Laying The Kitchen Floor

Many steps have been undertaken over the past two months in preparation for our new kitchen. Back in July we ripped up the lino in the kitchen and found a second layer underneath, wasn’t it hideous?

The lino was glued to a sheet of masonite which in turn was secured down with hundreds of tacks, all of which had to removed.

We then selected and prepared the boards to fit the space. We glue the boards down and then secret nail them into place. Perhaps you’re wondering why we’re nailing over existent timber boards, the timber flooring doesn’t continue all the way through the room, nor through the house. This ensures we have the same flooring, at the same height throughout.  Btw we now have a new ‘toy’, have just purchased our own nail gun as we’ve so much flooring throughout the house to still do.

Once the floorboards were laid, work on the floor came to a halt whilst we turned our attention to gyprocking, plastering and painting the walls and ceiling of the kitchen.

This weekend we finally returned our attention towards completing the kitchen floor. In the floorboards previous life at the Convent boarding school they were covered in carpet, when we ripped the carpet up, many staples were left behind. So first task was to ensure the removal of all staples.

Then we were able to begin sanding the floor, whilst I say we I really mean PC, I just had a little play with the sander.

Despite the fact that we are secret nailing, our secondhand floorboards were previously nailed down and all those nail holes need filling with putty. PC’s invented an unconventional way of filling nail holes, his new approach produces a tidy result.

As our flooring is recycled there is an unevenness between boards, we’ve chosen to not sand the boards down to be completely flat as the boards would become too thin, instead with the assistance of many hands, we hand sanded the darker parts. We do however need to find a longer term solution, trying to locate a sander that will be able to work on the uneven joins, the children have suggested something like an electric toothbrush, any suggestions?

As PC begins to roll on the poly-urethane we stand and watch the colours of the boards shine out.

Completely happy with the tones of the yellowbox. Our kitchen space is now ready and awaiting the installation of our cabinets. Happy to report our flat pack arrived last Friday and we’ve begun assembling the pieces together. Stay tuned.