Finally, the New Floor

Busy as a bee, oh yes!

Click this photo and the one below for a look at the "before" photos.

All that's left to finish are a few missing screws and a couple of thresh holds where different flooring materials meet.

The "wood" is actually this amazing product called "Konecto"--and although not as difficult to install as either true wood or a sheet vinyl--it is a thick, heavy product and I was very challenged to cut it with a utility knife. The "planks" are actually individual pieces with adhesive cleverly put on tabs around all four edges so that the end result is a floating floor, but all "tabbed" together to become one large, fitted piece. The "trim" was simply plain pine quarter round, sealed with a couple of coats of Varethane to make it more water resistance.

I laid an underlayment, also made by Konecto, because out of view in the earlier photos, some pretty large pieces of the sub floor were removed and replaced. Besides adding insulation, the underlayment is there to "smooth" the rough surfaces below the flooring.

For the final customization, the whole area on the right, also illustrated as the open area below the window, will NOT have the original "couch/bed" replaced. Rather, I'm putting together a special folding table and chair in order to use this end of the camper as a "seasonal art studio." I've decided this needs to be kept flexible, though, because at other times, I put in two or three comfortable folding chairs in the space when guests visit (in case the weather is bad.) If visitors "take turns" moving, I can have up to 8 guests at one time...just barely! Frankly, if I do have guests coming, I'd prefer to use the large deck area!

Bugs and Blossoms - Welcome Autumn

The last flowers of the season are now in bloom. Wonderful final bright patches against the greens and browns as many plants begin to die or go dormant. The insect action is pretty intense, too. These bright green beetles are just everywhere, a few late Japanese beetles linger on, and most exciting to me was the discovery of a few honey bees! It seems our area has also suffered from overall bee hive collapse as where I used to see regular and frequent bee activity, this summer there has been little to none.

Yet there, perched on some late blooming allium (garlic chives) a couple of honey bees were gathering nectar!! I was really excited but had to do my best with the telephoto mode because since the weather has gotten quite warm again, they were moving about very actively. I wish these images were a little better quality, but wacky as it may sound, since I'm a gardener, finding a few bees that are not the big, furry bumble bees was actually one highlight of my day!

My little sister and her husband have moved into my camper in the campground now. The floor is finished (down to the wire, anyone?) and beautiful (together with all the other preparations for guests) and I can take some new photos tomorrow.

Step by Step by Step

Even as I'm practicing my photography, coming up with new designs and pieces for my wearable art and managing our campground and farm here....maintenance and improvements on the property are ALWAYS in progress. In fact some weeks it feels like I drive a lot of miles...back and forth to our local Menard's. There's always a "missing link" for some project or another, a tool that's broken, hardware that's run out, some crazy widget we need to improvise...you get the picture.

Since I'm mentioned my new floor now in progress, I thought for fun I'd post before and after photos of some earlier work done on my little space in our campground this past Spring. When I decided to put a little travel trailer on a site back there, I chose the "crummiest" spot, which happened to be nearest the "office," and the least likely to be selected for use by our transient campers or full time guests in the condition it began in. A year ago last Spring, with a front loader and the help of a friend, we put fresh gravel down to raise the parking pad for the trailer. This put me above the grade, but unfortunately, left me with a really rough slope at my front door, as is sort of visible in these early spring photos. And when rains are heavy, temporary rivers flow around both sides of this pad heading down hill towards the pond.


So this spring, another friend was willing and able to design and construct this wonderful deck that I could park the trailer next to, effectively giving me a generous, level, dry "front stoop" with a lovely view. Right now, this deck has become a kind of woodworking "shop" as I put the finishing touches on the floor I keep talking about (mainly because working on it has sort of consumed several days of late.)


These photos show the damage that was discovered, due to leaks suffered over our long hard winter, after the old flooring all ripped up. Freezing and thawing of the wet subfloor had fractured the old covering, making it useless. And unfortunately, as the old vinyl was ripped out, we realized several sections of subfloor had to be replaced, too. This has been a pretty big job, and had so many steps to it, that the fact that I was finally able to put a top, finish layer on it this past week is a huge relief. Keep in mind, I had to stay here and work many long weekends and more the past few months...anyone who has ever had to LIVE within a REMODEL knows exactly what I'm talking about here! Ugh, it gets old....

I'll pick up this thread again when photos OF this new floor project, now almost finished, are ready for prime time.....Thanks for dropping by, friends, and hope your weekend is lovely!