Saved by Some Buddies

The house mentioned in the previous post got a MAJOR overhaul over the weekend. The basement remodelling/reconstruction took it's last major step with the installation of laminate wood flooring (about 1,000 square feet worth.) It was really the difference we needed to start moving in. We still have to do a few minor things like add the baseboards and a few joint pieces, but we can start moving the furniture in any time now.
The progress was mostly the result of the dedication of some great friends (Don, Jayme, and Kathy) who unselfishly gave up their Saturday to help us out.
Installing the flooring is relatively simple, but there is a lot of measuring, cutting, laying down underlaymment materials, and just generally figuring things out. I've always been best at the grunt stuff, and fortunately, Jayme, who is an engineer, and a pretty skilled craftsman, figured out the measurements and technical details. Don did most of the prep stuff with the underlayments and kept me supplied with the cut pieces of flooring.
We spent from 10:00 AM until about 5:00 PM on our knees crawling around, and by the time we were done, I was just flat worn out. My knees, shoulder, wrists, back, and head were all used up, but the sense of satisfaction (and a few beers and and handful of Ibufprofen) more than made up for that.
Once I figure out how to post pictures on this thing, I'll let you see how good it looks.

I was thinking yesterday about my grandmother and grandfather who riginally owned this house. He was a master do-it-yourselfer who could fix anything, and she was a master worrier. I think I got more of her traits. In the last years that she lived here, the unfinished basement became the family dumping ground for old furniture and stuff that people couldn't bring themselves to throw away. The basement used to be packed to the ceiling with boxes, sofas, and tools.
Today, the same space is wide open, and ready to be used for living.