Home Improvements

[Seabiscuit36]

thanks SB.  where did you end up buying it from?  do places like Lowes or Home Depot offer the best pricing or should i look at a flooring place?


also, I was talking to a guy who said the most important thing to do is make sure to spend the extra money to get a longer lasting circular saw blade because the flooring really eats up the blade.  you have the same experience?

The first time we bought from Home Depot, i forget the brand we ended up with but it was decent.  And it definitely chewed up the blade.  After our hot water heater blew out and we had to redo the floor, we went to a local Floor Supply store, and they had Shaw flooring at essentially the same price as the big stores.  Smaller guys will try to price match, or offer you some other deals/upgrades i've found. 

That second batch of flooring though was like cutting thru concrete.  We went thru two saw blades, nearly a third.  But the floor was hard enough that our dog couldn't scratch the floor if he tried all day.  Both times we knocked out the floor in about 6 hours.  With most of your wasted time being the cuts around corners. 

[SunMo]

sweet, i'll let you know what day i'm doing it so you can plan on being there

[Seabiscuit36]

Ha, i said after putting the second round of the flooring in that I'm just paying someone a third time instead.  It's really not tough, especially if I managed to do it.  We did like buying from the local flooring place though.

[Sgt PSN]

I've installed it too. It's one of the easiest things you can do to your home.  You'll also want to buy some caulk for after you install the quarter round. Walls aren't always as flat as they appear and you may have some small gaps between the wall and your quarter round. A thin bead of caulk will fill in the gaps nicely and hide those minor imperfections.

[SunMo]

it's not easier than going to the bar while someone else does it though

[Seabiscuit36]

True...

Oh, and I'd highly suggest getting a nail gun.  Manually hammering the brads in sucks. 

[Rome]

Mow your grass in the summer when it's 95 degrees out -

- Or -

Watch the 2014 Phillies?

[Sgt PSN]

Hire someone to watch the Phils, mow the yard yourself.

[Diomedes]

I've done a few of these.  You're perfectly capable of doing it, SunMo.  Some good advice from these other fools.

One thing I've not heard and highly recommend:  buy the installation kit.  They come with useful plastic blocks for knocking pieces together and/or a long flat bar that is extremely useful.  You can and should also make tools for the same purpose out of the material itself.  Using a circular saw or a table saw, rip the tongue off a piece and you've got a good block for knocking the floor together.

The first course is the critical one.  It might be worth spending some time laying it out.  You need to figure out the actual size of the room, if it's square (walls parallel), etc.  You also need to decide which way you're going to run the flooring before you start.  I would not suggest putting it down in line with your line of sight from the main/most used entrance to the room.  Eyes naturally follow long runs and pick up variations in grade/slope/crooked lines much easier than if the floor is run perpendicular to them.

Once you've got this stuff figured out, you have to start somewhere and that first course has to be the truth.  The tricky thing about this stuff is the start: while you want that first course to stay in exactly the right place, the material wants to move around as you snap it together, at least until it develops enough friction/mass to stay put.  It's the height of frustration to install a floating floor system that floats off the mark, or even apart altogether, as you are trying to put the goddamn thing together.

So one thing we've done to avoid this is, once we know where we want to start the floor, we install a temporary backer on the floor.  Strike a chalk line and install 2x4s to it.   Screw them to the floor, nail them without sinking the nails so you can pull it up later, whatever. 

Generally, we want to put this thing at the widest point in the field, and nearer to the far side as possible, meaning that when we start to lay floor using the backstop, we can run more than half the job before we're done with that side.  Once we can't go any further, we turn around and remove the backer.  Our floor system has developed enough friction from it's growing mass that you won't be able to move it while finishing up the remainder. 

I wouldn't do the job without a compound mitre saw, table saw, circular saw, and jigsaw and yeah a new blade(s) is part of the cost. 

[Chameleon]

Hire someone to watch the Phils, mow the yard yourself.

Funny stuff.

[Tomahawk]

I've done a few of these.  You're perfectly capable of doing it, SunMo.  Some good advice from these other fools.

One thing I've not heard and highly recommend:  buy the installation kit.  They come with useful plastic blocks for knocking pieces together and/or a long flat bar that is extremely useful.  You can and should also make tools for the same purpose out of the material itself.  Using a circular saw or a table saw, rip the tongue off a piece and you've got a good block for knocking the floor together.

The first course is the critical one.  It might be worth spending some time laying it out.  You need to figure out the actual size of the room, if it's square (walls parallel), etc.  You also need to decide which way you're going to run the flooring before you start.  I would not suggest putting it down in line with your line of sight from the main/most used entrance to the room.  Eyes naturally follow long runs and pick up variations in grade/slope/crooked lines much easier than if the floor is run perpendicular to them.

Once you've got this stuff figured out, you have to start somewhere and that first course has to be the truth.  The tricky thing about this stuff is the start: while you want that first course to stay in exactly the right place, the material wants to move around as you snap it together, at least until it develops enough friction/mass to stay put.  It's the height of frustration to install a floating floor system that floats off the mark, or even apart altogether, as you are trying to put the goddamn thing together.

So one thing we've done to avoid this is, once we know where we want to start the floor, we install a temporary backer on the floor.  Strike a chalk line and install 2x4s to it.   Screw them to the floor, nail them without sinking the nails so you can pull it up later, whatever. 

Generally, we want to put this thing at the widest point in the field, and nearer to the far side as possible, meaning that when we start to lay floor using the backstop, we can run more than half the job before we're done with that side.  Once we can't go any further, we turn around and remove the backer.  Our floor system has developed enough friction from it's growing mass that you won't be able to move it while finishing up the remainder. 

I wouldn't do the job without a compound mitre saw, table saw, circular saw, and jigsaw and yeah a new blade(s) is part of the cost.

I thought with wood flooring you start at the wall but with tile you start in the center?

[Tomahawk]

I've done a few of these.  You're perfectly capable of doing it, SunMo.  Some good advice from these other fools.

One thing I've not heard and highly recommend:  buy the installation kit.  They come with useful plastic blocks for knocking pieces together and/or a long flat bar that is extremely useful.  You can and should also make tools for the same purpose out of the material itself.  Using a circular saw or a table saw, rip the tongue off a piece and you've got a good block for knocking the floor together.

The first course is the critical one.  It might be worth spending some time laying it out.  You need to figure out the actual size of the room, if it's square (walls parallel), etc.  You also need to decide which way you're going to run the flooring before you start.  I would not suggest putting it down in line with your line of sight from the main/most used entrance to the room.  Eyes naturally follow long runs and pick up variations in grade/slope/crooked lines much easier than if the floor is run perpendicular to them.

Once you've got this stuff figured out, you have to start somewhere and that first course has to be the truth.  The tricky thing about this stuff is the start: while you want that first course to stay in exactly the right place, the material wants to move around as you snap it together, at least until it develops enough friction/mass to stay put.  It's the height of frustration to install a floating floor system that floats off the mark, or even apart altogether, as you are trying to put the goddamn thing together.

So one thing we've done to avoid this is, once we know where we want to start the floor, we install a temporary backer on the floor.  Strike a chalk line and install 2x4s to it.   Screw them to the floor, nail them without sinking the nails so you can pull it up later, whatever. 

Generally, we want to put this thing at the widest point in the field, and nearer to the far side as possible, meaning that when we start to lay floor using the backstop, we can run more than half the job before we're done with that side.  Once we can't go any further, we turn around and remove the backer.  Our floor system has developed enough friction from it's growing mass that you won't be able to move it while finishing up the remainder. 

I wouldn't do the job without a compound mitre saw, table saw, circular saw, and jigsaw and yeah a new blade(s) is part of the cost.

I thought with wood flooring you start at the wall but with tile you start in the center? I like the idea of the 2x4 stop though...work smarter; not harder

[Sgt PSN]

Agreed on the installation kit. It's not expensive and well worth the cost, especially if you're installing in multiple rooms.

Another thing you'll need to consider are the transition strips.  Is the flooring going to meet up against carpet or tile at all?  If so, then you'll need transition strips and I highly recommend installing the locking strip (this is what holds the transition strip in place) before you start installing the floor itself, otherwise your measurements will probably be about 1/2" off.

[SunMo]

thanks for the tips everybody

[Rome]

Don't mix wine and beer.

Ever.