Sooooo…. our basement has carpet now!!!
Isn’t it pretty?? It still needs baseboards, so it looks a little naked, but we’ll get there shortly. This needed to come first, and I’m SO happy with the results!
We couldn’t resist, though. The couches already came down, too 🙂 That was a labor of love. I don’t think my wrists are going to work for the rest of the week…
Was worth it! Eek! Its like people could actually hang out down here!!!
So, here’s how it went.
We were under the impression that the carpet guy could come Monday morning, work all day, and the job would potentially run into Tuesday morning. But it didn’t quite go that way. I waited for the guy for a couple of hours before I texted Brady at work that he wasn’t here yet. It felt a little odd, but we hadn’t nailed a time down, so we figured maybe he had a previous job to finish up that morning. We get what its like to work in the trades. No big deal. But truthfully, we were pretty antsy and eager. He finally showed up around 11:00. He introduced himself and headed downstairs. And he just kind of hung out down there for a while, measuring and such. Then he went to his truck and brought a bunch of stuff in, but he was really quiet about it. Had headphones on the whole time. While that was happening, the kids tidied up the toys and had lunch. And as it tends to happen, the moment they were all down and quiet was when the hammering began. So he hammered and hammered and naps were kind of shot, but sometimes my kids rest even better when they have something to listen to, so they rested and listened and it kind of worked out.
And then he left around 4:00, which kind of surprised me. We were constantly told that the prep was WAY longer than the actual carpet laying, and that was only a five hour day…
But ALL the prep was done!!! Wooooot! Underlay and tack strips were all in place. The underlay was so soft, and the tack strips were straight with no gaps. It already felt so much homier. It doesn’t echo anymore, which sucks for our band practices but rocks for the rest of our life.
Tuesday was the last day our carpet guy was scheduled to be here. And once again, he showed up after 11:00! Gah! Whyyyyy?? I decided to trust him, because, being that he wasn’t the youngest guy, he probably had experience and knew he could finish in the time he had left himself.
He worked later on Tuesday. It was just after 5:00 when he surfaced with a load of stuff to take to his van. And then to my surprise, he only had one load, and he never came back in! Just left without saying a word! I felt kind of crappy that I didn’t thank him or speak to him about his work, but I had no opportunity! Totally missed the mark :/
As crappy as I felt, you better believe I ran downstairs and checked out the situation immediately! And guys, it was just SO NICE!!!
We broke it in my letting the kids loose down there, where they ran laps and raced through bedrooms and slid around and wiped out without crying. They LOVED the new carpet. I invited our neighbour to pop over to check it out and her son joined the fray while the rest of us talked basement renos and motivation and project goals. It was pure chaos and awesomeness. I loved it. We all did.
We love it. The kids love it. It smells a little funky, thanks to the adhesive he used to close the seams, but that’ll dissipate soon enough. I can’t wait to truly finish it up!! The reality that we’re actually on our way to being done is crazy amazing and a bit surreal. And this is one HUGE step taken! Eek!
Who’s coming for a movie night?!?! 🙋