4:00 am upgrade

Yesterday I started the re-paint, re-floor project in the long-term room of the cat facility. It hurt to rip out and throw away the carpet I had been so proud of five years ago, but it was time to make the switch to vinyl, for health reasons. It also will be nice to cross vacuuming off the list of twice-daily tasks. I'm sure Donna and Tim will appreciate the break as well, when they care for the cats.

Last year I had started painting the room, and had chosen a pale lavender. That was a mistake. First of all, the walls needed to be primed. A yellow cast came through the paint, turning it a hideous blah gray. Second, the room has only one window, and really needed a brighter color to perk it up. So the project stalled, and there it sat.

Yesterday I dragged everything out of the room, painted while the carpet was down so I could feel free to make a mess, cut up and carried out the carpet, and laid out the vinyl. It's the flexible kind, so you can abuse the heck out of it without worrying about tears and creases. It costs more, but I would have destroyed a cheaper vinyl trying to lay it alone.

I also had to remove the old carpeting from the posts they use to climb up on the wall perches. That was a joy. And then put new carpeting on. I had a little left over from the carpet I put in the house last year.

So here is what it looked like before:

And here it is this morning:

Because I needed to get the cats back into the room, I had to keep working until it was useable again, so the cats and I were partying up there until 4:00 am. They are quite active at night! Then I had to herd them back in, since the new floor and the paint smell made them wary. But they seem quite content this morning.