Floor details. Oh la. French Husband told me that the apartment did not have hard wooden floors. He told me that when he bought the apartment (thirty years ago) he had grey carpet put in because the floors weren't nice.
He was 21 at the time, so I will forgive him for not knowing that the floors were hard wood and very nice.
Unfortunately, we discovered the hard wooden floors too late in the plan. When we pulled the carpet back we saw them… to keep the floors would have meant another delay and more money. Both weren't an option right now.
The floors though lovely, needed a tremendous amount of work. Plus from the walls to the center of the room the floors sagged over four inches. We decided to build up from the old wooden floor. We protected the old wooden floor (in case some day someone wants to take it back to its roots), then ran small beams and mounted them with cement to secure their place, on top of the beams we added compressed board panels.
I say "We"… but all I do is run for errands: Buy things at the hardware stores that I can barely pronounce, and take photos of shirtless men.
The cooper pipes and electrical wires run underneath the raised floor.
Walking around the apartment is like dancing bamboo jump sticks.
Not easy.
Dancing bamboo jump sticks.
Hard work.
Florent listens sometimes to rap/hip hop music. The other day he asked me, "Corey, you know the words because they are in English?" I told him I did, but I wasn't going to translate.
He understood why.
Regis the leader of the pack, has worked with French Husband for over twenty years. We brought our own team to Paris to do the renovation. Yes, it has been costly (hotels, trains, taking the truck back and forth from Marseille to Paris…) but far less costly if we had hired a team in Paris. Plus we work well together, there I go again with the "we" factor.
Regis is a one man brilliant machine! He knows how to do everything. We do not need to wait for anyone. He knows everything there is to know about construction, electricity, concrete, welding, plumbing… and he loves antiques and knows how to cook. I wonder if he can dance?
He is very good at dancing between the jumpsticks as I call them.
And yes he smokes. It is not a crime.
After the small boards were measured, balanced and cemented to the old floor, the large compressed panels were carried up two flights of stairs.
The compressed boards were measured and cut to fit on a makeshift work table.
The apartment, though good size by Paris standards, is not big enough to hold everything that it takes to do a job. Things are constantly being moved around, or brought up from the truck when need be. Work station are made and taken down within minutes.
I must admit I have heard Regis say certain "mots argot" slang words, and one in particular that I like to tease him about. In English it is "break your balls", but in French it is a bad word/expression to say.
I literally cannot pronounce the French slang word for balls. Which doesn't matter as I do not need to say it anyway.
The compressed wooden panels fit together perfectly.
Admiration. Gratitude. Hard work. Shirtless men. Hot Paris days.
A dream project coming true.
Monday the apartment will be painted. Then the bathroom will be tiled, followed by the kitchen set up. It looks like the construction will end in two weeks. Then the "we" that I am will start the interior design/decorating.
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