Do Report: DIY Floor Facelift

Parquetry, purpose, and painkillers

Dad Abstract

Over the January long weekend, you, me, some family, and friends ripped up the carpet in my living room and hallway to facelift the timber flooring (parquetry if ya nasty). Through working through sandpaper grits, some late night painting, and much less swearing than expected we got the job done. Gemini AI estimates the job would take 10 days and cost $10,000. It took us 4 days and cost less than $900. Not bad for a few soft handers.

Facelifting floors

You’d think we struck gold by the way my girlfriend and I reacted when we found parquetry under our carpet. We found it when we had a gas heater removed and jumped for joy, “The timber will look sick!” But that momentum was not ridden, with that patch of parquetry in the living room left untouched for more than 6 months.

But with Christmas revelry over and sick of redundancy complacency (more on that later), the time for doing was ripe. I assembled a crew to get the job done. Over 5 days we ripped up carpet, sanded timber, treated it, fixed skirting boards and cleaned it all up. I couldn’t have done the do without my people with me. It will likely be one of my most favourite memories of this apartment.

Metrics that matter

• Time (inclusive of clean): $0 (121 person hours)

• Materials (consumables, equipment hire & tip run): $884.79

• Bunnings trips: 9

• Band-aids used: 2

• Noise complaints: 1

3 things I learned

1. Capability is mindset

I haven’t picked up a power tool this much in 12 years - since Product Design class in Year 10. The night before we began I laid awake, worrying how much I would mess up my own home - by sanding all the way through the timber or spilling paint across the floor. But with enough Youtube videos and support from mates, my mindset quickly shifted from cautious to considered. The hardest part was starting.

2. People help if you ask

I worry about asking for help. That I’m putting friends out, taking them away from things they’d rather be doing with people they’d rather be with. This project is a data point in rejecting this hypothesis. I know I would help a friend if they asked for it. So trust your friends will do the same.

3. More can be done than you think

Who wrote the rule that productivity can only exist when the sun is up and between the meals of the day? Of course we obeyed the noise regulations of our area (I promise) but we didn’t let the way my brain tricks me into doing less stop us. I can get stuck in a “let’s just do that tomorrow” mindset but this project showed me how valuable it is to do one extra thing or to come back and do a bit extra before bed.

3 things I did well

1. Rallied the troops

I was never doing alone. To help me along and hold my hand through the Do, I recruited my parents, my partner, my sister, her partner, and two mates. Is 8 bodies for 20 square metres overkill? Yes. But not everyone was there everyday, only doing the bits they wanted or available for. MVPs definitely were my sister’s partner DB and my buddy JL. JL going above and beyond the call of duty, taking time out of his holiday in Melbourne before starting his apprenticeship in Tasmania.

2. Didn’t let perfection get in the way of good

The job isn’t perfect. There are weird nails in the skirting, caulk has been applied a bit too heavy in areas, and there’s some creative topography in the flooring. But the job is done. With a soft gaze the floor looks fantastic. My homie JL is a big details guy. He was sanding every single piece back so everything looked uniform. But it was taking time on our equipment hire and a source of stress for him. At our next water break, I got the group together and said something along the lines of perfect being the enemy of good and all we needed to do was our best in the time we have. And who goes to look at a skirting board up close on their hands and knees? Freaks, that’s who.

3. Finished strong

I fought my tendency to let a job peter out. I have a horrible habit of letting the lack of novelty and boredom sucking the wind out of my sails. But to get closer to the person I want to be, we finished strong, cleaning up the job site - making the living room livable once again. Big shout out to mum, leading the way on bringing it home.

3 things I can do better

1. Consideration for mi corazon

On job-end eve, my girlfriend let me know I’d been a bit inconsiderate through the project. And she’s not wrong. I can recognise instances where my actions could have been more considered and considerate - missing opportunities to practice patience, asking for feedback, and doing together. Without communication or deliberation, I unilaterally decided that she wouldn’t want to participate, not asking her to help and ‘release’ her from toil. This proved incorrect, as assuming often does. Consideration through communication is The Way.

2. Quality assurance

In retrospect, I should have checked work over and stopped some work that wasn’t the most effective. When fixing up the skirting board, our nail gun stopped working. Instead of waiting for the nail gun to be fixed, a team member decided to nail by hand. Unfortunately, the only nails we had were for the nail gun, not engineered to do so. So the skirting boards have some wonky nails in them. Sometimes taking a breath, and waiting for the right tool is the answer.

3. Shopping list consolidation

9 trips to Bunnings is definitely sub-optimal. But I’ll go easy on myself because I’m inexperienced with this type of thing, and we only really knew what we needed until we needed it. Next time around, we’ll make sure to write out a list and check it twice.

So what?

For those few days of hard work there was some pure flow. Some focus I haven’t felt for quite some time. Knowing that each buzz of the sander, each swish off the paint brush comes with something that you can’t easily take back. A rarity for hands more used to pressing a backspace button than cracking open a bottle of turpentine. But this desk jockey found meaning in sawdust and sweat. Meaning in making my home more my own. Meaning in trying something new. Meaning in working towards a goal with people I love.

On the Sunday of our effort, after the final pass of 120 grit and the first coat of floor finish went down as the sun was setting, my sister brought us some soft drinks from the corner store. Sitting on the driveway fresh-baked by the Australian sun, with friends and family, can of ice-cold Sprite in hand, there was satisfaction in the sighs let out. There’s nothing better.

If I paid for the job and got this result would I be upset? Yes. If I look close at the skirting board do I see the odd wonky nail? Also yes. But with the right kind of eyes you can see the fun we had working together. Each floor scratch a signature on the memories we made.

postscript

• The “Dad Abstract” is like an executive summary for a report. It is labelled as such because my father likes his stories brief and he is, in fact, quite abstract. One of those traits got passed to me. This long-winded and eccentric meander to tell you that I did a DIY job may indicate which.

• Do Reports might become a regular fixture here. I’m collecting more and more dos to do. Shoot a DM to recommend a do.

• I understand that owning my home is an act of generational betrayal. I appreciate that doing so is a privilege and I appreciate the difficulty in owning a home for people my age. I hope to use my home for good, not evil.

• There’s so much sawdust everywhere. There’s probably still some in the drawer I keep my undies in.

• Bro, working using your body is ROUGH. I took a painkiller to help me sleep on Saturday night - even using a electric sander is no joke. I am unconditioned for this work.