IMO wood floors look better longer than laminate. You can get good prefinised hardwood floors, that are not hard to install.
Hard Flooring
- Thread starter jeff0514
- Start date
Looked at a nice newer home a few weeks ago that had a little laminate in it, you could tell it had dogs on it, but it did hold up better than the hardwood floors. Dogs do your home no favors.
I have two young boys who are rough on everything but have not been able to hurt the Costco flooring we installed two years ago. We had it professionally installed which was worth it. I would've gone with hardwood for resale if not for the guys. The Costco flooring is great value and I've been impressed with the quality over time.
If you do bamboo check the hardness rating on it. Some of it is very soft while most of it is many times harder than oak. If you are going to install bamboo the only way to go is glueing it down and not nailing it. I have helped install it both ways and glueing it down left a better finish I thought. Mostly because about every 4th or 5th nail we used we had to then use a nail set to make sure it was all the way in to not get any dimpling on the surface since the bamboo was so hard.
Hardwood flooring is a nice upgrade to carpeting. It's appropriate for families if family members have allergies. An area rug over the hardwood is classic.
Look at oak, maple or Brazilian cherry, which has a darker tone that gets richer with age. The cherry is a renewable resource and widely available now.
Look at oak, maple or Brazilian cherry, which has a darker tone that gets richer with age. The cherry is a renewable resource and widely available now.
A big dog will scratch up any hardwood/laminate floor. A small dog shouldn't scratch anything decent. Our 10 lb dog whose nails don't get cut nearly enough hasn't done a thing to our Brazilian Cherry (which is a gorgeous wood, btw). A Golden Retriever, however, will tear up anything. Pre-finished hardwood has a much stronger finish than can be done in place.
laminate, fake wood floors suck... it looks nice, but does not hold up well at all... any, and i mean 1 ounce of water will soak through rubber bottom rugs and ruin it in 5 minutes... and no they dont cover it with warranty. never in a million years will i go with fake wood floors again. if you do, make sure you get an expensive, better kind then i got. anywhere i have a door and walk over the floor it is ruined. have only had for 1 year.
Well, I decided to go with a strand woven carbonized bamboo and over the entire main level of my house. We are replacing a combination of carpet and vinyl between the various rooms on our main level. Now that I have it set to be professionally installed, I am having some second thoughts on whether it will look good to have the entire main level in hardwood/bamboo. I'm sure if we put some area rugs down, it will break up the rooms a little bit. Any thoughts?
Yes.................excellent choice. And don't have second thoughts. Once it's down.........you will love it. Just put the exact same thing in a kitchen and dining room....about 300 square', and it looks great. Next....put some stone work in your bathroom and kitchen to compliment your floor, and boom.............winning.
Just moved out of an all hardwood floor house into one with carpets and tile. Miss the look of the floors somewhat, but much quiter to walk around in the new place. The floor doesn't show ever speck of dust or dirt either.
Yes. The same kitchen I put down the bamboo.....I made a black granite countertop with a colored glass/travertine mosiac backsplash.
Anyone who has installed hardwood or bamboo throughout an entire level.... is it critical to put t-molding for transitions between bathrooms or laundry rooms? I realize it would allow for easier repair if I ever have any water damage in the bathroom or laundry room, but I'd rather skip the look of t-molding when I'm trying to run the bamboo straight from the hallway into the bathroom or the kitchen area into the laundry room. Any thoughts? Sounds like the t-molding in these situations is an industry standard?
My personal favorite floor that I seen in a co workers house was 4" hickory that was natural in color. It has awesome grain and looks sweet when there isn't a stain covering it.
An option that you could go with is just using a piece of hardwood, use a router and just put a round over edge on it. This is the same thing as a molding piece but looks a lot better. And this way you can install this piece first and then when your installing the rest of the floor, you just but up the piece and you are good to go.
So essentially use the flooring material to create a break instead of t-molding?
Also, is there any set standard for what direction you need to run the flooring? I was told to run it the length of the longest edge of the room/house? Do you have to run it that way throughout even if it means running it "against the grain" of a hallway?
Also, is there any set standard for what direction you need to run the flooring? I was told to run it the length of the longest edge of the room/house? Do you have to run it that way throughout even if it means running it "against the grain" of a hallway?
I'm going to let my contractor husband respond -
All hardwood flooring should be installed running perpendicular to the floor joists. As for transitions, do not buy their overpriced t-mouldings that they try to sell you. If you are laying wood in the bath and laundry, just run the wood through and if there is ever water damage pieces can be replaced even if it is only one piece, if you know how to do it. If you are transitioning to a different solid surface, what needs to be done depends on the height of the surface from the sub-floor. If this is the case, tell me what that height is and I will let you know what needs to be done.
All hardwood flooring should be installed running perpendicular to the floor joists. As for transitions, do not buy their overpriced t-mouldings that they try to sell you. If you are laying wood in the bath and laundry, just run the wood through and if there is ever water damage pieces can be replaced even if it is only one piece, if you know how to do it. If you are transitioning to a different solid surface, what needs to be done depends on the height of the surface from the sub-floor. If this is the case, tell me what that height is and I will let you know what needs to be done.
I am laying strand woven bamboo throughout the entire main level. The entry to our house leads down a short hall. There's a 1/2 bathroom off the hallway. The hallway leads to an open living room that's open to the kitchen. The living room is longer perpendicular to the hallway so I'm not sure which direction to run. The installer said to run along the longest side of the living room even though it would cause running perpendicular to the length of the hallway. Not sure if that makes sense. Maybe I can figure out a way to draw a diagram and share it here.
