Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with flooring

Dummies' guide to installing laminate flooring

feathermeat — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:18:52 -0800

Hot tips on laying down laminate floor? So we have decided that we are beyond sick of the disgusting carpet in our living room and boring vinyl in our kitchen and want to replace both with some kind of laminate flooring (the kind you click together, not the kind that needs glue). For cost reasons, we need to do it ourselves. We are utterly clueless in these matters, so I'm looking for any advice from people who have done this themselves. Also, if anyone knows of a really, really good step-by-step guide on the net, please point me to it.

Flooring solution for a slab floor and an owner with allergies.

odragul — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:23:20 -0800

Very humid house on a slab -- what's the best kind of flooring to help alleviate my allergies? I live in central Illinois. I am allergic to everything. We currently have carpeting in our entire house that traps all of the dust and allergens and funnels them directly up my nose. I can't sit on the floor for more than 10 minutes without a sneezing fit.

We would like to replace the carpet, but our house sits on a slab and we're worried about both the cold air and moisture (basically our town was once a swamp). What would be a good flooring option for us?

(I saw this product on a previous question -- but since I'm an ignoramus when it comes to taking care of a house (good thing I own one!) I'm not sure if it will work for my situation.)

Silencing squeaky floorboards.

SueDenim — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:20:15 -0800

Squeaky floorboards in hallway. Sleeping toddlers that wake at the slightest noise. What are your best tips for reducing the creaks and squeaks? The floor is wooden (not laminate) made of lots of thin (2 inch width) wooden strips. The floor is stained and coated in polyurathene.

Skirts and Rushes: a Medieval Mystery

taz — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:59:19 -0800

Drafty castles, stone construction, floors strewn with rushes, noble ladies' trailing gowns... Anyone who's read any historical fiction set in the Middle Ages is familiar with these popular Medieval motifs, but I have been troubled by a number of questions about these items. Perhaps we have some period history mavens who can ease my confusion? (Warning: Long! Strewn! Possibly moldy.) I was completely fascinated to find this page of notes about real life for the upper classes in the Middle Ages, and it addresses one of the things I've always wondered about. In fact, I came upon it while specifically searching for information about rushes as floor covering. In this piece, the author rejects the idea of loosely strewn straw-like rushes (in rich households), because of the impracticality of the ladies of the house, with their sweeping gowns, navigating such domestic terrain. She opines that what was actually used were woven mats made of rushes, which seems to make more sense, especially since woven/braided rush mats have been in existence since at least 4000 BC (scroll to the bottom) - and so why wouldn't these wealthy families have these instead of scattered rushes, at least in all the areas where the family members were likely to frequent?

Could "rushes" just have been shorthand for "rush mats" in some cases where we have recorded references to this practice?

Yet, Erasmus (1466-1536) wrote this about Medieval floors in England:

"The doors are, in general, laid with white clay, and are covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned. Whenever the weather changes a vapour is exhaled, which I consider very detrimental to health. I may add that England is not only everywhere surrounded by sea, but is, in many places, swampy and marshy, intersected by salt rivers, to say nothing of salt provisions, in which the common people take so much delight I am confident the island would be much more salubrious if the use of rushes were abandoned, and if the rooms were built in such a way as to be exposed to the sky on two or three sides, and all the windows so built as to be opened or closed at once, and so completely closed as not to admit the foul air through chinks; for as it is beneficial to health to admit the air, so it is equally beneficial at times to exclude it".

(I'm assuming "doors" is just a typo here, and should have been "floors.") Was he speaking of more common dwellings, instead of rich families who had the manpower to have the rushes at least changed quite regularly, if not replaced by much more practical woven mats that could be removed, shaken out and/or washed, allowing for the floor beneath to be cleaned?... not to mention solving the problem of "strewn rushes" being plowed through by trailing gowns, capes and cloaks?

But perhaps those lavish gowns and outer garments were rarely worn, for significant events and high social occasions only? Did even the most aristocratic ladies wear far more practical, floor-escaping dress in their day-to-day lives?

I've also wondered about dried rushes as flooring in castles where candles and lamps were the nighttime light sources, in combination with tapestries hung over the walls, curtained beds, etc... the stone floors and walls wouldn't have burned, but it seems like the inhabitants of those rooms would certainly have been at great risk.

And... of course, it doesn't take a modern mind to recognize that insects and vermin will quickly infest aging/moldy straw/rush debris. For poor people who spent every waking moment struggling to merely insure their basic survival, this is perhaps simply one of the many things that they didn't have the luxury to address, but what about the luckier few... what were their floors & rushes practices?

Also, I do understand we are talking about a period that spans centuries, and significant geographical and cultural differences - in a time when few were literate, so precise Best Practices manuals addressing something so mundane cannot be expected, but if you have more info, well... I'm oddly curious, and welcome any insights and/or links.

slip sliding away.

mecran01 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:19:18 -0800

I've installed laminate flooring about a year ago, and individual pieces are sliding around. I don't know if this is because the ridges on the short ends have broken, or whether it's a change in weather, or crud has slipped into the spaces.

Shameful confession: I have not installed the baseboards or transitions yet. Will they help reduce slippage?

Can I glue the sliding pieces together? I have seen recommendations for "blue fusion" a pv 2 glue.

This only happens in two high traffic spots.

A Not Quite Fix for My Poor Hardwood Floors

aabbbiee — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:30:55 -0800

How can I limit damage to my virtually-unfinished hardwood floors without the trouble/expense of refinishing? I have an 1800 sq foot ranch-style home built in 1994 (in Missouri, USA). All of the flooring is hardwood, with the exception of a small utility room and the two bathrooms. This is a slab home, and the wood is directly on top of the concrete. I cannot be very specific about the type of wood it is- possibly oak? It's very standard early-90s suburban house wood flooring.

When I bought this house in 2006 (at the top of the market, of course), the floors were not in great shape. I didn't care because I own a dog and do not want to live a lifestyle where I have to place a lot of emphasis on keeping my floors scratch-free. My house is not worth what I paid for it, and I've had to put some very expensive work into it (roof, foundation repairs, new a/c, just to start). This is not a house I wanted to own forever. I will likely sell or rent the place out in 5 years.
In addition, refinishing of any part of the house would require refinishing of all the floors of the house, because the wood flows through all the rooms. I have had a casual estimate of $4000 to refinish the floors of the house. This is not chump change for me, and that new a/c unit was installed just two weeks ago, so I am not exactly rolling in it right now.

Until this past weekend, I didn't worry too much about the floors, but they were not in great shape. I cleaned them regularly by sweeping or vacuuming. Maybe once a year I tried to clean them with Murphy's Oil, whereupon it became obvious that they had almost no finish left. The water soaked in and there was a smell of wet wood.

This past weekend, I had the excitement of coming home to find that a washing machine hose had burst (the washing machine was not even in use at the time) and flooded about a third of the house with an inch of water in just forty-five minutes. (Fantastic entertainment for a Saturday night!)

After the immediate cleanup, I am happy to see that there was very little long-term damage to my house. The floorboards have dried out without buckling. We've had very low humidity this week (totally unusual for Missouri in summer) but the new a/c has been very helpful, and I think I removed the water fast enough that there may not be mold damage. Furniture and other possessions were largely untouched. Rugs are all cotton and can be washed. I was remarkably fortunate.

The only thing that was ruined was [whatever was left of] the finish of the hardwood in that part of the house. In the living room, I can see where the water was and where it stopped. It's not a bad stain and it would likely come out with sanding, but the floors are clearly in even worse shape than they were. Refinishing them would fix them perfectly, I'm sure.

I don't want to refinish. See paragraph #2.
What can I do with these floors? My priority is to decrease the amount of damage that my dog and I could incur if we live on pretty-much-unfinished wood floors. Making them pretty is not really my priority. I just want to limit the damage. (I can't put rugs everywhere.)
Google lists different products on the market that swear they will help me, but I don't know enough to tell the useless & destructive from the magic miracle tonic.
Things that involve sanding seem to be a little beyond my comfort zone as far as things I can do myself (and I don't want to hire someone else).
What options beyond refinishing do I have? How should I be cleaning this floor?

Should I get a Marmoleum kitchen floor?

Bardolph — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:13:59 -0800

Flooring-filter: Talk to me about linoleum in general, and Marmoleum brand linoleum in particular. Is it nice? Is it DIY-able? What should I know before choosing it for our kitchen? So we're looking to replace our current, ugly, vinyl kitchen floor with something non-vinyl. Our original idea was ceramic tile ($2/sqft), but our contractor is claiming we'll have to replace our Luan subfloor with concrete backing board in order to stabilize the tile, bringing the final total to ~$13/sqft installed (!). At those prices, we've been considering alternatives, and Marmoleum in particular has looked interesting. We love the environmental friendliness, its warmth and softness underfoot. The material itself is pretty expensive, though ($6/sqft), so in order to make it competitive with tile we'd have to be able to keep our existing subfloor and DIY the installation.

I'm worried, though, because while I really really want to love Marmoleum, both the installation and the material itself get perplexingly mixed reviews on sites like this one. There seems to be some concern, for instance, that it bubbles up when installed by anyone but a super-gifted and experienced professional, and that regardless of installation the material is hard to clean and not very durable.

If you've got a lino floor yourself, or know of anyone who does, I'd love to hear some more reliable perspectives on this. In particular, is linoleum or Marmoleum attractive/comfortable/durable? Does it work with DIY installation? And is there anything else (alternative brands, caveats, tips and tricks) I should know before I make this choice?

If it helps, our decisionmaking criteria are (1) durability/livability, (2) cost, and (3) aesthetics, in that order. Thanks!

Help me make a flat & silent floor.

at the crossroads — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:07:27 -0800

Can I fix the buckling laminate in my new apartment without ripping up the whole damn floor? I just moved into an older apartment that has laminate flooring on a concrete slab. It is very humid here, much higher than RH 75%- There is no mold or warping or rotting that I can see, only swelling that I think is causing the problem.

There is one long bubble down the hallway to the bathroom that seems wasn't cut short enough to allow for swelling at the threshold nor the at the walls-- so there is pressure in both directions. There is another sizable bubble in the middle of the floor of a 12' x 18' room where the laminate runs parallel to the 12' wall and the pressure seems to flow in the direction of the grain. So that bubble moves around a bit, buckling up where the laminate "clicks" together.

When the laminate snaps back to the concrete underneath, it makes and incredibly loud annoying "pop" at every footstep, resonating through the whole apartment.

I am comfortable removing the base boards and cutting these down to size, but I am afraid I will have to remove the whole damn floor. What nightmares should I expect to encounter on the way to my flat floor? I have no scraps or leftovers, so if I damage a piece or mis-cut, will I have a hard time trying to find a suitable match to replace it? Should I just learn to live with the bubbles instead?

All suggestions welcome.

BugFilter: Unbeknownst to us, water got under our kitchen flooring. The bad section has been pulled up and cleaned but I'm seeing some small bugs in that general area. Help!

pghjezebel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:24:58 -0800

BugFilter: Unbeknownst to us, water got under our kitchen flooring. The bad section has been pulled up and cleaned but I'm seeing some small bugs in that general area. Help! Water got under our kitchen flooring and the floor buckled up. (Very old kitchen that has a layer of peel and stick tile, then old laminate flooring and then the sub flooring.)

I pulled up that area this morning because I smelled faint mildew and was worried about mold. I cleaned the area with a diluted bleach solution and have a fan blowing on the area to help it dry out.

What I'm really worried about is the small bugs that keep popping up around that area. I've only seen/killed about 10-12 of them since this morning. They are small and flea like. One or two flew when I disturbed them but for the most part they just see to jump to try and get away from me.

What are these? Are they fleas? Springtails? Something else that was just attracted to the moisture under the floor? (I haven't seen them anywhere else in the house, just specific to that area.) What should I do before they get any worse?

Economical flooring suggestions

specialk420 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:53:47 -0800

Looking for suggestions/recommendations on economical home flooring solutions after a carpet de-install in a 70s era home. Looking at hardwood, laminate, bamboo, pergo. probably wont be in the home more than 5 or 6 years - neighborhood calls for an nice economical solution. modern, cool, dark are intial thoughts. Any suggestsions? recommendations?

Best tips for installing linoleum

msalt — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:05:25 -0800

Please give me advice and tips for a DIY linoleum installation. First my bathroom (5' x 10'), then if all goes well the kitchen (8' x 10', so a seam). I've already removed the 1" tile in the bathroom, though some adhesive remains on the plywood. Specific ?s: what's the best way to smooth the floor (sand down? fill up?), and how precisely smooth need it be? How does one handle seams? What about thresholds to adjoining rooms? Thx.

Hardwood floor protective coating?

Mid — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:44:52 -0800

How to protect hardwood floors from my dog and child? We are moving into a new house that has very nice new-ish floors. The floors were either refinished or perhaps replaced about 1-2 years ago. They look great. I'm told they are "cherry," if that matters.

In the house we are leaving, the floors are destroyed. Our dog and our kid have just beaten the heck out of them over the years.

So, here's the question: is there anything we can do for the new floors before we move in to protect them? We have talked with a couple of floor guys, who both say that they would put "a couple of coats" on the floors before we move in. But, other people have told me that putting coatings on the floors will just make the eventual scuffs and scratches look worse. I have no idea what kind of coats we are talking about.

Obviously, we will put rugs and runners where we can.

Any clues here? Thanks

Recommend kitchen flooring that's green

theora55 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:54:50 -0800

I like cork flooring. Will my dog ruin it? Looking for ideas for kitchen flooring, preferably green* and not very expensive. Wacky ideas welcome. *green - least environmental cost The subfloor is plywood, with ugly, beat up, vinyl tiles. I like commercial grade vinyl, but it's not green at all. Cork is warm and quiet underfoot, but I have a klutzy dog, and I'm worried it would get trashed. Same w/ bamboo. I don't want ceramic tile. I love real linoleum, but it's pricey.

By wacky, has anyone used reclaimed pallets? or? It may come down to what I can pick up on Craigslist. I expect this to happen no sooner than April so I have time to shop CL. A lot of recycled products are not avaiolable here, so would be costly to get.

Help me mop my giant textured floor w/o a mop or bucket

bjork24 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:15:58 -0800

Our new theater has a huge, textured, highly-trafficked, sealed concrete floor in the lobby, and I'm really dreading the thought of mopping it. What can I buy to help make the job easier? Obviously, the easiest route would be to hire a cleaning crew to come in once a week and mop it for me, but I don't mind doing stuff like this myself... I just hate using our old loop mop and giant yellow bucket. I've looked at countless steam / wet / mop / vacuums on Amazon, but everyone seems to be using them on hardwood floors and linoleum. I need something that will work on a highly-textured surface.

I'm willing to spend money on the right solution, so long as it works at least as well as the old mop and bucket solution.

Brazilian Cherry over radiant heat (or: living life on the razor's edge)

jewzilla — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:37:04 -0800

My wife and I would like to install a floating Brazilian Cherry wood floor over radiant heat. Almost all manufacturers do not warrant this (and Brazilian Cherry is often called out as the worst possible wood to use over radiant heat). However, SOME manufacturers do warrant it. For example, I just finished speaking with Mannington, which warrants this flooring over radiant heat (as long as the floor doesn't exceed 90 degrees). The rep couldn't tell my why their floor is different than anyone else's, so I'm skeptical that this is a good idea. Can this be done successfully? I am suspicious of the manufacturers that claim to warrant it. I'm especially interested in hearing from someone who's had a similar floor installed for several years.

What kind of flooring should I use in my Basement of Doom?

dayintoday — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:13:07 -0800

Are there any flooring options for a concrete basement floor that occasionally gets moist from groundwater/high water table? If so, do I need to remove the paint on the floor first? Here's the full story:

-Basement was once carpeted (by previous owners). Sewer backed up so we pulled up the carpet.
-We painted the cement floor (Sherwin-Williams concrete stain... lovely shade of blue).
-We hate the painted cement floor and want something else.
-The basement is mostly dry (no water gets in from storms, we use a humidifier, and don't have a sump pump). However, when objects (like large plastic storage totes) are on the floor, some moisture builds and mold forms. Gross.

We've been told several things so far, none of which we're totally sure about:
-We should NOT seal the concrete b/c hydrostatic pressure will cause the concrete to crack or shift over time.
-We should remove the paint b/c that seals the concrete, causing above problem.
-Carpet is fine and no vapor barrier is needed.
-Carpet is fine if a vapor barrier is used.
-Carpet is not fine at all.
(and so on with every type of flooring)

Does anyone have a similar experience and advice on flooring that will work without turning the basement into a nasty mold pit? And is the paint we used really sealing the concrete and potentially causing this mold issue and/or a later hydrostatic pressure issue?

What happens if a company you have an outstanding order with goes bankrupt?

csimpkins — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:21:57 -0800

A company we ordered flooring from filed for bankruptcy while we were waiting for our stuff to come in. What now? We ordered $140 worth of flooring from iFloor on 11/22. Thirteen days later they filed for bankruptcy. They never contacted us to let us know. So today, I called to find out if our stuff arrived and am greeted with a notice that the store is closed - permanently - and I should leave my info after the prompt to be contacted regarding the issue.

I'm pretty livid. But even more so, I'm unsure of what happens now. Do we get our money back? Do we get our stuff? Are we screwed? How long does a resolution, if there is one, for these things generally take?

mosaic tile floor has weak spots

nzydarkxj — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:54:54 -0800

My mosaic tile floor is crumbling. I suspect its because the floor gives a little under weight. If I repair it, will the same thing happen again? Or, what else could I do to avoid giving up on it completely? I put together a mosaic on the floor of a small open area and the bathroom, (cement glue, grout, small pieces of heavy floor tiles), but recently random tiles which seem like they should be squished solid in the middle started coming out, and then a weak spot is formed when the ones around the hole can lift up.

It feels like the surface of the floor below the mosaic (which unfortunately is not concrete but I;m not sure what it is) is not 100% immobile, and tends to move a little under weight (probably similar to stepping on an older wood floor, pressing less than a centimeter down under weight).
I am guessing this causes the grout to somehow break in between the firm tiles and the ones that have the possibility to move when stepped on.

I don´t think I have the resources/ money/time to pull up the mosiac and the material beneath it to resurface and redo the mosiac completely. Most areas of the floor are completely secure and dont/wont need repairs.

Is there some way I can redo these trouble spots where a couple pieces lifted up and make them more firm or able to overcome this problem?
If not, what could I possibly do to salvage my mosaic or floor, aside from calling it a complete failure and putting something flexible like linoleum on the floor?

Is this laminate defective or is this typical?

tristeza — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:02:46 -0800

Should I keep the $800 worth of as-yet uninstalled Shaw VersaLock laminate flooring, or is this just a shoddy product that I need to return to "Larry" at the floor store? Just started installing the Shaw VersaLock laminate flooring that I bought, following the instructions on the website, and so far the locking ridge at the end of almost every board has broken.

We've watched the video, read the PDF, read the box (mind you, all 3 versions of instructions are slightly different), but no matter what, the fiberboard ridges simply snap off/crumble with any movement whatsoever of the joined boards.

It's VersaLock AG 8mm laminate over deluxe underlayment.

Has anyone had an experience like this with this or similar products? Is it fatal to the installation to have this happening - as in, will these locking ridges continue to break under stress once the floor is installed?

How to I clean glue and debris from a hardwood floor without harming the floor?

deern the headlice — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:15:53 -0800

I recently ripped up ceramic tiles from a patch of hardwood floor - what's the best way to remove the remaining glue and debris without harming the wood itself? I've tried to delicately use a chisel and shave off bits of glue, but the floor where the tiles were is still looking a bit rough. I know there are ways to break down the glue (paint thinner, spirits, etc), I just don't want to do it at the expense of the floor. Thanks!

Looking for something to cover the ugly carpet in our apartment for less than $500 for 156 sq ft.

Brian Puccio — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:21:30 -0800

Can we get area rugs (or custom cut+bound remnants) to cover our apartment's ugly carpet that won't bubble up or fall apart? The gf and I have an apartment that has two carpeted rooms (one is roughly 8x9 and the other 7x12) but the carpet is just an ugly brown. When I first moved in 18 months ago, I got some cheap Ikea Erslev rugs. But they get dirty quick, don't stay put (even though I've resorted of copious amounts of carpet tape) and have started to wear out. So we bought a remnant at a local carpet place, had it cut and bound and tried it out. It bubbled up in several spots and we thought it was because it was too tight a fit. We had it cut down and even with two inches on each side (which I think looks ugly since now the room is ringed by a stripe of brown carpet) it still won't lay flat. We do have the bed on one half of it and two bookshelves on the other half of it.

I'm tired of spending money trying to cover up the ugly brown carpet on solutions that don't work. I'm OK with spending up to $500 to hide the carpeting in these two rooms and have started looking at carpet tiles. Would those work and would the fact that they are tiles, as opposed to one continuous piece, and thus wouldn't bubble and buckle so much? Is there another solution we should be looking at?

Thanks!

How do I work out a flooring installation gone awry?

indigo4963 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:05:29 -0800

What's my recourse with a flooring installation now gone awry that was partially contracted through Home Depot, and partially worked out "on the side" with the installer? Three months ago, I used Home Depot contracted services for installing Traffic Master laminate flooring in my kitchen. I happened to buy additional materials in order to also do flooring in the living room, when I had money to pay for the labor. While the flooring guy was at my house, he offered to do the living from for $500 (about $1000 less than the original quote). I took him up on the offer.

Now the flooring is starting bow / tent, maybe from humidity, or maybe from a shoddy installation. Also, one of the room connectors is starting to crack. When I walk across the floor, it sounds like it's popping -- is that normal with a "floating floor"?

I think he rushed through the job to get the two rooms done on time. The installer warned me that the flooring could not get wet or it would expand, but I found this confusing as the laminate is designed for the kitchen (where it will sometimes get wet, for example from washing dishes or from accidental spills).

Should I contact Home Depot or the installer directly? What's my recourse if the installer refuses to fix the problems?

How do I remove this strange glue from my previously carpeted hardwood?

bradn — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:37:36 -0800

How do I remove this strange glue from my previously carpeted hardwood? Here's a photo.

Just bought a house, tore out nasty carpet. Other rooms are fine, but in the living room, the outside perimeter of the carpet pad was glued to the floor with dots of this fibrous, brownish glue. "Oops" only makes it harder and doesn't seem to dissolve it at all. Same with laquer thinner. Tried a glue remover specifically meant for carpet glue on hardwood and that didn't work either. Fine sandpaper and steel wool don't take it off, we need something that will dissolve it.

We plan to refinish eventually, but the floor looks terrible with these glue dots all over and I'm not sure we can live with it like this for long. Anyone seen this type of glue before?

Cushy playroom flooring on a shoestring budget, please!

missuswayne — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:54:30 -0800

Need creative ideas for inexpensive flooring in a playroom/rec room. Our budget is next to nothing. We just enclosed our screen porch to create a big (250 square feet) playroom/rec room for the kids and their toys, and we need to put down some kind of cushy floor over the existing ceramic tile to prevent head injuries.

I'm going to investigate carpet remnants today, but I'm also interested in creative ideas for soft flooring on the cheap - I mean, really cheap. I looked at those 2'x2' interlocking foam mats online and at around $500 they are too pricey, and pretty ugly to boot. Bonus points for attractiveness, as this room is visible from the kitchen and dining room.

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its carpet time! COOL RUNNERS!

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:01:57 -0800

Where can I get modern, bright or otherwise designy carpet runners online or in Southern California? Long, long, by-the-foot options preferred, but if I find something I like I might just buy several of the same one. Other relevant information: I am allergic to beige.