|
Post by raphael on Oct 1, 2008 21:50:57 GMT -5
The recent Mohawk layoffs in Fort Oglethorpe made me think about this question as well as my old dingy putrid sherbert green carpet. ;D One day I want to pull it up and go to hardwoods. I hope the floors underneath can be resurfaced to look nice. What are your experiences with either? Which one do you prefer and why? What do you think about that artificial wood like pergo laminate flooring?
|
|
|
Post by wheels on Oct 1, 2008 22:17:02 GMT -5
personally, i like hardwood in common areas. pre-finished hardwood is pretty good. however, i don't like laminate at all. it doesn't look real and it is easily ruined if there is a significant leak.
carpet is good for bedrooms, but not high-traffic areas. if you've ever pulled up carpet, you will probably agree that it is disgusting.
|
|
|
Post by Fredo on Oct 1, 2008 22:59:38 GMT -5
Whenever possible, I discourage my clients from using carpet. If you've ever removed carpet form a house, you'll never put down another square inch of it. Hardwood is certainly more expensive, but if you spill a glass of wine on your hardwood floor it can be cured with a towel instead of new carpet.
Engineered floors: Hate them. They;re absolutely garbage. I'm sure that the manufacturers make all sorts of outlandish claims regarding their durability, but if you ever damage the finish, yo throw away the entire floor.
Prefinished floors: Hate them. All prefinished floors have a chamfered edge between boards. Said edge tends to collect dust and dirt. On top of that, it gives the effect of having a grid running through ones living room.
The only floors to put in your house are finished in place, old school hardwood. sure, it costs more, but it's absolutely worth it.
|
|
|
Post by raphael on Oct 1, 2008 23:09:14 GMT -5
The only floors to put in your house are finished in place, old school hardwood. sure, it costs more, but it's absolutely worth it. That's good to know. I am planning to roll that way but I'm not so sure what I will find underneath this carpet. Probably all kinds of critters. ;D
|
|
|
Post by K78 on Oct 2, 2008 7:08:41 GMT -5
Fredo is exactly right. I've had carpet in the past and have pulled it up to replace it. My budget forced me to put new carpet back down and I hated it, seeing what I had seen when pulling up the old. I was able to hardwood the foyer, but did choose the pre-finished. It was in budget and it was alright, but it wasn't my life long house either. We went with the good stuff this go around and I'm tickled. The husband, who loves carpet.... ....says he wanted it upstairs. It is cheaper and he says it's better for acoustics in a house as open as ours. If we are ever able to have kids, he will change his mind. It will be nasty and dingy. When we go to pull it up, I will then get my hardwood throughout. I helped a friend lay the pergo "floating floor" stuff and although it looks better than carpet, I would hate to spill something in it. It also chipped a lot during install. If you are wanting a do it yourself temporary fix, it's ok for that, but I would recommend it for the long haul.
|
|
|
Post by CoffeeShooter on Oct 2, 2008 8:22:26 GMT -5
If you can afford it, go for the best. I like the bamboo floors too. Fredo? What about them? I grew up in a house with hardwood and we had to wax & polish them as kids. Yes, they had us on our hands and knees but it made us better adults. K-78 .. tell him ...if not the high end stuff, pre-finished is good enough and far, far better than carpet, IMO. Area rugs are affordable and can be replaced when worn or you want to change the feel of room. We have dogs in the house so I just can't worry about my floors. (Life is too short.) The doggie toenails wreak havok on the floors so I just keep them damp mopped and clean. We'll polish them up a bit for entertaining but that's all. If need be I'll put out an area rug for one evening. Randomly I'll get a nice rug at an auction but I hate cleaning them. I always end up getting rid of the rugs. I once had old hardwoods that I refinished myself. It was a chore but well worth the effort. I don't like carpet and haven't used it for years. My favorite floors ever were polished concrete. It took some effort to get them right but they were great. I'd use them again if I could. PS I just scored a beautiful 50+ year old Belgian wool rug with an Eastern design for $20 bucks. It probably retailed for $1,000 in the 1960s. Someone had left it in a paid storage since 1980. All it needed was a strong beating for the dust. The good rugs are out there if you just look around for them.
|
|
|
Post by Fredo on Oct 2, 2008 8:35:51 GMT -5
I'm a little conflicted on bamboo. I like the product and I like that it's renewable, but I don't like the fact that it can't be stained. You get your choice of two finishes. Natural, which is very blonde, or carbonized, which is more of a coffee color. Additionally, it's difficult to find unfinished and I just don't like any prefinished floor. It always lacks the homogeneous look of finished in place flooring so, to me, it always looks cheap.
I would consider bamboo flooring for our house if I could get an unfinished product and I could get a wider color range. it's tough as nail and should lat forever. On top of that, the field where it was grown can be harvested every four years instead of once per century.
|
|
|
Post by K78 on Oct 2, 2008 9:13:44 GMT -5
Because I can't edit it now....I said "If you are wanting a do it yourself temporary fix, it's ok for that, but I would recommend it for the long haul."
I meant, I WOULDN'T recommend it for the long haul.
|
|
|
Post by copperhead on Oct 2, 2008 9:29:23 GMT -5
Hardwood, hands down. With the allergies at our house, we specifically looked for a house without carpeting. We have a couple of area rugs but hardwoods & vinyl throughout the house...with the exception of our new room for which we had laminate laid. I would've preferred hardwood but we couldn't afford it at the time.
My next endeavors include remodeling the master bath & the kitchen. What sort of flooring works best in those areas?
|
|
|
Post by K78 on Oct 2, 2008 9:31:25 GMT -5
Hardwood, hands down. With the allergies at our house, we specifically looked for a house without carpeting. We have a couple of area rugs but hardwoods & vinyl throughout the house...with the exception of our new room for which we had laminate laid. I would've preferred hardwood but we couldn't afford it at the time. My next endeavors include remodeling the master bath & the kitchen. What sort of flooring works best in those areas? TILE!
|
|
|
Post by manlyman on Oct 2, 2008 9:40:18 GMT -5
I'm a little conflicted on bamboo. I like the product and I like that it's renewable, but I don't like the fact that it can't be stained. You get your choice of two finishes. Natural, which is very blonde, or carbonized, which is more of a coffee color. Additionally, it's difficult to find unfinished and I just don't like any prefinished floor. It always lacks the homogeneous look of finished in place flooring so, to me, it always looks cheap. I would consider bamboo flooring for our house if I could get an unfinished product and I could get a wider color range. it's tough as nail and should lat forever. On top of that, the field where it was grown can be harvested every four years instead of once per century. If you do decide to choose bamboo, be aware that long periods of sunlight (like through a sliding glass or french doors) will darken or discolor the wood.
|
|
|
Post by 502blue on Oct 2, 2008 10:01:00 GMT -5
BAH, you naysayers I love my pre-engineered wood floors. I have them in the bathroom and living room, and daughters room. The bathroom has been laid for about 4 years now, and no problems. Of course, in front of the wet areas, I have a tile section. It was laid correctly and so I don't have the "lines". I have tile in my kitchen also. Long ago, i was replacing carpet left and right. Now I don't have to deal with it. Plus, I love my swifter sweeper! Much easier than a vaccum. I have tile carpet in my sons room. So, I can just replace tiles if need be, and regular carpet in my bedroom. I just perfer carpet in my bedroom. Plus, I don't have to worry so much about it in there.
|
|
|
Post by raphael on Oct 2, 2008 13:01:04 GMT -5
Speaking of tiles my cousin is doing his den and kitchen in this real heavy looking tile. I can't remember what it is or how much (expensive he said) but it looks like this tile will last forever. The grout looked like it would last forever too. Does anyone know about this tile?
|
|
|
Post by CoffeeShooter on Oct 2, 2008 13:19:12 GMT -5
We're thinking about some sort of tile for our front porch. Initially we'd planned to resurface the concrete. Now .. I can't decide. My neighbors had some sort of wood laid over their concrete.
Any ideas out there?
|
|
|
Post by 502blue on Oct 2, 2008 13:30:25 GMT -5
Coffee, if it was me, I would go with resurfacing the concrete and adding concrete colorant to it. I LOVE finished concrete floors. They are beautiful!
Not sure about that tile Raph, haven't kept up with it lately. Years ago, I could of told you all about and what the latest and greatest was. That was when I was tiling, tearing out, retiling, etc, etc. I have the re-decorate bug from my mom. Cycles about every two years.
|
|
|
Post by raphael on Oct 2, 2008 14:21:05 GMT -5
Coffee, if it was me, I would go with resurfacing the concrete and adding concrete colorant to it. I LOVE finished concrete floors. They are beautiful! Not sure about that tile Raph, haven't kept up with it lately. Years ago, I could of told you all about and what the latest and greatest was. That was when I was tiling, tearing out, retiling, etc, etc. I have the re-decorate bug from my mom. Cycles about every two years. Okay now that I think about it they may not be tiles exactly. They looked to be as thick as mountain stone you put up on the sides of your house. I can't remember if they were smooth or rough. I'd think they would have been smooth. He has to piece them together to fit though. He says they'll last forever and just by looking at them I would concur.
|
|
|
Post by Fredo on Oct 4, 2008 9:31:54 GMT -5
My next endeavors include remodeling the master bath & the kitchen. What sort of flooring works best in those areas? We do a lot of hardwood floors in kitchens. Most people find that it's a little easier on the feet while working and it's definitely more forgiving when you drop something. For bathrooms, most people still go with tile, but there's no reason that you couldn't do hardwood as long as it's a decent sized room and you have a good exhaust fan. Modern finishes tolerate water more and wear much better than the old fashioned stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Fredo on Oct 4, 2008 9:33:31 GMT -5
I'm a little conflicted on bamboo. I like the product and I like that it's renewable, but I don't like the fact that it can't be stained. You get your choice of two finishes. Natural, which is very blonde, or carbonized, which is more of a coffee color. Additionally, it's difficult to find unfinished and I just don't like any prefinished floor. It always lacks the homogeneous look of finished in place flooring so, to me, it always looks cheap. I would consider bamboo flooring for our house if I could get an unfinished product and I could get a wider color range. it's tough as nail and should lat forever. On top of that, the field where it was grown can be harvested every four years instead of once per century. If you do decide to choose bamboo, be aware that long periods of sunlight (like through a sliding glass or french doors) will darken or discolor the wood. That's true in some cases, but most people use low E glass for new construction and any substantial renovation, so the instance of color change on floors has been reduced pretty substantially.
|
|
|
Post by Diremaker on Oct 9, 2008 18:02:01 GMT -5
I'm going to have my floor level dropped six inches, double lined in plastic, and then I'm going with a dirt floor. If you mess it up, you can just shovel the offensive part out of the house... you never have to mop, vacuum, dust or find a planter to put your plants in. You can keep fresh herbs and vegetables year round! As an added bonus, you can raise earthworms for fun and profit.
It's gonna be a bitch to roll the TV across the room though...
|
|
|
Post by tnshecat on Oct 9, 2008 19:44:02 GMT -5
I'm going to have my floor level dropped six inches, double lined in plastic, and then I'm going with a dirt floor. If you mess it up, you can just shovel the offensive part out of the house... you never have to mop, vacuum, dust or find a planter to put your plants in. You can keep fresh herbs and vegetables year round! As an added bonus, you can raise earthworms for fun and profit. It's gonna be a bitch to roll the TV across the room though... You are goofy Dire! ;D ;D So, what happened to recipe of the week?
|
|
|
Post by Diremaker on Oct 10, 2008 17:02:04 GMT -5
It's coming back... I have benn negligent and have not been in the kitchen much lately. I am gathering up another collection even now.
|
|