Home... home on the range... where the dear and the...

Oh the joys of home ownership.

If only the finished product can be as good as the image in my head and be done just as quick. Well as most people who know Mel and I we have undertook the major task of home renovation. We are keeping our wits about it and only tackling one major project at a time.

The major project of the day is our living room dining room. This weekend was a good one for us, we did manage to finish the first coat of paint, and only a few hick-ups on the way. The next major task is to install the subfloor that Alex was kind enough to help me pick up recently (thanks again Alex).

Soon I hope to pick up our hardwood for the floor very soon. The type and details of the hardwood is a closely guarded secret, but it is sharp and suits our personalities well.

The question of the day is: Do I lay the hardwood myself (well calling on a few of my fellow man to help me out) or do I do the lazy way and hire someone to do it for me.

Let me break it down, and it makes the choice even more difficult. (please note, I am biased to doing the work myself)

To do the floor myself, obviously I need the tools (as this is real hardwood, not no click and lay laminate). Cost of this, I figure is around 200 loonies for the weekend thanks to home depot.
Next is the time, well as mentioned above a weekend, one that hopefully a few friends are also free. Then there is the beer (for after the hardwood is laid) and the pizza.

The benefit of doing it myself, the joys of knowing a job well done, and not paying someone to lay down my own floor.

The risks of doing it myself, the possibility of having an uneven crooked floor that I would probably never hear the end of....

So the other option, hire someone to do it.

Lets see this is obvious I hope. A professional would likely do a better job that myself and some friends (especially if beer is involved). Downside, cost, I hate having to pay 2-3 loonies per sqr foot (hey its a big room) to someone for work that I should be able to do myself.

Risks, the guy to do the floor may not be available at a convenient time.

benefit, well when you think of it the cost is not crazy if you factor in the cost of renting or buying the proper tools for the job, the floor would be straight and level, and the job would likely be done much quicker than I could do it

Sooooo any thoughts on my dilemma, as I said above I am partial to doing the floor myself, but the more I think of it the more it makes sense to pay the extra change (would likely work out to about 250 loonies more than what it would cost to do it myself) and would probably be worth it for the stress that dealing with the floor would probably cause.

Well over and out for now,

MikeG.