Carpet removal completed!!!

Yesterday I spent the better part of 7 hours removing the carpet from the 3rd (and last) bedroom. (see pic above)
I had a real surprise when I pulled up the carpet padding: there were black blobs of carpet pad stuck to the floor, it was a gooey tar-like mess! The darned floor looked like spotted leopard!
Some quick internet searching on how to remove this stuff yielded one fellow's post on how he used Resolve carpet cleaner to remove the goo. I checked my cleaning cabinet and found a bottle of Hoover hard floor cleaner that I had received with my old Hoover Steam-Vac.
First, in order to get some of the thickest goo off the floor, I used my mop-brush to scrub as much of it off as possible. Then I wet an old rag, poured a little of the hard floor cleaner directly on the rag and squeezed it out til it was damp. (It's important not to get the floor very wet, as this could warp the wood or raise the grain.)
Then I went to work on the floor, and this stuff DID take off the goo, but it took me an extra hour or so to get it clean enough to actually start removing staples and tack strips.
I wondered why this floor had carpet padding stuck to it and the other two rooms I'd worked on did not have any goo. I concluded that one factor was probably that we heat this bedroom in the winter but the other two bedrooms were my girls' rooms and since the girls have left home, I don't routinely heat those two rooms anymore. The carpet goo was worst in the areas of our bedroom floor that had no furniture over them. Our heat is radiant ceiling heat, which is the ONLY heat that is heavier than air. So the heat sinks to the floor. I think that had a big effect on the carpet pad's sticking and decomposing.
Another thing I discovered about removing staples is that when using the Stanley pry tool to pull out staples, it's helpful to get the fork of the pry tool positioned squarely under the staple, and then put a finger over the staple to hold it in position, as you remove the staple by using the pry tool to pry upward. This stabilizes the staple enough that you can pull over 90% of the staples out using the pry tool alone.
I also tried was the carpet sliders to move a cabinet and our bed. They work GOOD! I could have never moved the bed without them, frankly.

A few more tips on carpet removal from hardwood

As an addendum to my previous post on carpet removal from hardwood, I'm posting a few tips here on how to make the job a tad easier:
1. Expect to find at least one seam in the carpet padding, probably in the middle of the room, which will out of necessity give you staples to remove down the middle of the room on the padding's seam line. I find that removing these staples FIRST in any given area of the room where you are working makes the job a bit less treacherous, as you won't step on those staples by mistake if you remove them first.
2. Save the hardest or heaviest piece of furniture for last. Work around that piece, right up to the edges of it. After you have all the other sections of the floor done, move that heaviest piece of furniture out into the floor and finish the area behind it. It will be easier to move it back into position with the carpet gone.
3. As you remove staples, first pull away as many of the padding fibers from it as you can, thus exposing the staple's position in the floor. This way you can tell what direction you need to use to pry the staple up successfully.
4. Once you start prying a staple up, try to ease the fork on the end of the pry bar under the staple straight on, so that you might get lucky and ease the entire staple out intact. This works up to about 50% of the time if the carpet layer did a decent job of putting the staple into the wood originally, and can save time in staple removal.
5. If there is a finished carpet edge, like in the doorway of a closet, you might find that the carpet layers used an especially small size of staple to edge the carpet in that doorway. These are hateful small weak staples that break when you blow on them hard! My removal technique for these weakling staples is to pull all of the carpet fibers away from them, and then use the corner of the pry bar to ease the staple up just enough to hook the end of the curved needle-nose pliers under the staple. Then, VERY GENTLY AND SLOWLY, use the curve in the needle-nose pliers as a fulcrum to ease the staple up out of the wood. If you are lucky, the staple will come out intact. If you are not lucky, it will break in two. If it breaks in two, grasp each leg of the staple individually and pull upward firmly with all your might to extract it. It might take a few attempts to get this done. If there is a short leg that you simply cannot remove, either bend it back and forth to break it off and hammer the stub into the wood, or just hammer the stub in without breaking it off. Hopefully you won't have very many staples that break during extraction.
6. When you first expose an area of floor, just after you pull up the padding, sweeping the loose carpet fibers, grit, and other crap out of that area before you start with staple removal makes the floor nicer to sit on and helps you see the staples more easily. Then sweep up again after you have removed the staples and tack strips, because there will be more grit behind the tack strips.

Bedroom #2 carpet removal completed!

Well, yesterday I finished stripping the carpet from bedroom #2. The finish on the hardwood in that room was a bit better than in the first bedroom. Click on the pic if you want a large close-up of the finished product. ( And the staples and tack strips were not as bad, but then maybe I'm just getting the hang of this a little better as I go.)
Today I start on the Big Kahuna, the master bedroom. It's not that big of a room, but the main problem is that the furniture is very heavy..solid cherry. I bought a set of those furniture sliders to try to make the task a bit more palatable. It'll be interesting to find out if those things really work.
The other issue is, we have a lot of furniture in the room, so I've been making plans on what to move where and when to get the job done with the least amount of moving stuff around. I'm allowing myself two days to get this room done, but if things go especially well and I get on a roll, I'll try to finish it today.

Removing carpet to expose a hardwood floor beneath

Sorry I have not posted in a while. LIfe has been busy, what else can I say?

Yesterday I tackled removing the carpet in the first of 3 bedrooms to expose the hardwood beneath it. Normally this would be an easier project, but when you have hardwood that you are trying to preserve, it takes a bit more time and care. This was quite an experience, but well worth the effort.
This is not a rocket-science type of job, anyone can do it. But expect it to be TIME-intensive. It took me about 5 hours to complete a 10x12-foot room. And if you have furniture already in the room, expect to do some moving of furniture from side to side. My advice is do the easy things first, and then the hard ones.
For instance, in the room I did yesterday, I did everything except the tall heavy bookcase because I knew I would have to unload that bookcase before I could move it. You can do any part of the floor that is vacant, and once you have any section done, you can move furniture over to that finished section to open up more carpeted areas to work on. It's not pretty, but it works. If you have a lot of floor space, consider moving everything over to one side of the room, and then over to the other side, in order to have more space in which to work. I won't have that much space in any of the rooms that I'm doing, unfortunately.

Before you start, here are some things you are going to need, so best get them together before you get into the job:

First, a hammer, curved needle-nose pliers, box-cutter, and Stanley pry bar. I bought the 8-inch size Stanley, you might feel more comfortable with the next larger size. The IMPORTANT thing is that the end of the Stanley tool needs to be small enough to fit one side of the end of the tool UNDER a staple, as you will use this to pry up the staple. So bigger may not be better in this case. The 8-inch size just fit my staples. (I found mine at Wal-Mart for about $3.xx.)
You will also need a broom/dustpan, and waste can or bucket for your scrap. I also recommend wearing some glasses with shatter-resistant glass or safety glasses, as you will be pulling nails.
Wear SHOES of some kind. I wore house shoes that were pliable, which allowed me to move my feet and ankles more freely. But you will be working around staples and nails, so do wear some kind of shoes or else get ready to see your doctor for a tetanus vaccination.
And finally, expect to be shocked at the dirt, sand, and other miscellaneous crap that you find underneath your carpet. (And I bet you thought you were doing a good job of housekeeping, didn't you? Boy, are you in for a surprise!)
OH, and on the second day of work, grab a pillow for your butt, because it's going to be sore from the work you did on the first day!

If you've never done this project, here's how I did it:
Using a tool (or brute force), pry one piece of carpet away from the wall, preferably in a corner, and after you have enough carpet pulled back to get a firm grip on it, pull back the carpet to uncover whatever size space you will be working with. Use the box-cutter tool to cut the removed piece of carpet loose, and discard the now-defunct piece of carpet or roll it up and put it somewhere that it will be totally out of your way.
Once the carpet is cut away, you will see something like this.

The blue stuff that looks like sponge is the carpet pad, and at the top end next to the wall is the tack-strip that held your carpet to the floor. Be careful! The tack strip has little nails projecting upward and they are very sharp! Pull up the carpet padding (it's going to fall apart in places because it rots over time), and you will find that little pieces of the padding will adhere to the floor where the staples that hold the pad are located. That's really a good thing, it helps you locate the staples more easily.
But BEWARE! There probably will be some vagrant wayward staples in the floor that are not attached to anything, so you have to inspect the floor closely to find those extra staples! Those lazy carpet layers who installed my carpet evidently just hammered the wayward staples into the floor rather than remove them, so you may find some very "flattened" staples that are harder to remove than the rest of them.
These vagrant staples will be the hardest staples to remove because it will be harder to get them pried up off the floor. Click the picture below to get a really good close-up of the wayward staple and notice how easy it would be to miss it. (There is actually a 2nd wayward staple in the close-up picture, look just to the left of the wayward staple I identified and see if you can find it.)


FIRST THE STAPLES:
Wedge one branch of the end of your pry bar's long edge under a staple and pry the staple up gently but firmly. Sometimes you will get really lucky and a whole staple will pop out of the floor totally intact, however most of the time I dislodged one side of the staple and the other leg of the staple was still firmly in the floor. Now for more brute force: Use the needle-nose pliers to get under the staple, then grasp the embedded staple leg and pull upward firmly to remove it. This is why you need the CURVED needle-nose pliers, because when you get under the staple, it helps you to avoid scratching the hardwood's finish.

(Sometimes you will probably be unlucky and a staple leg will break off. These nasty, sharp pieces of staple leg may be so small that you can't see them but you can feel them sticking up. When that happens, get ready for maximum brute force: Grasp the remaining piece of staple leg as hard as you can with the needle-nose pliers and try to pull it out. Jiggle it a little, jerking on it might work also. If after several tries you cannot pull it out, forget brute force and just hammer the darned piece of staple leg completely down into the hardwood until you cannot feel it any more. It's going to be so small that it won't be noticeable.)
Toss all removed staples into the bucket as soon as you pull them out. (This is very important if you value your feet.) Once you have all of the staples in an area removed, you start on the carpet tack strips. This is not quite as much fun as removing staples was, trust me on this.

NOW FOR THE TACK STRIPS:
Wedge the long edge of the pry bar under the tack strip and push down on the pry bar to crank the tack strip upward away from the floor. You will think it won't come loose, but it will, just about the time you are thinking of giving up. This will be even harder if the nails that are securing the tack strip are long, and my luck was that they were about 1.25 inches long.
The strip's wood may split, but that's OK. Keep on working along that area of the tack strip until you have the strip totally removed. Once you have the strip up off the floor a little, you can sometimes use the other end of the pry bar to give more leverage as you work your way down the strip. Do whatever works.


The nails that held the carpet tack strip will still probably be in the floor after you have the tack strip removed. Use the pry bar to remove the nails from the floor. A hard popping maneuver with eyes closed worked best for me. You might want to put the wash cloth under the edge of the pry bar to keep it from marking the floor. My flooring was so hard that many times I did not use the cloth under the pry bar, but some of the nails were so resistant to pulling that I did use the cloth to pad the floor. It's a judgment call most of the time.

Sweep up the area and check visually and also feel with your hands (gently, you idiot) for staples or nails that you missed. They are easy to miss, so you will probably find a few that you overlooked.
Finally you have a finished section of floor. Start on the next section and so on and so on, and about 5-6 hours later you can have a big party to celebrate your success.

Note that in this pic of the finished area of hardwood, we can see a nail hole in the lower right area, but no staple holes. The staple holes are very small and not noticeable at all. If you find the nail hole offensive, you can be a real professional and use wood filler to fill it, but personally, since this is the EDGE of the floor we are dealing with, I don't plan to fill the holes, because they are going to be near the wall. Any imperfection at the edge of the floor can be covered by a small "quarter-round" piece of wood molding, which you can buy at any lumberteria/Lowes type of store.
The discoloration you see at the edge of this floor is where the quarter-round was previously located (I have made the picture very large so that you can see the detail, and the discolored edge is really quite narrow. Click the pic to see it in close-up.)

Finally, put all the furniture in the room back in place, admire your work, take two Naproxen and the following day you can expect to be sore in places you didn't know you had.
Here is a picture taken from the hallway looking into the room that I completed. Note that my new hardwood in the hallway matches the old bedroom hardwood pretty well, so I don't plan to refinish the bedroom hardwood. There are a few marks on the old bedroom hardwood, but I'm going to call that the "distressed look" and let it go for now.
I will have to get a threshold cover put in the doorway to cover the slight gap between the hardwood in the two rooms, but I'll wait until I get all three bedrooms done before I call my floor man to do the thresholds. (Click the pic below to see a real close-up of the finished job.)

Samsung Laser Printer/Fax/Scanner for $120 shipped

Circuit City has this Samsung All-in-One Multifunction Printer/Copier/Fax/Scanner for $119.99, shipping included with standard delivery. You must file for a $100 rebate to get this net price, however.
This is one of the better prices I have seen for a monochrome laser all-in-one machine.
The Samsung SCX-4521FG works with Windows 98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP and various Linux and Macintosh systems.
• Print up to 20 ppm
• Up to 600 x 600 dpi
• Copy up to 20 cpm
• 24-bit color scanner
• 33.6Kbps color fax
• Print watermarks

For my children: new stuff

My daughters have not yet seen my new floors, rugs, and kitchen. I'm making this post especially for them.
You will notice that the rugs all look kind of disheveled. They are not dirty, it's just the pile going in different directions.
They have a rather high pile and I have not vacuumed them yet, I'm waiting for my new vacuum to arrive. After that, they will look much better.
Remember, you can click on any of the pics below and see a larger version in all its glory, however be prepared for some load time as the originals are quite large.

This first pic is the den, complete with animals.







Pic #2 is the front foyer.









Pic #3 is the dining room.









Pic #4: living room, piano side of room.









Pic #5 is living room, furniture/seating side.



Living room seen from dining area.




Kitchen tile (bathroom is same tile as kitchen)






New cooktop and wall oven. Note the big blank space where the range hood should be. When the workmen opened the box, it had a large dent right in the front edge of the hood, so I had to re-order it from Sears (special order item, should arrive May 22). I was heartsick.
The oven is stainless steel on the door front, but it does not photograph well, so it looks kind of brown in this picture, but much much nicer in real life. The cabinet drawer is missing, because we have to cut off the drawer part and mount just the front of the drawer on the cabinet, due to the fact that the electrical cable on the new cooktop comes out of the bottom of the cooktop instead of the side (like the old one), so we are going to have to sacrifice that drawer for the cable. (it was worth it, I have scads of drawers in the kitchen)

Today's Deal: Uniden 5.8 GHz phone with answering Machine and extra handset for $36

FRYS.com has the The UNIDEN 5.8GHz Digital (FHSS) Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System and Extra Caller ID Handset and Charging Cradle
for $29.99 plus about $7 for shipping. Add item to your cart to see the $29.99 pricetag.
This phone is expandable to up to 10 handsets, plus it features Digital FHSS, digital answering machine, Caller ID, call waiting, intercom, personalized ringers, and more.

TODAY'S DEAL: Eureka Smart Boss Upright Vacuum: $135 shipped

Kohl's has the Eureka Smart Boss Vacuum for $159 on sale, however when you use your Kohl's charge and the coupon code MAY15OFF , you can get this item for $135 shipped. (they have $5 flat fee shipping)
You would probably be shocked to know that my current vacuum is an old original 20-year old Fantom upright, which while it's still working just fine, is beginning to show it's age and feature-wise, was a pretty standard no-frills machine. That's why I decided I needed a new vacuum. And my research shows that the new Fantom's just don't cut the mustard like the old ones did.
Now trust me: I have researched vacuums intensely, and one really BIG PLUS of this Eureka vacuum is that you have a beater-bar switch to turn the beater bar off or on. (and vacuums with this feature will always cost more) The beater-bar off/on switch is really handy for hardwood floors, because you can turn off the bar to avoid scratching your floor. (also should prevent it from pulling fibers from my braided rug too). Other fine features include a 30-foot cord, power-paw turbo hand-held suction head for stairs, and really good suction power.
Also, go to Eureka's site to see that this vacuum is a Consumer's Digest Recommended Best Buy.
Amazon.com had a good rating for this vacuum (use the link to check pricing, full features, & product reviews). However, this Kohl's deal lets you beat Amazon's pricing by $15 including shipping, and Amazon's generally very hard to beat on pricing! (and I recommend that any time you find what you think is a bargain price, do go to Amazon and see if they have the item and check the pricing against them. If you can beat Amazon's price, you have done very well)

Allergies

You may have noticed I have not posted anything this week since Monday. I have allergies, and this is my absolute worst time of year. It seems I'm allergic to those locust trees that are blooming, and besides the usual nasal congestion, I also get chest congestion, chills, and generally feel like I've been run over by a truck. I used to think this was a viral infection, but after several years of the same symptons, I finally realized that I get this every spring when the locusts bloom. With a known history of allergies, it seems obvious: I'm allergic to the locust trees! (I also have other tree and grass allergies, but this one seems to be the worst by far)
I called my doctor yesterday for a cortisone inhaler, due to my lungs feeling so raw inside.
Hopefully this will soon be over.

LATEST KOHL'S COUPONS: 15% off and free shipping

MAY15OFF gets you 15% off your entire order. Expires after May 14 I think.
MVC2554 gives you free shipping.
And yes, these stack and work on sale items as well as regular priced items.

Tile

Some things I learned along the way about tile:
1. My floor man says you should use water and vinegar to clean tile flooring. Bleach is destructive to the grout.
2. They make a nice sponge mop with a brush included on the head that is nice for cleaning tile. The one I have is the Quickie Rollomop, and I bought mine at CVS when they had their mops on sale. Expect to pay $15-20, depending on the vendor.
3. Sealing tile helps the grout to hold up and not shed "grit" on your feet. You can buy sealer at Lowes or similar stores, all you do is spray it on the floor one time and you're done.
4. If you are doing tile countertops or showers, where it will be exposed to water on a more or less constant basis, they make a special epoxy grout. It's harder to apply because you have to wear gloves and it costs a whole lot more, but in the long run it's well worth it in these high-wear area.

Recommendation for Tile/Hardwood Paducah Ky area

Here's my floor man's business card, and I highly recommend him for tile and hardwood if you live in the Paducah or surrounding areas. He's a good old country boy, he's an expert at what he does, he wants his work to look good because it brings him more business, and he won't rip you off. He brings you receipts for items he purchases on your behalf, and he'll estimate a job for free. I just can't say enough good things about him. His name is Benny Garland, and I recommend using the Cell number if you need to get in touch with him, because he works most of the time.
As an example to his dedication to his work, when Benny got ready to lay my tile, he went to get the cement board and his usual provider did not have Duroc brand. He went to Lowes, and he told me theirs was all broken up. So he made a special trip to Murray KY to get the Duroc cement board, because he said it's the best and he won't lay tile on other brands. And he made that trip to Murray at his own expense!

Den nearly complete

Well, I put down the braided rug in the den yesterday and it looks absolutely great! Size is right, colors pop nicely, this was a wise purchase. My neighbor came over to see the finished product and immediately wanted the name of the fellow who did my tile, a good sign.
Here's a pic of the den, I cannot fit the whole room into the picture but this one gives you an idea of how it looks. I guess you can tell, my husband likes to surf the net while he watches TV ...sigh...
(as usual, click the pic to see a larger version)

New hardwood nearly done

Well, we're almost there, with about $2800 worth of hardwood, $500 worth of tile and materials and $2000 in installation costs. Hardwood installed in living/dining room, den, foyer, and bedroom hallway. Tile installed in entranceway at front door, kitchen, master bath, and 1/2 bath. It's been a long haul, nearly two weeks, but in my previous experience, that's about what you expect with any home projects, it always takes longer than projected.
The floor man completed the hardwood installation yesterday and comes back today to put up baseboards and threshold covers, but other than that, he's pretty well done.
This first pic is of my den. I was pleased to see that the hardwood was just a shade lighter than the walnut paneling, which makes the room really come together. I don't have the braided rug down yet, waiting for the floor man to complete his final touches and then will put it down later today, more pics after that. This still looks pretty rough, because I haven't cleaned up yet, but it gives you an idea of the looks of the room anyway. Click on a pic to see a really large version of it.

This next pic is of the bedroom hallway. Again, no baseboards yet, but I was pleased to see that the new hardwood really goes with the wood color on the doors to closets and bedrooms.
I had not planned to put rugs in the bedroom hallway but then hubbie started grousing about cold feet, so I found the ones in the pic at TJ Maxx yesterday. They're not perfect but at least they match my other geometric contemporary rugs in the living room and foyer. I'll probably end up replacing these.

Next: Carpet removal in the bedrooms and see whether the hardwood in them needs refinished. The color of the existing hardwood on cursory inspection is not very far off what I had installed, so this is going to be interesting to see whether I have to get it refinished.
I was pleased to see that the previous installers only used a wood strip with nails in it to secure the carpeting, which hopefully is going to make removal a bit easier. The floor man said the strips in the rooms where he worked were not very hard to break loose, the key is going to be trying to get them up without marring the finish.
I've been researching this and bought a mini-pry-bar at Wal-Mart yesterday to try to make this a tad easier. First, however, I have to empty out the stuff in the bedrooms that I put there to empty out the living/dining room and den, which should take about a half-day. Whew! This home improvement stuff is really WORK!

TODAY'S DEAL: Kohl's kitchen cart for $223.65 including tax/shipping

Kohl's has the Dolly Madison Prep & Serve Kitchen Cart in Black or White for $223.65 shipped including KY tax and shipping surcharges, using your Kohl's Charge Card, plus coupon codes SPECIAL20 and JUST4YOU.
* Solid, durable wood construction ensures many years of use.
* Natural wood finish on the top surface provides stunning appeal.
* Brushed steel hardware enhances the elegant style.
* Easy-glide drawers and towel bar offer convenient organization.
* Twin doors open to reveal an adjustable shelf, adding even more storage.
* Industrial-grade, locking rubber casters allow for easy and safe movement.
* 36"H x 33 3/4"W x 18 1/2"D
This deal expires today.

TODAY'S DEAL: Black & Decker under-cabinet can opener $15.25 shipped

Kohl's has the Black & Decker under-cabinet spacemaker can opener for $15.25 shipped including KY tax. Use your Kohl's Charge, and coupon codes SPECIAL20 and JUST4YOU to get this price. This deal ends today.
See my INSTALLATION TIPS for this can opener here.

TODAY'S DEAL: KOHLS Braided 9x12-foot Rug

Kohl's has the Colonial Mills Cape Beth Rug in the 9x12-foot size for $254 shipped, including KY tax. (rug's base price is regular $750 + shipping and tax). Additionally, this rug IS reversible and your choice of multiple colors.
There is NO shipping surcharge on this item in the 9x12 size but there is a shipping surcharge on all other sizes (Maybe Kohl's goofed?).
Use your Kohl's charge and coupon codes SPECIAL20 and JUST4YOU during checkout to get this price.
This offer expires after today.
I ordered this item myself a few days ago and I can vouch for the rug's quality. I had it in my home about 3 days after I ordered it. Internet-ordered items from Kohl's can be returned to the local Kohl's store if you find you don't like the item for any reason.

TODAY'S DEAL: Roll-about Fold-up Kitchen Island/Cart $39.97 + shipping

Bargain Outfitters has cut the price on this kitchen cart to $39.97. Use coupon code SB243 to get $5 off during the checkout.
* Solid wood construction for stable work space
* Hinge-folding design allows for quick opening / folding in seconds
* 2 shelves for added storage
* 4 chromed castors for easy movement
* 36 1/2" height lines up to the height of most kitchen countertops
* Measures 24 5/8 x 23 1/2"d., weighs 46 lbs., 9 ozs.
* Folds down to just 5 1/2" wide
* Water-resistant top.
* Easy assembly without tools.

Sunforce® Solar Bird Spa: feeder, bath, light, and flower pot

Sportsman's Guide has the Sunforce® Solar Bird Spa for $39.97. Use coupon code SN895 for $5 off, to defray the shipping costs. (You might try coupon code SN885 to see if you can get $10 off instead. Sometimes this one only works if you are a member.)
* Made of completely weatherproof polyresin, with a finish that looks like cast iron
* Elegant design, with pagoda roof over the bird seed feeding area
* Top of the roof is the solar panel. It charges in daylight, and an LED light shines in the night, no wiring needed. 2 rechargeable batteries inside are included. Has on / off switch
* Below are the bird bath and the planter
* A ground stake secures it in soil
* Has hooks for adding more feeding options.
* Approx. 20" diam., 42"h. Weighs 7 1/2 lbs. Easy assembly.

TODAY'S DEAL: Florsheim® Lamont Moc - toe Dress Shoes for $30 plus shipping

Sportsman's Guide has the Florsheim Lamont Moc-toe Dress Shoes in most men's regular-width sizes for $29.97 plus shipping ($26.97 if you're a member). These are MSR price of $65.
The neat thing is these shoes have leather lining and insole plus leather outsole, a real quality piece of goods! Use coupon code SN895 for $5 off, which should pay most of the shipping costs. (You might try coupon code SN885 to see if you can get $10 off instead. Sometimes this one only works if you are a member.)
Fabulous Florsheim Footwear for a penny-pinching price:
* Long-wearing leather outsole
* Comfortable, permanent, padded, leather-lined insole for support and shock absorption
* Breathable leather lining. Each approx. 3 1/2"h., 12 ozs.
(I ordered these shoes this morning for my husband, using my club membership and the $10 off coupon code, and the shoes were UNDER $27 SHIPPED! I mean, how bad can they be, they're FLORSHEIM.)

Today's Deal: 120 ft garden hose $24.18 + tax

Sam's Club has the Arex® PowerFlo® III Professional Garden Hose for $24.18 plus tax. Really Good garden hose lasts for 20 years, that's about how old mine is. If you buy well, you don't buy often when it comes to hose.
Specifications
* Commercial Burst Strength
* Commercial Durability
* 5/8" x 120 ft. PowerFlo III Professional Garden Hose

Hoping to get floors done today

The floor man's nail gun didn't get fixed on time (part was late arriving), so he's coming back today, hopefully to get finished totally. Top that off, Sears did NOT have my oven when they arrived yesterday, it came in on the truck but they didn't get the truck unloaded in time to put it on the delivery truck, however they are delivering it today. Sheesh! This stuff gets trying at times! Anyway, progress is moving along and soon I'll be working on getting the staples out of the old carpet in the bedrooms, where I have nice hardwood underneath the now-defunct carpet. It's going to be a big job to get out the carpet staples, but should be well worth the effort in the long run.

Saturday May 3 is the last day of Kohl's "Lowest Prices of the Season" sale

Kohls.com's Lowest Prices of the Season Sale ends Saturday. If ordering online with your Kohl's card, you can get an additional 20% off with no minimum required via coupon code "SPECIAL20" and additionally get free shipping via coupon code "JUST4YOU". (Shipping SURCHARGES still apply on heavier items, and you will have to pay sales tax.) This is a great sale! By the way, ANYTHING you order, including heavy items like rugs, CAN be returned to your local Kohl's store instead of mailing them back, which is a real bonus if you're not sure about an item.

SOLAR-POWERED Eco-Drive Watch----no batteries EVER!

GOING GREEN FOR MOTHER'S DAY!!!
Bargain Outfitters has the Citizen Women's 12 - diamond Eco - drive watch for $129.97 plus shipping (which should be minimal, the item gets a lightweight shipping credit of $6)
Features:
* Charges automatically in sunlight or indoors. No batteries to change EVER
* 180 day power reserve
* 12 fiery diamonds at the hour positions
* Elegant Mother-of-Pearl face
* Scratch-proof sapphire crystal
* Water resistant to 328'
* Stainless steel case and bracelet
* Push-button deployment clasp.

Progress at home...

Well, I haven't posted many deals lately, primarily because things are so busy here at home:
--Tuesday the floor man got my living/dining room hardwood laid and had started on the foyer when his $600 nailing gun BROKE. Yech!
--He left here about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, and lo and behold two hours later the UPS man arrived with my living/dining room rugs! (which were not due until May 8) Talk about sympatico!
--Today the floor man is supposed to return with his FIXED nailing gun and get the foyer, den, and hallway hardwood done. (And that should finish his work up hopefully, by tomorrow at the latest).
--Yesterday my braided rug for the den arrived, and it's now residing over the living room rug to iron out the packing creases, which is working out quite nicely, since I can't put it in the den until they get the hardwood laid.
--Yesterday evening Sears called, and they are going to deliver my new glass cooktop, wall oven, range hood, and water heater TODAY. (the kitchen part of this has been on backorder because it was special order). So now I've called the people that will do this installation, which they think will be next week.
--Thankfully my 18-year old water heater is still limping along on its last element and has not leaked!
--Here is a picture of the pattern of my braided rug for the den, it was much prettier than the pic on the website, by the way. It should look wonderful with our tannish-taupe den furniture and walnut paneling. Just enough coral to spice up the room! (click the picture to see a really large version of the pattern)

And here is a pic of the dining room rug. Size was a REAL issue for this rug. I needed exactly 6'7" wide to extend all the way to the china cabinet and still make the table center under the chandelier, and guess what? I actually found one this size! (again, click the pic to see a really big version and 'scuse the mess on the table, the flooring man dumped this stuff there)

And, umm, by the way, if you are interested in area rugs, Kohl's still has theirs on sale for today through Saturday, and you can dip their sale prices even lower by using the Kohl's charge card plus coupon codes "SPECIAL20" (for 20% off the sale prices) and "MVC8726" for free shipping (but alas you still have to pay shipping surcharges for heavy items but it's really not too much)