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August 10, 2006
Flooring Help Needed on the Gates Reno
Over on the Gates Reno, they've come to the conclusion that, contrary to their initial assumption, the wood floors on the top two floors cannot be saved. In addition to being a slight aesthetic set-back (in our book, at least), this also introduces another unanticipated cost to the project, so they're looking for input on what kind of wood to use and how much to spend. Help anyone?
Which Wood Would You? [Gates Reno]
Comments
Unless you are going to go with salvaged wood floor, which is expensive, I would go with bamboo flooring which is renewable, comes in lots of shades and styles, is as hard as oak, and ranges in price from about $4-$8 a sq. ft..
Posted by: samandjoeshow at August 10, 2006 9:54 AM
This month's edition of Dwell magazine covers a number of different ecologically correct wood flooring options...
Posted by: pumwi at August 10, 2006 9:54 AM
We recently installed pre-finished bamboo in our den/home office. It was about $10/sf installed, including all materials.
We have an old house, but we wanted something more casual and modern for this room. We picked the prefinished floors because our room was big and we didn't have to remove every single piece of furniture, and we didn't have to deal with the fumes/mess of sealers.
From what I understand, what drives price in prefinished flooring is the quality/durability of the finish and the thickness of the wood. It can get expensive if you pick an exotic wood. We went with a moderately-priced bamboo and are very happy.
One unexpected benefit of this floor (or maybe any new floor!) is the noise reduction. 3/4" plywood and a fabric barrier went on top of our subfloor, then the bamboo. I can no longer hear every single footstep or the stereo when I'm below this room.
Posted by: tinarina at August 10, 2006 10:23 AM
I came across this great interactive tool awhile ago which shows a wide range of wood flooring options and might give you some ideas.
http://www.elmwoodreclaimedtimber.com/flooringtool
Posted by: shaunrx at August 10, 2006 10:45 AM
There was a discussion on apartmenttherapy.com the other day discussing the pros and cons of bamboo flooring, and most people who had installed bamboo agreed that this wood shows dings and scratches much more quickly than other wood floors and would not choose it again.
Posted by: Peabo at August 10, 2006 10:57 AM
peabo and the dingbats on apartment therapy is wrong. bamboo is one of the strongest materials on earth and it doesn't ding. also, would you rather know that your FLOOR caused trees to be felled? I mean, it's a floor -- you walk on it and spill wine on it. so it's either reclaimed or bamboo for you.
Posted by: Land of the Bat at August 10, 2006 11:51 AM
peabo and the dingbats on apartment therapy are wrong. bamboo is one of the strongest materials on earth and it doesn't ding. also, would you rather know that your FLOOR caused trees to be felled? I mean, it's a floor -- you walk on it and spill wine on it. so it's either reclaimed or bamboo for you.
Posted by: Land of the Bat at August 10, 2006 11:51 AM
I had bamboo floors installed in a condo. And yes, scratching and dinging was easy.
But my opinion is that is case with any prefinished floor - not just bamboo. It may be possible to get unfinished bamboo now - not sure.
But I do NOT recommend any prefinished or enginereed flooring unless going for a very polished modern look.
Posted by: Petebklyn at August 10, 2006 12:12 PM
Land of the Bat - learn to speak and write English. Second, your comment makes no sense - how is it possible reclaimed or bamboo are the only choices? Last, look at the last comment made by Petebklyn - I rest my case.
Posted by: Peabo at August 10, 2006 12:16 PM
The finish on prefinished wood is usually much more durable because so many more coats of poly are applied at the factory -- at least that's what the sales litterature says.
Homedepot's prefinished wood isn't bad and it's pretty cheap. I did a rental apartment with their prefinished strip oak about eight years ago and it still looks great.
Posted by: ebomb at August 10, 2006 4:03 PM
Of course, for a townhouse renovation, I'd use an unfinished wide oak or cherry (more expensive) and hire a reputable floor refinisher to sand, stain, and poly.
I've gone cheap before, greatly regretted it, and had to hire the pros to come in and do the floors again.
Posted by: ebomb at August 10, 2006 4:08 PM
Well, I must confess we must be a lot less picky than most in this group, because prefinished looks fine to us. Disagree about dings on bamboo, ours is 2 years old and I'm none too careful, but no dings. And I do feel strongly about using sustainable/renewable materials, its my avocation.
oh btw, peabo, how do you know Land of the Bat can't *speak* English? Do we have a voice feature on the forum I don't know about ;)?
Posted by: cmu at August 10, 2006 4:42 PM
anyone who is removing any sq footage of old wood floors in any condition should call Build It Green NY (www.bignyc.org) and have them come and tear it out for you so they can re-sell it as salvage. often times a very worn out floor when re-installed and finished looks great. and they know how to remove the floor to keep it in useable condition.
Posted by: TonyTone at August 10, 2006 5:53 PM
Fastfloors.com or another wholesale online floor seller. You should be able to get flooring for $3/sq. ft. There will be shipping charges too.
Also, you should be able to get your floors installed for $3/sq. ft. total labor costs.
Bamboo is fantastic, but it does ding. Bamboo is one of the most ecologically sound choices. Don't get laminate - it doesn't last. Buy your wood separate, and you'll stand a better chance of not getting ripped off. The online retailers are excellent.
Posted by: Ed at August 13, 2006 11:34 PM
bamboo does indeed ding. check out the floors in some recent new developments.
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