April 24, 2009

Small area wood floor reno

We have a section of maybe three feet of loose and saggy floorboards in a hallway alongside an old radiator. It may call for the installation of new subfloor or some other structural fix. Any suggestions on a high-quality floor contractor who will accept a smaller job?

Many thanks.

April 21, 2009

Baseboards

There's a gap between our baseboards and floorboards. What type of caulk shall I use to fix this?

April 20, 2009

Asbestos and Linoleum Flooring

Hi All-

We would like to replace an awful, graying, aged linoleum floor that is in the public hallway of our brownstone. Problem is, it is probably from the 60's and we're thinking it must have asbestos. How would you go about dealing with this? We are thinking the easiest way would be to just put a new floor on top of this one, but I'm wondering if that's a bad solution structurally? How much should something like this cost?

Thanks for your help!!

m

Parquet floor refinishing

I had a Hartco oak parquet floor put down in my dinette (and entryway hall and bedroom hall) back in the 1980s and I'd like to have it refinished--sanded and urethaned (preferrably something water-based and nontoxic; I've heard the oil-based ones take a day to dry and the EPA is considering banning them for environmental reasons). Does anyone know a company that will do this work? The area is less than 200 sq. ft., and I've gotten two quotes, one for $850, the other $575. The higher quote was from some folks who got good marks from BBB.

April 15, 2009

Water Base Floor Varnish?

I am having two rooms’ wood floors refinished (kitchen and bedroom). Kitchen is VERY high traffic area (crossroads of apartment). Can anyone recommend a really tough waterborne finish? Or, a tough solvent base finish with lower fumes? I have asthma and need to live in here the whole time.
My landlord is doing the refinishing (I'm not the owner). He is generally very cheap. The manager told me she wanted to use something waterbase because of my asthma...but think that is mere lip service, because the workers told me they are using primer plus one coat of varnish. Also, I use to do some hobby woodworking and finishing, and IIRC as of a few years ago there were not too many tough waterbase floor finishes.
Anyway, I'm in Fort Green. Any floor product in Brooklyn I may be able to persuade her to use (they would need to buy it today)? If it is a water base product does the filler putty they use matter (they put in some putty to fill some gaps)? The workers are not a floor refinish company, just the general low cost guys the landlord uses for inexpensive renovation jobs. They can do the floor repairs and refinish, but I do not know their experience handling anything other than their standard varnish. If you know a product and have application tips, please share.
One final thing: any idea how to proceed so I can 'use' the kitchen while the finish cures? I need to cross the kitchen to get to bathroom.

Thanks.

April 6, 2009

Clean bamboo flooring

We have new bamboo floors. I dry mop with the Swiffer weekly. Any suggestions on deeper cleaning methods (i.e., water, vinegar, etc.)?

April 5, 2009

Old floor needs repair

I need suggestions for wood floor repair/sand/refinisher. Delicate floor probably has one sanding left (maybe). Reccomendations?

April 3, 2009

Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring

Hi everyone. I just had beautiful new floors installed (thank you Floor Works NY - they're awesome). I ordered extra and now have three boxes left over (between 65 and 70 feet). Anyone interested in it? It's from Ambient (www.ambientbp.com) and is the natural-dark (the 2nd lightest shade). It's beautiful (pic attached) and I would rather avoid shipping it back via UPS.

floor polishing - help!

I'm moving into a new apartment next week. The hardwood floors are in pretty good shape, but everyone advises that I should get them polished before we move the furniture in. I'm not looking to refinish the floors. I've been given wildly different quotes and procedures from the various professionals that I've spoken to and I don't know who to believe. Do I want the floor buffed and waxed? Or do I want it buffed and then a coat of polyurethane applied? Or do I want two coats of polyurethane and a sealant with buffing in between? For 1,200 sq. ft, I've been quoted from $585 to $1,800 for floor "polishing." I would be grateful for any clarification.

April 1, 2009

Solutions uneven floors?

I am reaching out to the brownstoner community to help us with how to level brownstone floors. My husband and i bought a 1901 brownstone last summer and we are currently in the process of renovating each floor. Since the the top two floors are rentals we simply made cosmetic changes (i.e., new floors, baseboards, paint, new kitchen and retiling of the bathrooms). We are currently doing a gut renovation on the parlor floor and uncovered why the floors above "sagging". The joists/beams are bowing or sagging in the middle. We have a delimma.... should we and can we repair the problem without removing the new floors above? what would it take to repair stop the sagging from increasing?

Also what type of masonry material should we be using to securing beams/joists into the parting walls (i.e., cement?)

Thanks everyone!

Forum: Floors