I am pleased to hear that the new installer is doing a great job & might be finished today! It's good that you were there to catch the old installer's mistakes before they went on to do the entire floor that way. I'm sure you were relieved when the POD was removed and you could see that the light is at the end of the tunnel...at least for now, until the next project! Take a break & enjoy the fresh beauty of your new floors, wall paint & trim : )

Lynn, are you enjoying your floors? I haven't seen any pics of your finished job. Maybe I missed them.

I too would love an update Lynn. :-)

Lynn- Update & pics for me, too!

Don't forget to include your little dogs : )

-Laurie

Sorry for not putting away the crates with files in them that are on my desks right now to complete some major deadlines so I can then take pictures of my neat home.

I have been having a difficult time training a new employee, buying a dishwasher, taking continuing education credits to keep my license and get updated for the year, and major projects. I will take pictures this week and share. I can't wait. I love the BM Bone White in the Pearl finish on my walls that really are so warm and look nice in all my rooms downstairs. I also like the bigger baseboard trim but I wish I went with gloss and not semi-gloss.

I wish the installation was a better job but despite that, I do love having hardwood floors. The floor is solid but is not so hard like walking on a concrete floor due to the floor muffler but the floor feels like a solid hardwood floor when walking on it.

I love the color of the floor and the pretty grain (had no idea Brazilian Cherry had so much grain and such a variety of grain since I never saw wide boards of this wood species in person) and amazingly, wherever I have lamps or anything on the floor does not have a light spot underneath it when moved. I am thinking maybe this is because the wood sat around for several weeks before being installed and then after the wood was mostly installed, I ran out of wood (wish I hired the installer who told me I was short a box and if I was going to be picky to buy two boxes... amazingly there was a lot of bad boards and I was so upset that the installer kept installing many of them and using wood filler) so I kept all the windows open with the floors bare until I found a painter to paint and put new baseboard trim on the walls. Then I had to wait for the new wood and finish that job.

The floor is not too dark like I feared but it is richer and prettier than when I first looked at it in the boxes when it looked then so brown to me. I like the wide boards since they make the big rooms look bigger(my living room and dining room is a combined one big room with a half a wall high and long in between the two rooms) but the first installer did not use the 3M tape when he was installing the floor floating it over the floor muffler so the sides of the boards where they connect are not as tight as they should be in many places having some space between them which is still bothering me. I wish I installed the floor myself and just rented a machine to cut the wood but I was afraid to cut my hands and my back and neck have been hurting me from the car accident I had 2 years ago. But I should have had my employee cut the wood and help me install the floor if I was going to have the first installer do the job and not care when I told him which boards I wanted to make sure they showed on the floor and were not hidden with cabinets.

If I had the 2nd installer do the floors as well as the walls and trim, I would have been so happy but he could not commit that many days at first. The 2nd installer has the boards very tight next to each other which is why I spent extra on the BR-111 for the tight boards with such a tiny micro-bevel.

The floors are so easy to clean but unfortunately where the bad former installers dropped tools, there will be scratches forever but I have gotten used to the scratches since I can't change who I hired that was referred by a client.

My 4 little dog's nails do not scratch the floor but I had to buy two new expensive sets of wheels for my two office chairs with real rubber on them since the first set of wheels for wood floors were causing some scratches. I love not having a floor mat under my chairs. My little dog's skin allergies cleared up and I also can breath better in my home office. My computer is not so noisy anymore since it is not getting filled with all the dust from the carpets.

I also like the way I rearranged my home office and family room furniture making it feel more spacious and relaxing in the three rooms (living room & dining room is my home office and my family room also got the wood floors). I am glad I did not put the wood in the kitchen since my 20 year old dishwasher started to leak on the Linoleum floor so I bought a new dishwasher.

One bad thing, is my little 5.8 lb Maltese, Sassy is still having problems with her fear of walking on the floors despite being a lot better than when they first were installed. My other little doggies have no problems at all and seem to love the floors.

Thanks for taking the time to update us Lynn. I really appreciate it and I look forward to pictures. :-)

Thank you jeri for reading my update. This way when I send pics, I can just refer to this link and not have to tell the story again. I now have to save money to do my upstairs within the next two years to reduce my allergies and to get rid of the 20 year old carpet that will keep getting older.

Lynn - Glad to hear you love the color and the wide boards. It's fantastic that your dog's skin allergy cleared up and your breathing has improved. It's good you did not have wood in the kitchen when the dishwasher leaked! How old is your Maltese, Sassy? Is she old enough to have some arthritis in her joints? Maybe that's causing some of her fear of walking on the new floor? Maybe she needs a couple inexpensive area rugs (the kind you can throw in the washing machine).

Hi Laurie,

Rough day with my new employee needing training all day. Tonight I am tired but I will get the pictures out later on this week.

My Skeeter's skin looks amazing and he is not longer itchy all day. All four of my little dogs (three Maltese ranging in size from 3.8 to 7.2 lbs and one chubby tiny black and white Shih Tzu who is 8.6 lbs)just got hair cuts a few days ago and look so cute but they do look better a little fluffier but unfortunately were so matted, they had to be cut very short.

Sassy (will be 8 years old on December 1st)is my only Maltese who loves to take walks outside (never gets tired), love car rides, and has no problems walking on the slippery floors at PetCo or the floors at my friend Doris' house (she has 3.25" wide natural red oak floors) so I do not understand why she fears the floors so much and moves her feet so quickly that it comes true that she will slip.

Skeeter is 10 years 7.25 months of age and came to me deaf at age 17.5 weeks of age and then I found out he has Epilepsy and luxating patella on top of his arthritis as he ages. Little dogs can live a very long time so it surprises me that he has arthritis. For years he would not walk on floors without rugs and cry and not even try to walk. Now he walks on the Linoleum floor in the kitchen and has no problems walking on the Brazilian Cherry floors.

Lexi has Luxating Patella in one leg but still runs and walks on the floor. Panda will not walk outside and makes me carry her but she has no problems running and walking on the floor.

I was going to put down inexpensive area rugs but I do not want to cover the pretty floor and have more work to do so I feel Sassy needs to get over her fair. I have been working with her each day and today was a big breakthrough as she really wanted the Tuna so managed to get from the foyer area by the front window to the kitchen. I was so happy that I gave her Tuna and Vegetables that she loves. Then later on her fear came back. She is learning to walk next to desks and file cabinets but then gets stuck when their is empty space on the floor.

None of my little dogs shed and amazingly even playing fetch with Skeeter does not scratch the floors but anything sharp on them puts scratches on them so quickly.

Thanks Laurie for caring.