The kitchen floor: after, in progress, and before
Sometimes it pays to pay for help. I had my friend, Masa, come over in his role as handyman to help me out with fixing the kitchen floor today. We did the work in record time and I feel good for ticking this off my list of projects and for helping a neighbor earn a bit of cash.
I did the project planning, which involved not actually repairing anything but covering the sagging floor with fresh plywood and vinyl. It’s an inexpensive, temporary fix. I opted not to nail or glue the new boards to the old floor. I know if we stay here more than a year or two, we will properly re-do the rotting floor. Taking up two subfloors would be a real nightmare, so for today I made a jigsaw of boards resting on the old floor and then sort of held it together with glue and vinyl. It’s imperfect and a horror to any professional, but it sure does look pretty and the floor feels much more solid that it did this morning. It took us four hours, half of which was driving into town and shopping for the vinyl. Total cost including materials and Masa’s time, under 20,000 yen. Win!
Goodbye, ugly compost bin. You were an eyesore. I hope you have a happy new life with Masa.
As a unexpected bonus, Masa dug up the ugly, creepy compost bin from the middle of the yard. When I mentioned that was on my list of projects to do, he lit up. “Can I have it?” Yes, of course! So with my newly purchased shovel, he dug down 20 centimeters and pulled it out of the ground. The compost inside was a mix of nice dirt, eggshells, and cockroaches (ick). It will be really fine after I dig it into the garden. And now I never have to see that dreadful bright teal plastic bin ever again. I’ll make a less obtrusive new compost heap somewhere more useful, like outside the kitchen door.
Next up: amadoi (not amido or amado, which also need attention) – the gutters.
