Change Is Afoot

The original plan was to put nice, high-grade Stainmaster carpet upstairs in the bedrooms, then maybe swap in some hardwoods on the main floor over time.

C worked some great deals with some otherwise idle floor install contractors. One of these guys apparently had a whole bunch of surplus  Brazilian Cherry that he hasn’t been able to unload for a LONG time. So long that, instead of $22/sqft, he’s installing it at our house for $7/sqft.

So, C has Brazilian Cherry going into the main entry, dining room, hallway, living room and dining nook area. The office will stay carpet; the kitchen and powder room will stay tile.

Instead of high-grade Stainmaster upstairs, C is backing down to a lower grade of carpet (still VERY nice) and working a similar deal with an installer who’s idle and will work VERY affordably.

I’ll try to post a couple photos. This is C pinching pennies at her finest. We thought we had a good deal for new floors in ONE third of the house. WE DID have a good deal, in fact – half price on the carpet from Marion’s because it was a remainder roll. But now? Now, for just a bit more, we're replacing the floor in TWO thirds of the house. With carpet *and* hardwood.

Change is afoot; problem solved.

UPDATE [10/8/09]:  I took some pictures yesterday of the raw wood floor installed. These guys move fast. Today they’ll finish installing the final three feet at the front door, then move on to sanding and finishing. At 3PM or so, they’ll put down the scratch coat finish. We have to let it cure overnight, so no work on the house for ME tonight.