Back to the Kitchen

Time for the Floor

No, this isn't a Legacy Project, it's a whole new project that rounds out a recent project. Back in June of '17, the kitchen makeover was all but done. As a matter of fact, in the last kitchen post I even mentioned that there was one more thing to do, and I was going to get to it soon. Well, a year later - here we are! A year ago, the kitchen here at 173 looked like this:

And this...

And...

The ceiling, wainscoting, lighting, walls, some cabinets, countertops and paint were all new, and was a far cry from this grainy old photo from sometime in the late '90s:

But, in case you hadn't noticed, there aren't any shots that clearly show the floor. For many decades I'm sure, and at least since before 1997, the kitchen floor was sheet linoleum, and was in pretty decent shape - especially for its age. But in recent years, the floor (like me) has been showing its age. The seems had come loose,

and there was a spot I had glued down a couple times...

If you're read this blog much at all, you know I like old-school stuff (to a reasonable point), and I always liked this floor, but alas - the time has come to put in a new floor. As always, I spent several weeks researching products, and studying how to install a new floor. During my research, I learned that laminate wood flooring can work in the kitchen, but isn't the ideal choice. And speaking of choices - have you looked to see the endless options? It gets dizzying! Anyway, after much research and just plain ol' mulling over, it came down to Lowes' Smartcore Luxury Vinyl Planks (LVP), and Home Depot's LVP. Both were highly rated, and I was having a hard time deciding, so it came down to who had the right color, and who had that color available locally. And without further ado, the winner is - Home Depot's Lifeproof Luxury Vinyl Planks. It got great reviews all over the internet, and they had the right color; and that color is...

Sorry for the scribbled notes, but that's my way of keeping track of things. I'm not normally an oak person, but the color seemed medium and neutral enough not to clash with the rest of the woodwork here at 173. Maybe the most important thing in that picture is circled in red. I had to search all over the area for Essential Oak 'til I found some less than five minutes from work. The day after I found it online I ran over and picked some up on my lunch break, worried that someone would come in and snatch all 49 boxes before I could get there!

The art of bread making can become a consuming hobby, and no matter how often and how many kinds of bread one has made, there always seems to be something new to learn. - Julia Child

The first thing I had to do when I got home that night was pull up all the old linoleum. It took me an hour to pull up about a three foot piece, and I thought - no way am I going to spend a week pulling this up. The linoleum was very solidly attached, and the LifeProof product said the LVP could be applied directly over it. So I used some Henry's patch stuff and filled in what I had just torn up...

Then I had to undercut the door jams:

And I gotta tell ya - the oscillating saw was the perfect tool for so many things in this project! Oh, and as it turns out, the manufacturer said that kitchen cabinets should be installed before putting the flooring in, which worked out well considering the cabinets have been in for about a year! But there's one little thing about the cabinets...the end cabinet is original to 173 and was integrated into the new cabinets. This is great except the base of the cabinet has a curved corner. It looks nice, but I was a little concerned about how to cut the LVP to fit properly around the curve. Then I realized I have the perfect tool for just such a circumstance!