put in hardwood floors

Tomorrow-oh crap I mean today-I’m having someone come over to paint the place that’s an old friend of the family. Earlier I’d contact Hope Depot about installing the flooring with rubber underlayment and based on the measurements they took, they quoted me materials+$1,600k in labor. Asked the old family friend and he came up with more or less material+$350.

Tough choice.

With labor total comes to a little over two grand. I’m going to wait ‘til the place is done being painted before having it done.

When on Wednesday is still a mystery.

Gotta work on this.

Prices were $13/sf installed, which by my calculation, comes to $4,550 in total. Of course, that doesn’t include the underlayment, which would be about another grand or so. I keep telling myself I don’t want to get ripped off but honestly, another part of me thinks I’d be willing to cut a check just to get out of here.

In lighter news, the door to the second bedroom was installed today, replacing the old accordion one the former owner put in for some reason, so now at least in theory I shouldn’t be able to so easily hear my roommate and his girlfriend. The bad news is the handyman that came took all of 9 hours to replace the door (he’s a wee bit on the older side) which left no time to fix the closet door, which keeps falling forward out of it’s track. I’d fix it myself but the part that’s broken is plastic and completely needs to be replaced, thus the enlistment of a handyman.

But at least things are moving forward. While at the Luna showroom they mentioned a type of neoprene underlayment that was 2-3mm thick and supposedly could block 70db. I googled it just now and it looks like I can pick it up for $0.325/sf from some place up in Mundelien, that also sells flooring and will install . . . looks like I’ll be calling them to see if they have a showroom I can visit this weekend.

I have to move out of this place. About two years ago I bought this place as a foreclosure and the monthly living cost for it (2BR/1.5BA) was about 36% cheaper than the one-bedroom I’d been renting before. The downside is that it’s in a part of two populated by the middle-aged and college kids and oddly feels like I’m in the middle of nowhere. To the college kids I’m ancient at 28 and it’s pretty hard to relate to people that have kids in college. In short I’m becoming a shut-in and I really don’t like that.

There’s a place that’s across the street from work that’d be affordable if I had the downpayment for it, which if I fix up this place and sold it, I would have without having to worry about PMI. There’s a small laundry list of things that need to be done around here, a door’s being replaced tomorrow, so at least things are moving forward, but it seems like every time I get something replaced or installed it’s either shoddily done, I get ripped off price-wise, or both. It’s been making me apprehensive about getting things fixed. I know I already have a goal about living across the street from work, but hopefully by focusing on one thing at a time I can move forward instead of just putting it off.

Things just feel heavier, and the more I stay here the more trapped I feel. Friends are getting married, having kids, and it feels like I’m dying on the vine. So here’s the goal, by the end of the weekend, I want to have something ordered.

Then after that, have the pink tile replaced in my bathroom.

And after that . . . well hey maybe throw it on the market.