Bamboo is cool, depending ion the species. Some hold up better than others. Water on any floor will warp/cup it unless its a tropical species with unidirectional grain structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyoverland Captive
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Bamboo is cool, depending ion the species. Some hold up better than others. Water on any floor will warp/cup it unless its a tropical species with unidirectional grain structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyoverland Captive
I put in oak on my main floor and 10 years later put laminate in my basement. After 14 years the oak needs refinishing in a couple high traffic areas but still looks good with the finish worn off (in front of the fridge/sink and top tread of the stairs). The laminate looks and feels like plastic. Contrary to reports, laminate does scratch and looks even shittier when it happens. Hardwood can be refinished over and over and over (assuming you're talking 3/4" material) and can last as long as your house. You only really have to worry about sanding it so many times that you wear it down to the grooves.
If you use a Rubio Monocoat finishing system, you can make the scratches in wood far less noticeable. It's an oil type finish instead of a traditional stain and poly seal (which you cannot sand). You can wipe on the finish over a scratch and hide it very well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaver
research the re-finisher carefully. matching can be tough.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruiser
if you're going to live in the space for years to come, go with solid wood - mat'l cost: $4/sf and up depending on species and width
if you're going to treat it like a rental or short-term property, put in a durable laminate engineered floor - mat'l cost $1.75/sf and up
note that any prefinished product (solid or engineered) will have micro-bevels where they are joined or some other transitional detail. So, if you want a flush look, you have to go with traditional solid wood floor installation
Jesus fucking christ.
Get real hardwood. If you can bear to be outside your house and get it installed when you are on vacation or something, you cannot beat site-finished solid wood. No microbevel or any of that fugly bullshit
Pergo: no.
Engineered: why? It's just as expensive and has NO advantages other than cheaper for wider widths. It theoretically can be refinished, so long as you trust some nutjob with a hudge beltsander not to go too deep after smoking that second bowl of the morning (yeah right).
Prefinished solid wood: the second best option. Can be refinished no problem, but has fugly microbevel.
If it's your forever house, go real hardwood and finish in place. If you use a super-legit finish like Waterlox, you don't need to sand before refinishing high-traffic areas. Just screen and apply another coat. Like fucking magic.
Hugh is full of shit. Nobody in their right mind tears out a house full of classic wood floors like oak or maple. If you install a floor full of hard maple or white oak, and put little or no stain on it, it will never go out of style no matter what.
Finally, concrete? In a remodel? On top of floor joists? No. Just no. Don't go that route, plus having floors that hard sucks anyways.
Yes people do (or just fuck'em by recovering with something else) and I was talking about exotics. You know, the ones that were mentioned here because people need that 2500 Janka floor to go with their Ipe deck? Whatever rootdouche.Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
dudes pre law.....listen to him !
We covered our concrete finished floor (radiant heated) with bamboo last year. Has held up well with 2 dogs and 1.5 y/o. After a couple of years with concrete we started to feel like we lived in a basement, and it certainly sounded like it even with several area rugs. It's a suspended floor which kind of gives it that squishy pergo feeling underfoot, probably my only complaint. I'm sure the little one appreciates it when she rolls off the couch though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
Agreed - but Jesus fucking Christ - do it yourself man!!!!
I'm down and I've done it, multiple times. But I usually pay someone else to do the sanding. But come on, this bunch of dentists can hardly even tie their shoes.Quote:
Originally Posted by pepperdawg
Why the fuck would I do that shit myself? My time is more valuable to me than the cost of paying an installer. I'm also just OCD enough to see the difference between my faking it and having a pro do the job.
I don't paint, either. Fuck that.
well maybe you just need to find your happy place with the painting:
BURN THE HAPPY FUCKING TREE
well, most couldn't, and they are the ones who'll rip out the interior (or flip the home to someone who will). that's right follow the dirtpimps advice, plow more money into the useless asset that is a home! woohoo!Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
At least in canadiana your home is the most valuable asset, esp. if you live in Vancouver or Toronto.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Conway
Who wouldn't want to live in Toronto after all?Quote:
Originally Posted by IVplay
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/tv/wp...season-1-2.jpg
Can't load the pic but knowing tgr it's prob bashing Toronto:biggrin:
But honestly Toronto is a dump, only a financial centre, boring as hell here.
well, this decision fucking sucks.
@root, im on a slab, hardwood is going to require me putting in a bunch of plywood isnt it? So thus why i was looking at the engineered.
I was comparing the 2 today and im leaning toward the engineered. You'd hardly be able to tell the difference between that and hardwood unless you had a trained eye. Even then, it looks just as good. Doesn't look cheap at all. Its also cheaper to install. I should mention that money is a big factor here too. With that said, now im like fuck, maybe i need to put it off another year and put in hardwood. Gawd forbid i get laid off or better yet, i get a better job and need to sell the house, its quite obvious people want to see hardwood. I have carpet and my thought was ANYTHING is better. Now you guys are having me drain the bank account and to it right.
Use THIS to glue your wood directly to the slab. Clean the slab with water and a stiff push broom and wet vac to remove dirt and dust. Let it dry a couple of days and set your starter course making sure it is dead nuts straight.
Let it set overnight and install the rest. Keep clean rags and some mineral spirits to clean any glue that gets on the surface off before it dries or you will be cursing as you try to get it off.
If you are not firmly set on wood species look for odd lot closeouts for good deals.
I have a job in a couple of weeks that is 800 sqft of engineered over radiant, 2 species, one type was bought as an odd lot closeout for short money.Don't forget your kneepads.
Word up - Sorry to come off sounding like douche....I actually enjoyed it and seeing the outcome......Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
Tippster - Yah agreed painting sucks the big one...
If it's on a slab, then engineered is fine. I missed that part.Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
i didnt know i had to rule hardwood out till yesterday. Thanks all for the responses and pm's. Engineered it is. i'm going with a dark one, well because it looks sweet. Scratches will show, but if you saw my carpet i have now, a scratched up engineered hardwood is awesome. I was also informed this is turning into more money. My installer told me the baseboards will be lower, so there will be a line. Hello new paint job. What fucking sucks about that is im doing the entire house besides kitchen and bathrooms. FML. Luckily i have a buddy who paints on the side. (use to be painter, now in IT) That and i helped him do someones decks last summer free of charge. And im talking some serious decks. A big ass front one half the size of her house. A nice sized back one. Then a boat dock. So no labor costs thank gawd. He's got a sprayer, But still a pain in the ass. The good news is, my wife will be happy and leave me alone for a month. New floors and hardware on the cabinets. The last chore for me is the back yard. Once again, FML. After that, she's funding any further projects. I'm done.Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
You might not need to dick around with the baseboards and paint. Every house I have ever ripped up carpet to put down engineered, the baseboards are right around 3/8" of the floor and the engineered slides right under. I pull the base on one side of the room, lay the floor and then put the base back in with a pin nailer. Usually I don't even need to touch up the base. You might have to flush cut any door casing as that usually goes to the floor. More importantly, what will Zillow think of all this?Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
You can also just add a shoe molding instead of ripping out and reinstalling all the base.
I just heard of an unusual flooring problem, a buddy of mine re-did the floors in his house which he had owned for years went a little more upscale & spent some coin. He did not mention his wife having problems with sensitivity BUT the off gassing of glue/new material/whatever/yadyada made his wife so sick the smartest option was to sell and move to a newer 13yr old house that didn't need any upgrades, kind of unusual but it does happen and buddy had no choice but to move
had to google that. That looks pretty clean. ill have them price that out. i plan on painting anyways, i just wasnt looking to do the entire fricking house at this point.Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
ya, i just went and checked one of the doors, it does goto the floor. Also, im doing my kitchen. are they going to need to yank my appliances out to put floor down there? Or does it stop at front of appliance?I was going to wait and put tile down, but ive got linoleum in there now and the previous owners kid took some kind of marker to it. I can't afford to do the tile for awhile. And there is no way i'm doing the whole house and leaving that fricking linoleum in there. It would look ridiculous. I can always yank the floor up when i tile my entryways, bathrooms and fireplace. (fireplace has same tile as entryway, so i'll have to do it).Quote:
Originally Posted by mcsquared
Ya, im curious on what the zillow gods say it adds to the value of the house. My neighbor has his house done, but not the whole thing. He also doesnt have granite and has pretty standard cabinets.
If you are painting it, this is the simplest option. If you want a stained finish on the base, it can be hard to match. In that case, new baseboard which is a little bit higher than the old base is easy to put in and you might not need to paint the walls.Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
disregard the appliance question. its quite clear im going to have to yank them. I have gas. is there usually a turn off valve right behind the oven?
Yes, usually a shutoff and you can usually unscrew the handle and reinstall it so the gas valve cannot be bumped open.Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
I put hardwood floors in my place. There were original wood floors that were not repairable and the cheapest option was to lay new hardwoods over the top of the old. The problem was that the counter was too low to fit a dishwasher in if the new wood floor went underneath the dishwasher. Of course, stopping the wood flooring in front of the dishwasher meant that replacing the dishwasher would mean lifting the counter. I figured we'd be ready for new cabinets and counter by the time the dishwasher went out. As I'm sure you've guessed, we were in no position to remodel the kitchen when the dishwasher broke and getting a new one in was a major hassle.Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
Slab- you need to go engineered, especially if it is a high moisture area. Get a moisture test done on the concrete. There is a glue/ moisture barrier that is very expensive, but needed for high moisture areas. It essentially doubles the cost of the project. Our floors were put down right over this barrier on the slab.
We went with a Spanish Hickory engineered- it is a faux hand scraped. Had it put in 4 years ago, and it looks new. I have dropped knives on it in the kitchen, heels have stomped it, dogs have slid across it, etc. Looks like it did the day we got it. The hand scraped look already has blemishes built in, so you don't really notice a scratch or dent. They are everywhere already.
Edit- I jusy went back and saw that you already knew all this. Seriously though, look at the hand scraped stuff before you decide.
If your cabs are set on the lino directly you = kinda fucked. As said, the DW won't fit. Why they don't make some type of remod. DW or a different design of the leg/valance is beyond be. I install floors for a living (among other things) and this comes up constantly. Tile should be cheaper than HW so I don't get the whole wood now tile later argument. Honestly, save up until you can do it right the first time.
what a pain in the fucking ass. You guys are just full of good news. fuck, now with this whole dishwasher thing, i have no choice but to tile it now. Thanks again to all with the input. I've never done any kind of construction so my misinformed ass wouldnt think of these type of things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Foggy_Goggles
after further inspection, i am good on the dishwasher. The oven has at least an inch gap as well. So i'm good on clearance.Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
Ice, I'm not sure taking your wife to a store is the way to sell her on concrete. We went to our friend's with radiant concrete for the Super Bowl, took off our shoes, and immediately felt that warmth. We have slate over radiant, and its similar, but looks better in entryways, etc. IMHO. Of course, I do what the wife says too.
I guess you're right, since it didn't work.Quote:
Originally Posted by plugboots
hehe, FAIL...nothing wrong with admitting that.Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman