A Floating Kitchen Floor

The kitchen and utility room flooring has been removed.

After selecting a nice laminate wood and laying out several pieces to make sure we liked it...

Mi Miguel put down the muffler (keeps the tapping noise down when walking on the floor) and then quickly began cutting the doorway trim. He then tucked the planks under them and moved quickly after all the cuts were made.

Laying the rest of the floor was easy-peasy. You simply hold them at an angle and snap them into place.

Yes, it's that simple. No glue required and we're pretty pleased with the overall appearance.

Our options were limited since we had to flow with the living room and dining room. I like it. Once the cabinets are painted, I think it will look really nice. 

The ceiling is Mi Miguel's next big project. I really like the coastal cozy cottage look. 

When I showed this photo to Mi Miguel, He said, "We can do that." I'm amazed. I really like the look of it. Seriously, how hard can it be. Right?

About those doors. Hm. We both worked on removing 13 doors of the 44 doors and drawers. We then removed the hinges and all organizers and hooks.

First, I scrubbed them down with a degreaser.

Then I washed them, towel dried them and let them set for several hours to be sure they were completely dried.

I lightly sanded the doors on both sides and around the edges. I'm using an electric sander ever so gently, it makes the sanding process so much quicker. 

This is a great time to fill any holes or flaws with wood putty. Let this dry and lightly sand the putty until it's even with the wood.

I gently wiped over them with dish soap water on a soft cloth... 

and then rinsed them with a wet cloth and let them dry.

Finally, I got to put my first thin coat of primer on the doors. I put each door on a piece of wood to lift it up off of the table. That way I could paint around the edges of the door. I used a small sponge roller and kept the layer pretty thin. I waited several hours, flipped the doors over and put a thin coat of primer on the flip side.

After about 4 hours of waiting for the primer to dry, I went over the entire doors lightly with fine sandpaper.

I wiped them over really well with tack cloth.

After all dust and debris was removed from the doors (there wasn't much but you don't want any little bits and pieces of anything ruining your paint job,) you can then apply your second thin coat of primer and let it dry for 3 or 4 hours depending on the humidity.

Lightly sand the second coat of primer and...

gently wipe them down with a barely damp soft cloth. Let the water have a several minutes to dry and then...

go over them with tack cloth, again to remove any bits and pieces of whatever may be left behind from the sanding and such.

Here are the doors with the second coat of primer. I had to work inside due to the high humidity in Sunny Florida.

I'm now ready to put on my first thin coat of paint. Here goes...

Hopefully, my next blog post will be all about how I finished painted both coats of paint on the first 13 doors.

In the meantime, if you've been following my Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/floridarestaurants/

You know that we finally completed the entire alphabet on Florida Restaurants A-Z journey. Because there so many restaurants here in Florida, I have something new and exciting planned for our next restaurant adventure.

My next blog entry will also include a fascinating person. Be ready.