Flooring?

[no704]

Ripping carpet out of bedroom. Carpet is stupid in AZ. What to go with? Nothing, just the concrete. Tile, ceramic or stone. Or cork?

 

[southkogs]

Cork might be kinda' cool. Haven't used it myself though, so I'm not sure. I've got one laminate floor down in my house. I've been pretty impressed with it.

 

[thumpar]

If you go with tile get a real stone. We did the kitchen in the fake stuff. It is the expensive kind and it looks ok but when you see it everyday I get annoyed. People that come visit like it though. If it wasn't the kitchen I would have put in the scraped oak wood. There are also some epoxy finishes you can put on the concrete. They have got pretty fancy.

 

[scipper77]

Wood is great, always improves the character of a house and very hard to make a poor design choice. Just go with oak or maybe a Brazilian cherry. Pets can easily scratch however and the sun will change the color with time which might mean you avoid area rugs forthe first year or two.

Tile is great as well, but the design choices might leave you with regrets. Anything that drops breaks (dishes, phones, children...).

Laminate is very cost effective and to be honest there is some really great looking stuff made today. My front entryway is a laminate that looks like ... Hickory or walnut (Can't remember). Each board is made to look like an individual wood board (I can't stand the stuff that each piece is 3 boards wide). And on mine there is a slight chamfer on each edge which is what really makes it look like wood and not laminate.

I am design challenged and always think resale (just in case) so I would put down a nice hardwood. If I was confident in my interior design abilities I'd go with tile but knowing myself I will regret whatever tile I chose within a year.

Hope my rambling is in some way helpful.

 

[JASinIL2006]

If I weren't going for a tile/stone choice (and there, your budget will pretty much be a major factor in which way to go), I'd opt for hardwood, too. Cork just seems less likely to hold up.

If you do go with hardwood, the prefinished floors have a coating that is much harder and more durable than what you get if you sand and finish the floor after installation. We put in a prefinished hardwood floor (oak) and the thing is darn near indestructible.

 

[gm280]

I'm presently changing every room in our house and removing (old disgusting) carpet and replacing with hardwood for the more warmth look and feel. We've tiled the foyer and bathrooms, kitchen and laundry rooms, but hardwood everywhere else. No more carpet... Wonder if anybody has a preference with hard wood laid standard or on a 45 degree angle?

 

[scipper77]

I'm presently changing every room in our house and removing (old disgusting) carpet and replacing with hardwood for the more warmth look and feel. We've tiled the foyer and bathrooms, kitchen and laundry rooms, but hardwood everywhere else. No more carpet... Wonder if anybody has a preference with hard wood laid standard or on a 45 degree angle?

My neighbor did standard with a border around the perimeter and made cool little medallions at the corners all just using the wood he ordered and his miter saw. I remember it being a standard install but on the diagonal makes more sense as you would have a defined border around the entire room. You need to make really precise cuts at perfect angles to pull this off.

 

[foodfisher]

45 degree = lots of waste.

 

[redneck joe]

45 degree = lots of waste.

not really you have as much opportunity do use the drop at least I felt the couple times I did it.

 

[gm280]

45 degree = lots of waste.

True, but it is one time thing and I've install all our floor tiles with patterns instead of the norm for more appeal. The limited amount of waste doing 45 degree is not an issue with me. I was just asking if folks thought it look better? As far a precise cuts, I have the proper saws and equipment to do this without problems...

 

[redneck joe]

this or next year we are ripping up the three different surfaces we have and redoing all downstairs (1700 sq ft)


stain your concrete. If I had that option I would jump at it in a heartbeat we have rustic concrete countertops


if you go laminate, don't go cheap they look cheap (we have from builder in living/master) unless you still got kids at home and have better things to spend money on now.


we have fake tile (ie pressed cardboard) in kitchen and after 15 years starting to look like it and moisture is getting to it.


I'm thinking tile that looks like wood planks for the kitchen and a prefinished hardwood everywhere else. New carpet on the stairs which is hardly ever used but it is 15 year old builder grade crap and looks like it.

 

[bruceb58]

If you are on concrete, you won't be able to put straight hardwood on it unless you put some sort of underlayment which then makes it too thick. Will have to be an engineered floor. Just put engineered Brazilian cherry in the downstairs of my house where I have a mixture of tile and now wood. No more carpet downstairs.

 

[gm280]

bruce, I have to agree, our old old old carpet is nothing but dirt trap and we want a clean new fresh look that is easier to keep up with. So we will end up with tile and wood and no more carpet anywhere. I like the hand scraped look with varying lengths to keep from having a seam pattern across the floors.

 

[rbh]

AZ is hot in your area no snow or freezing temps in the winter??

Paint floor use throw rugs? easy cleaning.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I'm presently changing every room in our house and removing (old disgusting) carpet and replacing with hardwood for the more warmth look and feel. We've tiled the foyer and bathrooms, kitchen and laundry rooms, but hardwood everywhere else. No more carpet... Wonder if anybody has a preference with hard wood laid standard or on a 45 degree angle?

I personally am not a big fan of that look, especially in older homes. In really modern-styled houses it might look better, but I think it would look kind of dated after a while. If you're installing it over a traditional structural floor (joists-subfloor-underlayment), I would think you'd want to be extra careful that your underlyament-subfloor was particular flat and solid. You wouldn't want the individual finished flooring boards to 'rock' over joists when weight is applied (more likely to happen than if flooring is at right angle to joints).

 

[gm280]

Odd we are talking about different flooring options. I can remember decades ago when I was in my single digit years and living in PA, we had hardwood floors that my dad installed. The was the "in" thing at that time. Then seems everybody went to carpet. Oh yes, the quiet soft carpet was the "in" thing then and everybody covered over their old ugly hardwood floor to be modern and up to date. Now every new home I go into has nothing but solid hardwood floors with the exceptions of the bathrooms for the most part. At least the higher end homes... Amazing how everything comes full circle...

 

[bigdee]

I can remember decades ago when I was in my single digit years and living in PA, we had hardwood floors that my dad installed. The was the "in" thing at that time. Then seems everybody went to carpet. ...

Yes I remenber those days. Carpet was a way to get away from those scratches and refinishing. Laminate and engineered hardwoods of today have a much more durable finish. HIGH QUALITY LAMINATE IS ALMOST INDESTRUCTABLE.

 

[redneck joe]

Yes I remenber those days. Carpet was a way to get away from those scratches and refinishing. Laminate and engineered hardwoods of today have a much more durable finish. HIGH QUALITY LAMINATE IS ALMOST INDESTRUCTABLE.

and 'wall to wall carpeting' was a sign of affluence.


True style never goes out of style.

 

[redneck joe]

.. Amazing how everything comes full circle...

yeah, including beards. I noticed beards coming back a few years ago now they are everywhere. not good

 

[dingbat]

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