting part of the story but the bubbles were really cool in the photo so I'm making you look at it.

Cordy used a 2-handed method.

This is what a face looks like after licking out the measuring spoon that had ginger in it.

She needed a lot of drinks after that.

I had to use a bell cook-cutter because that is all I found. 

Cordy approved of the final result.

Then, last evening we had Cordy's parents and our niece, Erin, over for dinner.  Erin is visiting from Chicago so we were especially excited to have her join us.

We enjoyed an after-dinner stroll as well.
Please notice what a happy, smiling bunch we were.

The photos were taken BEFORE we came home and played Scattegories.
SOMEONE cheated...again...
No names but he was wearing a green shirt.

So, does anyone have any big plans for the week-end?



The Carpet Saga Continues

I would like to show you finished photos of our house with the new carpet but
I STILL do not have resolution in the case of

"The Great Carpet Mishap".

Reminder how EXCITED I was when the

day came for our new carpet?  I had started ripping out the old carpet
in late June.  In July, as we moved things out of the first rooms to be carpeted,
our house was a mess.

It was ok, though, as I

knew it would be that way for only a few days.

Then, remember my horrifying discovery

that our new carpet was already developing holes

where fibers were just falling out?

At that time most of it was laid with the exception

of our bedroom, the bottom half of our stairs

and two small closets.  I paid our carpet installer that morning but told him

not to bother finishing the installation.  He agreed that

something was very wrong with the carpet.

The lady at the carpet store came out right away and

also agreed that something was very wrong.

She ordered replacement carpet, assuring me it would

be from a different dye lot.  It appears that this

carpet has a problem with the glue or latex or whatever

holds the two parts of the backing together so

I didn't want another piece from that same run.

WELL,

the new carpet made it to town last week!  Yippee!!

I decided to run into the local warehouse to

check it out before they brought it out to our home.

It looked nice.

They unrolled a large part of the roll and we all

got down on our hands and knees to "pluck" it.

Rest assured, I am not talking about abusing a carpet.

By "plucking" I simply mean gently pinching and tugging one fiber at a time.

This new carpet was also faulty!

The owner of the store immediately called the distributer.

They did not hesitate to offer a new roll to me.

I am trying to not think the worst but doesn't it

seem likely the distributer wasn't surprised by the call since they
knew they'd just sent a roll from

the same run/dye lot as the last?

I told the shop owner they could send a new roll but that

I wanted to pick out an entirely new carpet.
I'm not stupid.
Well, I'm not THAT stupid.

I enlisted her help, along with my carpet layer guy who was there, as well

as an employee who'd been helping.  They gave advice on other carpets
in my price range.  As it turned out, the 4 of us agreed so

in about 5 minutes time I had chosen another style.
If the color doesn't turn out to be right, I will simply paint to match.
Just so you know, Mike didn't really care about the style
so he didn't mind me making the call.

So, now we wait again.

We are learning to avoid stepping on the tack strips in our bedroom

and on the stairs.  We did move our bed back but just put it on the floor, not making the effort to set up the frame or the headboard and footboard.

I'm getting used to going to the guestroom to get stuff from
my dresser where it is up against the bed facing backwards.  I can't get into all the drawers so I just throw everything on top of it.  Remember, when we put it in there it was supposed to be for just one night.  Even when we found the problem with the carpet I thought it would be just a couple weeks until everything
was back to normal.  I'm the one who suggested we just leave things,
likely not my best plan.

But, I'm not whining.

Ha!  That's not one bit true!

I'm whining.

But, I will admit that I've seen the humor in this.
I also am still aware that there are many, many situations
so very much worse than carpet problems.

AND, originally I said I just wanted a carpet that
didn't smell like cat urine (that had been a parting gift from our 2 old cats).
I now know that I require more from a carpet than
just that new carpet smell.
I require a carpet that is not going bald.

It Could Be Worse

Remember how hard I've been working, ripping up carpet and pads?  I've also been removing a LOT of staples.  

Additionally, I feel like we've moved at least 3 times this week.  One day we moved everything out of 2 bedrooms, most of it going into the dining area.

The day after that the carpet guy, Dan, gave me a day to return those rooms to something near normal, and to clear out (remove carpet, pad, etc.) the living room.  So, all the living room things went into the dining area for the day while he carpeted the living room, hallway and stairs.  Afterward we got the living room put back together.

I thought it was looking nice.

Dan was supposed to return today (Thu) to finish up the master bedroom but Tuesday afternoon he called and said he could come a day early.  Yay!  Wait?  I wasn't ready!  Thankfully, Sam was home and helped me move the king size bed, dressers, etc. and shove them into the previously carpeted bedrooms.  So much for those rooms looking nice!  We ripped up carpet, pad... you know the way it goes now.  Oh yes, after that I painted the KILZ on any stains that could be from a pet.

I was sooooo happy Tuesday night as most of my work was done and we were ready for Dan to come and finish the job.  Whoopee!  I was ready to get the house back in order.  I showered and got ready for bed, feeling jubilant.  Just before I went to bed I noticed something odd at one spot on the top stairway carpet...

Yes, that is a spot with no fibers.

Instantly, I thought of Bode and his chewing but upon inspection, that didn't seem to be the deal.  Even the fibers around that spot seemed loose.  Then, I went around to other rooms and tested the carpet fibers.  I tugged on individual fibers, finding that some stayed put but some just pulled right out.  They came out as easily as pulling small weeds from moist, heavily mulched earth.  I can't remember that I've ever tried to "pluck" a carpet but I was pretty sure that I shouldn't be able to do so.

Well, I'd like to say I felt calm and cool about this but I DID NOT! 

I am glad to tell you that Mike did remain calm and tenderly reminded me that, although this was not good, in the big picture of life our troubles could be much worse.

The next morning, when Dan came expecting to finish up the project, we showed him our find.  Because the carpet is a frieze (shag with a twist) it was easy to miss the gap until the fibers were moved aside a bit.  Dan agreed that this was not acceptable or normal.  We paid him for the work he'd done, as well as for the day's work he'd planned to do for us.  He'll be back but it may be awhile.

When I spoke with the owner of the store where we purchased the carpet, she was horrified.  She treated me with great respect and came out herself to test the fibers, take pictures and cut some of the left-over carpet to ship back to the manufacturer.  It looks like something went wrong with their gluing process.  Hopefully, they will quickly see the problem and send new carpet.  I'm expecting they will also pay for Dan to rip out this carpet (I really don't want to do that again just now!) and lay the replacement carpet.

So, that was a bummer, but eventually it should be made right.

Now, we wait.

A Wonderful Kind of Mess!

The news at our house is, EVERYTHING IS A MESS!

I'm very happy about it!

What?

We're getting new carpet, at least upstairs.  The basement will have its day but not yet.  I decided that since I don't have a regular job right now, I could do the carpet rip-out.  I must be using some rather dormant muscles because I wake up SORE!

  It's hard work but rather satisfying.

To make it more manageable, I cut the carpet into strips.  Then, I just pull and pull until I have a piece off.  I roll it up and put it in a big garbage bag, then, I start  pulling up the padding.  It doesn't pull up smoothly so I always have to go back and pick off the broken pieces of it.  I learned to do that part quickly as Bode, it turns out, believes carpet padding is yummy.

Next, I got a little stool and sat down with a pair of pliers and hand-picked the staples out.  There are tack-strips around the edges of everything but I'm leaving those in place for the attachment of the new carpet.   It is a bit risky as those tack strips have little nails pointing upward.  It's really best to NOT step on them.  Trust me, you know when you've done that!

The man who is laying our new carpet heard that I was plucking staples by hand and kindly offered a scraper tool for me to use.  I declined.  In fact, he offered it several times and I continued to decline, stating it wasn't that hard to pluck out the staples.  One day, he just couldn't stand it anymore and brought the tool over to me.  What do you know?  It is a job that now takes just a few minutes. You slide it across the floor and it pops out most of the staples.  Those that don't pop out are sheered off.  Either way, all I have to do is sweep them up!

Next, I'm painting KILZ over any spot on the floor that looks like it may have a pet stain on it.  If you ever need to use KILZ, you need to know there are several kinds of it.  If you are dealing with pet stains, don't wimp out and choose the water-based KILZ.  I did that in our basement and learned that it just doesn't do a good job.  This time, I chose the oil-based KILZ and it works well.  However, good ventilation is a MUST.  It has a very, very strong odor that lingers.  I opened all windows and it still took a full day to remove the odor after I'd just painted the floor in 2 rooms.

Our carpet-layer-guy has already completed those 2 rooms.  He is working us in between other jobs so Monday he will return to do a bit more and then later next week come back to finish the job.  The biggest mess is simply that I have to pile everything from the rooms being carpeted into the dining area.  The Rose Room has been the worst.  This is the room where I have miles of fabric and skeins and skeins of yarn, not to mention oodles of containers with our jewelry-making supplies.  It is my favorite room, but all those things made for quite a mess in our dining area!

 I don't mind; I'm just so excited to have new carpet!

Reminder:

Wyoming Rose is doing a give-away! 

Simply leave a comment at our store blog:

http://wyomingroseboutique.blogspot.com/

Next Friday we will place the names of all commenters in a hat and draw for the winner!