This my fellow bloggers would be primer.
Let me back track a little bit. I am 50 years old. Okay, 51. I have done a lot of things in my life - mostly on my own. This is not a boo-hoo story. Far from it. I love my life. I have fun.
Anyway, after years of back breaking work and what not, I have come to a place in my life where I would much rather pay somebody to do the work. Case in point. Putting a laminated floor down.
I know my limits! I am great with computers but lousy with housework and domestic duties. Not that I can't whip up a decent meal once in a while or decorate a room now and again and I throw a great party!
I am talking tools (especially measuring). Math was (IS) not my strong point. I lean more towards artsy and creative stuff.
So, after the two fellows pulled up my carpet and cleaned the floor the fellow in charge came to me and asked me if I planned to put down primer. I gave him a quizzical look. I had heard of primer for automobiles. I worked in an Automotive/Hardware store in the late 70's but this primer for floors I had not heard of.
He explained to me that Kilz is the best and I could apply it with a paint roller. All of which I have NONE!
Another little back track story. Before I moved into the house I had a professional painter come in and paint the walls in the living room/dining room and two bedrooms so I would not have to do it. I could do it, I just prefer to preserve my energy for me.
I had plans that evening and it was hot, humid and sticky. Off to the hardware store I went. Fifty dollars later I am back home stirring that milky mess that you see above.
He had told me you can paint half the floor, it dries in about an hour. Move all the furniture over to the one side and paint the other half.
Meanwhile I am thinking to myself "Listen buddy! You said NOTHING about this primer stuff when you quoted me the $2225 price tag for this floor. Why the fluck didn't you mention it back then?! So, I could prepare!" Mind you this is what I thought - not what I said. I nodded and smiled like the good little girl my mommy raised me to be.
Side note: As with ordering food in a restaurant NEVER piss off the person who you still depend on for quality work. 'Nuff said? I thought so. You get why I smiled and nodded instead of saying what I was thinking. I ain't stupid.
He explained that the primer would keep the urine odor from enticing my pets to urinate in the same spots that they had when the carpet was there. Of course urine (as urine will) soaks down through the carpet, down through the carpet padding and onto the wooden floor laid below. And to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, he really did not know the extent of the problem until he saw the dark urine stains on the floor below but still - he could have mentioned primer back in early May! Dammit.
Well, I did NOT want any odor left, so I made up my mind that I was going to put primer down. Whatever! I wanted to do it RIGHT!
So. It was four p.m. when he left. After getting a bite to eat and purchasing supplies I figured I could paint from 4:30 to 5:00. At six the painted side would be dry enough to move the furniture over and from six to seven I could paint the other half and head out the door to meet my family for dinner at 7:30.
Ha, ha, ha! Are you laughing? I am. You know. I can laugh about it, now.
To be continued....
4 comments:
OK...It started out a chuckle but now I can't help but laugh. Not hard to figure out what comes next.
I wish you had talked to me first. When we bought our house the previous owner had cats that peed in the corners of nearly every room.
After removing the carpet and pad, you can soak rags in common household bleach and lay them on the stained areas. The bleach leaches the urine out of the wood. After 24 hours, remove the rags and the smell is gone. Our floor refinisher gave us that tip.
Grumpy - that is very interesting about the bleach. Although it was four p.m. and they were returning to lay the floor at nine a.m. the next morning, so I did not have the time.
Also - the bleach smell would have driven me out of the house, too. I am very sensitive to toxic fumes. I will keep that in mind in the future, though. And make sure I have plans to stay somewhere else that night. LOL!
You're right about the smell. We had the luxury of doing it while the house was empty.
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