Friday, April 15, 2022

Filled in the Gaps in the Wooden Floor


I spent an entire day hunched over the bedroom floor's wood panels, filling in the gaps, sanding them, mopping it down, and finally lacquering the whole floor, except the part under the bed that I can't get to (because I can't move the bed). That took five hours in daylight. 

I could have hired someone to do it. But why bother. My handiwork isn't going to be as neat as a craftsman's. But it would do in a pinch. I don't particularly care that it doesn't look 'nicely done'. I only care that the gaps are filled, and no pests could make a home under those wood panels. 

What started this was spotting a number of stray carpenter ants on the bedroom floor last week. I saw a few come out from under the wooden floorboards. I was like... whaaaaat. Either a Queen ant came in on a hot day, or some worker ants came in from some hole in the wall to forage and seek shelter. Then I recalled this weird phenomenon — three weeks ago, carpenter ants thronged the bedroom window sill. I couldn't find a trail or why they were there. I thought they were outside and didn't bother them. My mistake was leaving that window open for hours. Three weeks later, I found carpenter ants in the bedroom. Hell, no. Those ants did come in to make a nest. Spotted a trail, left ant gel out and hopefully killed loads of them. 

Then I realized that the wood flooring is bust. Well, it wasn't well laid to begin with. (This flat is extremely shoddily built.) I knew I would have to seal the gaps between the wood panels some day. So this was 'some' day. Ordered a bunch of stuff to do the job. Waited for a few days to do so. I needed the extra time for more ant gel placements to ensure the most of them are dead or gone. I also needed a full day to do this, and have the room air out as the lacquer dried. When the number of ants dwindled, and my tools and supplies came in, I spent the day to seal up all holes along the wooden skirting in the wall and such. 

I rather enjoyed doing this. LOL Ahhhh no, the man isn't the type to help out. He can't. He's not too handy around the house. I'd also rather him stay away in the study or music room, or get out to the gym or the office. Don't get in my way. Hahahahah. TBH, manual labor is extremely cathartic.

2 comments:

coboypb said...

Wow,DIY,but I can imagine the feeling of satisfaction after all the hard work :) Was Choya curious or kept out of the room?

imp said...

my fingers ached a little after all that. hahahaha. Choya kept out of my way! i think she could smell the 'chemicals' and wisely went to sleep in the patio.