Finally Starting the Laminate Wood Floor Project!

Scott and I really got ourselves into a project this weekend! Last summer when I was laid off from my job, I thought I would have time for home improvement projects and I took my last bonus check to Costco when they had a sale for $8 off per carton of this harmonics flooring with a pad attached. The box says "Quick & Easy Installation" and so I thought why not? I paid $500 for flooring for the whole family room which I thought was a bargain for getting rid of the gross carpet. Poor Scott! He took vacation on Friday so we could start this "quick and easy" job. I had already torn out the carpet and pad and removed most of the baseboards from the walls before Friday so we could get straight to business. Well after about ten hours our backs and hands were hurting so bad and we had only successfully laid about one fourth of the room. We gave up and watched a couple of movies and crashed.

On Saturday we woke up fresh and ready to go! We were having a terrible time getting the pieces to lock snugly together and we even said oh who cares and moved on until we discovered a technique that worked well and so we ripped up so much to redo the correct way. We both felt so incredibly old and out of shape. Our minds were active and motivated but all the kneeling, squatting and bending over was killing our middle aged backs.
The dogs were so confused and appeared annoyed that we were tearing up their space. The floor is slippery and they are learning to slow down so they don't slide. By Saturday night we finished most of the family room and decided we would wait until another weekend to finish the hall and put the trim back on the walls. I did not want to post pictures until we were finished but I could not help myself. So remember this is a work in progress, ignore the missing trim and other minor details please!