This is a short, but sad story that I hope you greats of the construction industry can help me with. First off, this is my own house, so no customers were hurt in anyway by the following goof ups. I Thought that I had convinced wife that hardwood floors in the new living room, and kitchen were a good idea. I then purchased tile for parts of the house not getting carpet or the above mentioned hardwood. Now that we find out that the tile is no longer available, she has decided that hardwood may not be right answer. Part of her hesitance is that the local sales people have split about half/half on wisdom of wood floor over concret slab. We are in Dry climate of Hawaii, slab is slightly above grade, ground drains real well, and temperature is very constant. I have been thinking Bamboo, but do I glue, or float on foam, this is the question? Or do I have to try and match the tile that I already have? Wife will not be thrilled with another style of flooring, to hodge podge she says. HELP PLeasseee
Dan This is serious, a three year remodel should turn out right!!!
Replies
Don't talk to us; talk to your wife. From a construction standpoint you can do almost anything. I like the float on slab which is especially good if you are all on a single level.
If you go against your wife's wishes you will be paying for that mistake forever. Unlike a construction mistake, there is no simple fix that just cost money. You will be paying in blood. Either work it out to your mutual satisfaction or just let her choose.
That was among the best replies I've seen in years.
DRC
This is absolutly a marital problem and not a building problem, and area where even the construction greats fear to tread....
Excellence is its own reward!
Yea wifey can be your toughest customer but be sure if you go with wood you put a moisture barrier down .... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
What is she wanting to put down? I never want carpet in my house again. I told Lars that it only causes allergies etc. As a woman of the house I like hardwood. It took some getting use to at first, but now love it. Can't you pick a different tile? I also like the bamboo idea. That would be great in a bathroom. That is just my opinion though. We women can be difficult to deal with, BUT if you get your ducks in a row and can prove why hardwood is a better choice she just might go for it. Good Luck!
Tamara
So, tou think his wife is gonna take advice from another WOMAN!.
Excellence is its own reward!
Yes I realize that this is my problem, and you folks are right to be scared of my wife! But if you were going to lay hardwood on a slab, would you glue or float on foam, or are both just plain bad ideas that should be ignored. I am just a little confused by the above mentioned sales people, and am hoping for experience and wisdom from the Forum. After all, I know I can count on you for marital advice if needed later. Right now it is flooring that we need help with!!!
Dan
Whatever you do, don't take advice from Boss Hogg. he'll just tell you to coat the slab with tar, and press down some 6 mil plastic and floor over that.
; )Cut me some slack here
Quittin' Time
What's the deal, Luka ? Just hadn't gotten in a dig lately ? Don't want to get behind ???.....................(-:
If reality wants to get in touch, it knows where I am.
hehehe
: )Cut me some slack here
Quittin' Time
Dan just tell your wife that a hardwood floor is the same as a good man, If it is laid right the first time, you can walk all over it for years!
Mr TDo not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
Just remember the four words and anything goes for the floor.
Oh Yeah Right Sorry.
I laughed a good 10 min.
mind if I use that one?
As you can tell, we're still split 50/50 here too! Splitting our sides roaring! Maybe we can come up with constructive advice after we finish laughing...
I'm supposing that I might look for engineered snap lock with padded backing for this. But that's supposing only. I would never glue solid wood directly to concrete. Maybe Bamboo has different properties, since it is grass and not wood.
One good idea would be, regarless of the decision you make, get the wife out of the house untill the job is done. Nine times out of ten, when she sees it she'll like it, if it's all finished and prettied up. Let her get involved in criticizing it midstream and it'll ruin your attitude and make it impossible to do good work, plus she'll be watching you move ahead with something she thinks she hates. That will do no good for your future enjopyment of it with her.
On the other hand, if the reason she wants carpet is because she has fantasies of rolling on it naked...forget the wood, man. Buy good carpet padding..
Excellence is its own reward!
I think that all bamboo is "engineered" or laminated in one form or another. The basic pieces are too small to work with.
There is at least one brand of real wood (and I believe also cork) engineered with the click lock edges.
It is made by BHK Uniclic.
http://www.bhkuniclic.com/
I'm with Piffin 100% on this one. <BG>
Check out the Junkers (pronounced "yonckers")floor system. It's a true hardwood strip flooring that snaps together with metal clips, fully floating, reasonably priced, probably forgiving enough for your climate, and removeable if necessary.
Junckers is on the web and advertised in most major trade publications.
DRC
Okay I am bailing out of this one. Looks like the guys here feel that a woman's input is not needed. Hope that you enjoy what ever flooring you guys decide to put down.Tamara
Okay I am bailing out of this one. Looks like the guys here feel that a woman's input is not needed. Hope that you enjoy what ever flooring you guys decide to put down.
Translation? Go ahead and put down the floor and if I don't like it? You're all sleeping on the couch forever. LOL.
Aw, come on, Don't go away mad.
You had some good points and maybe you can read her mind better than we poor old builders.
One thing I saw that he mentioned is that she doesn't want a hodge podge.
From a womans point of view, what does that mean?.
Excellence is its own reward!
FWIW, one of the floor guys, Warren, I think, posted an installation over a concrete floor a while back. Step 1 - trowel on a bed of cold bond mastic. Step 2 - Embed 6 mil poly. Step 3 - Trowel on another layer of mastic. Step 4 - Install a layer of 3/4" plywood, screwed or nailed. Step 5 - Install layer of #15 felt. Step 6 - Install T&G flooring using 1 1/2" staples or nails. Step 7 - Finish as usual. Photos of the job were posted but I don't remember if it was in the old forum or this one. (Probably the old one).
The hardwood store where I get my glue is only troubled by wood gluedowns if using RFH. At least, when I got the glue and mentioned RFH, they said, "You aren't using that for wood, right?" "No bamboo" "Oh, ok, be/c that's all we'd recommend as a gluedown to a RFH slab." My bamboo gluedown has been wonderful, which isn't to say it's the only solution, but it is one of the viable solutions and can work well where you don't want to do a buildup of layers of underlayment. Tried it first as a floating and hated it, so went to gluedown, and am much happier.
Thank You Cloud Hidden;
I knew that if we stuck to this for long enough someone would actually offer advice and experience. Glad to be able to amuse the rest of you, although now my wife is wondering why I waste so much time laughing to the computer late at night. She reads these notes too you know!! Piffin, hodge-podge, is carpet, tile, hardwood, vinyl all in one house and different colors. We are attempting to tie the whole house together, with same wall color and same tile through most.
Cloud; Wife just wants to know, how has bamboo held up, did you use in kitchen? Are water drips a big concern, and what about high traffic doorways? We are to conservative to be real comfortable with "new products", and would certainly appreciate your honest opinion. About six bucks a foot here, so I hate to spend unwisely. Thank you so much, and the rest of you should go kiss your wifes in apology for being so chauvonistic, "old fashioned" for those of you that can't read my spelling. <G>
Dan
Dan, certainly seek out other opinions, be/c it's the internet after all and I could just be a bamboo salesman. I'm not, as can be verified through web site, the tv stuff, etc. But nonetheless...caveat emptor.
Our bamboo has been fantastic. I have about 2000 feet glued that I haven't even sanded and finished yet--sidetracked by work--and we're living and walking on it, and aside from surface dirt, it looks original. (I'm paranoid about dirt staining it below what I'll sand, but thus far, everything has wiped off with water....so far so good.) The most impressive to me is its dent resistance. Despite rolling chairs on it and shoes and dropping stuff and a 4 yo, can't find a ding in the whole lot. And we do love the finished stuff in the areas I have finished it.
I don't have it in my kitchen (tile), though I'd guess it would do as well or better than wood, because of its water resistance. Where we've dropped water on it, nothing has happened.
And it's great fun to work with. It cuts crisp and clean, mills nicely, and has been quite stable. No seasonal variations or gaps, though we are able to keep the interior from varying RH or temp much at all summer to winter and I'm sure that helps.
Dan, Here's some more loose change. Have done one bamboo install (stapled down w/bostich flooring nailer) in a kitchen. Looks beautiful, cleans up nice according to the homowner. I left her a pc of masonite to put under the fridge when she rolled it out to clean. She didn't and it did, leave a small indent from the wheels. It is hard, but not like tile, nor even laminate floor. The colors of the pcs are pretty varying. Do open many cartons to get a representative look before install. Here's what it looks like with white cabs. Since she looks at the posts, tell me, how'd you get so lucky to find a girl that good looking? Best of luck.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Interesting on the color. Our of the hundreds of boxes, maybe only two had the darker. The rest were consistent and I had very little mix and match to do (still did it out of habit).
cloud. This was fromWFI I think. Each box had all the same shade. All dark, all lite. Cept for one which was mixed. Pretty surprising difference.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
My solution to a high use, low maintenance stunning floor in the warm weather of So. Cal was Mexican Travertine. I loved that floor. We put it throughout the whole first floor.
It may cost a bit more than hardwood, but when laid on a diagonal pattern with borders and such, it looks rich. Much more interesting than marble at a lower cost.
Yeah got any pics of this? Sounds interesting.Tamara