We're remodeling a 47-year-old house. The damage from termites was severe, so we replaced some of the foundation, and we redid the entire floor frame, including the beams and joists. This time, we're installing the entrance frame and laying flooring throughout. The floor plywood is in a temporary position. To nail it down, we mark the position of the joists. Due to plumbing work and other factors, we couldn't completely close the floor until now. Finally, it's time to make it permanent. To lay out the floor, we check for any room irregularities. We're having fun with a laser that automatically follows. What we want to finish most beautifully is the entrance frame. We want the flooring to align as closely as possible with the frame to avoid distorting the entire floor's line. While prioritizing the entrance, we also need to find angles that aren't bad for other areas. We managed to find a compromise. When you can't secure space for materials, you do it like this. We try not to place anything on the floor since we're laying it. The ceiling "cross putty" was done by the homeowner on their day off. This is the 40V circular saw that Kaz bought for my birthday. Well, Kaz uses it more, to be honest. There are more snacks again! Looking forward to the break. Alright, we're all set! This is an important first row. This is the temporary marker. We use it to place the flooring and trace the pillar positions. Kaz wears gloves because he has a higher chance of sweaty hands than most people. Just kidding... (Actually, it's partly true.) I've seen the hands of carpenters covered in handprints. It was quite a horror sight. We're notching the floor like this, even though it will be hidden on the wall. We want to install wall board substrates between the pillars and partition studs. During the waste plywood laying, we could have notched it like this. By the way, in the case of pre-cut new construction, the floor plywood is already notched from the beginning. Remodeling requires a bit more effort to prepare the subfloor. The tips of these floor nails have adhesive on them. They keep the floor from floating while the urethane glue applied to the flooring dries. Quietly sticking them down. Why is the site so quiet today...? Oh, maybe because Shimizu-san isn't here! It's a bit lonely. Mini explanation of floor laying! ① First, firmly insert the short side. ② Next, lightly tap the side furthest from the joint. ③ Finally, insert it from the center to the joint side. It may look easy, but it's not so simple at first. This is the line for the wall board. We'll be nailing the floor nails further outward from here. Lately, these composite floorings seem to be getting lighter and lighter. Is it just my imagination? There's a difference depending on the manufacturer, but heavier floor materials still provide a sense of security. It's easier to transport because it's lighter, though. Do any of you have recommended flooring materials? Kaz has a high probability of tools he buys breaking down quickly. Is it because of his bad habits? (Half of it is true.) I've also joined in from this point. Kaz measures and I apply the glue and stick the flooring. Since we only need to measure both ends, I quickly catch up. I've had the opportunity to do various carpentry work, but the only thing I can contribute to is floor laying. Well, it's only floor laying, though... Well, it's only floor laying, though... Working on-site is really difficult. (Hurry up, hurry up) (My back hurts) I often get scolded for standing behind the circular saw. I'm always told not to trust others and that I have to protect myself. We're drilling holes in the kitchen's plumbing section. We're using a driver drill. You can also use an impact driver to do this, but a driver drill can make cleaner holes more easily. With an impact driver, the rotational force (impact) stops because of the impact, and smoke or scorching may occur. If you don't tighten this well... It may come off and fly away when it rotates, so everyone, please be careful! By the way, this hole is in a place that will be hidden in the kitchen, so you don't need to make it so precise. You can just cut it into a big rectangle. This task is purely for Kaz's satisfaction. This time, we're connecting all the rooms with the same flooring material. In recent new constructions, I think it's common not to have thresholds between rooms for accessibility. So, I wonder, what do you do if you want to replace the flooring in just one room in the future...? If you lay it on top, you'll have a step and what about the fit at the door...? Removing the floor with all the glue is also difficult... Do you have to use thin flooring or cushion flooring...? Nowadays, it's mostly double-layered from the base, and I don't think it will deteriorate easily. I don't think today's new constructions are built with the idea of remodeling or repairing in the future. Kaz says that in the future, we won't need as much expertise in fixing houses. Is it a case of "rebuild rather than repair"? The plumbing part was neatly installed!! We have to be careful not to stumble! Have we progressed about 2/5 of the way? Let's keep moving forward! Max's nail gun is very user-friendly because the air duster nozzle is almost the same as where the nails come out. Max's nail gun is the best! It looks like Kaz's wig came off a bit, which is a bit unfortunate (laughs). Even so, Max's nail gun is handsome! (Am I praising it too much?) There's a reason for continuing to install it over the wall like this. If we cut the edge, it would be difficult to make it join smoothly around the wall. We arranged it to keep the floor as parallel as possible to the lines of the closet, TV space, and the storage under the stairs, and to make it perpendicular to the frames. Why do we apply this urethane glue like whipped cream on the floor during remodeling? In the case of remodeling, some unevenness in the floor is almost unavoidable. Adding height like whipped cream and applying glue serves to adjust the unevenness using the elasticity of the urethane glue. In the case of new construction, it's better to apply the glue following the instructions in the construction manual. By the way, I'm actually not a fan of applying glue (but I always do). We're attaching the remodeling frames. For this remodeling, we used the finished height of this frame as a reference to set all the levels. Since the existing frame was about 2mm higher, we shaved it down to match the height of the plywood and made it perfectly level. Even though we're already laying the flooring, there's still demolition waste in remodeling. Let me talk about recent remodeling frames (LIXIL brand). Until recently, they used to have a sheet or veneer glued to the surface of a 12mm plywood, just like the flooring material. Now, with the introduction of 6mm thick flooring materials, remodeling frames are designed to accommodate both 6mm and 12mm thicknesses. This is the same type of remodeling frame we're using this time. This is the same type of flooring material. The core of the flooring material is plywood. The frame has a thickness of 6.3mm. Its core is not plywood but ABS resin, a type of plastic. There's a 6mm plywood included like this. When using 12mm flooring material, you place the frame on top of this plywood to adjust the thickness. And this extra step can be quite bothersome. It might be more efficient for the manufacturers, as they can use this method. While the tread is 12mm thick, the side where we're nailing remains 6mm thick. I thought the frame was attached well, but... We're installing the "entrance thresholds." They have some mysterious processing. We can't use a chisel because it's made of plastic. Previously, the remodeling frames had cores of MDF or plywood, so we could carve with a chisel, but... With the thickness reduced to 6mm, it may have been necessary for them to use ABS resin for strength. Modern construction materials are starting to not anticipate the use of chisels or planes. Materials from a while back were more accommodating for remodeling, I've heard. We're applying woodworking glue to the back of the door frame. We'd like to use urethane glue, but it would definitely ooze out, so we're using woodworking glue. We can't carve the frame, so we're only doing the processing on the threshold side to make it fit perfectly. We're using wedges to adjust the angle of the threshold. There's a gap between it and the entrance frame. And on the opposite side, the center of the frame is even more recessed. The visible side of the thin 6mm frame bent inward due to the force of the nails. Since we can't correct the frame, we cut the entrance threshold to fit the curve. This is the part that attaches to the door frame. We'll shave the back to ensure the visible side fits perfectly. We'd like to do more fine-tuning, but there's a risk of it breaking, so we stopped. I regret not fully understanding the properties of the building materials. And finally, this part. We're fitting it in a way that it slides under the floor after slightly trimming the area under the stairs. Just one more step! There's no need to attach it to the wall side because we'll be putting boards on it, but we still want to stick them neatly. In this case, the homeowner plans to lay cushion flooring in the bathroom. So, we designed and built the house with the floor level 2mm higher than the bathroom floor. With about a 2mm spacer in place, we fixed the threshold so that the cushion flooring can be inserted later. We somehow managed to make the existing and new floors fit nicely. Just one more breath until the project is completed!! Once we've come this far, we're in the home stretch! Now we just need to install the door frames and window trims! And then, we'll stick the boards to the walls! And finally, we'll install the homeowner-provided kitchen!
