Forum: Floors
October 31, 2009
Urethane
I've sanded the upstairs floors in my home and they were a beautiful, blond colored pine. Yesterday they were coated with oil based urethane and they look completely orange & black... they look like veneers, or fake, painted wood. Is there anything one can do to coat pine yet keep it from oranging? Regretting that I didn't pickle them...
October 28, 2009
Floors needing sanding!
Looking for a quick and not crazy expensive floor sander - any one have recs? -
October 22, 2009
Installing Wood Floors
We removed the rotting subfloor and installing new plywood right unto the joists before installing oak strips. Advice whether to use 1/2 or 3/4 in plywood?
October 20, 2009
Fixing a Slate Floor?
I have a slate floor in my kitchen that was done by the prior owners. I like it fine, but a few of the slate pieces have come loose (one broke off in the corner although it is still there) and the grout seems to be disappearing. Any recommendatiosn for someone who would able to fix it? Its a pretty small job, so I'm not sure what my best bet is. Most of the florr repair stuff in the forums that I have seen is aimed at repairing/redoing wood floors.
October 18, 2009
Flooring Recommendation
I just has a good experience with a wood flooring contractor that I would like to share. I used Brownstoner to search for contractor recommendations and came up with a short list of four names, one of which was listed as Carlos Flooring. I subsequently discovered they have a website at
http://www.intiinteriorfinish.com/about-us.php.
Our second floor landing was covered with a carpet that had been there since we moved in 12 years ago (yeah, we're frugal!). Underneath the carpet was a board subfloor that was too rough to refinish. We wanted to make the floor match that of our 3rd floor hallway which is 8" x 8" oak parquet with a mahogany border. All the contractors except Carlos had a problem with the 8" x 8" size, saying it was non-standard in this day and age and quoting for 12" x 12" squares with a HUGE add alternate for 8" squares. Carlos came in with a 8" price that was below the base quote of any of the other bidders, custom-made the preferred-size squares and did a great job. With my wife and I both working, they were left in the house unsupervised and each day when we came home everything was tidied up and clean. The only minor niggle I had with what was overall a very positive experience was that they didn't get back to me as quickly as I would have liked when I had questions. I highly recommend them. Oh, they also sanded and refinished our dining room floor, doing a great job on that too.
October 9, 2009
Best floor for 1890s bath?
Insta-poll for all the design experts here: Our 1890s bathrooms have original beadboard wainscotting, wood floors, wall hung sinks, and incredibly heavy clawfoot tubs with fixed-length plumbing. The floors are going to be very wet all the time. Should we expose the wood floors, use 2-inch hexagonal unglazed porcelain tile a la the 1890s, or cover with vinyl sheet flooring? We originally had our hearts set on real linoleum, but it's outrageously pricey at $30 a square foot installed.
October 8, 2009
Sanding and Refinishing Floors
Any first-time renovators sand and refinish their own floors? We have a 750 sq. foot condo that needs improvement on the floors. We've never done this, but really need to save $$ and are hoping to do it ourselves. Any advice very welcome.
October 4, 2009
Penny Tile Disaster?
This penny tile was installed by a professional tile contractor.
The seams between the 12x12 mesh sheets of penny rounds are very noticeable and, in my opinion, unacceptable.
How do you remedy this situation at this point, and is it that common?
October 2, 2009
Verrazano Flooring NOT WORTH IT
Just wanted to share my experience. I called three companies for competitive bids on my flooring job. The three quotes varied with Verrazano Flooring being the highest and some Brazilian company being the lowest. I went with Verrazano because I see their vans all over and I was willing to pay for a better job. Turns out, the same Brazilians who quoted me at LESS THAN HALF of Verrazano's price came and did my floors for Verrazano. I guess they have a subcontractor agreement. The floors came out OK, but it seems like robbery that I had to pay double just so Verrazano Flooring could make some money as a middle man. I guess it's true that larger companies just don't do the work themselves anymore. I am really VERY upset about this. I wouldn't have paid in full except that it doesn't seem they did anything wrong - we as consumers just need to be more educated in the process and ask if it will be actual employees or subs doing the work. I've learned my lesson. An OK job at double the price gets 1 star as far as I'm concerned.
Verrazano Flooring NOT WORTH IT
Just wanted to share my experience. I called three companies for competitive bids on my flooring job. The three quotes varied with Verrazano Flooring being the highest and some Brazilian company being the lowest. I went with Verrazano because I see their vans all over and I was willing to pay for a better job. Turns out, the same Brazilians who quoted me at LESS THAN HALF of Verrazano's price came and did my floors for Verrazano. I guess they have a subcontractor agreement. The floors came out OK, but it seems like robbery that I had to pay double just so Verrazano Flooring could make some money as a middle man. I guess it's true that larger companies just don't do the work themselves anymore. I am really VERY upset about this. I wouldn't have paid in full except that it doesn't seem they did anything wrong - we as consumers just need to be more educated in the process and ask if it will be actual employees or subs doing the work. I've learned my lesson. An OK job at double the price gets 1 star as far as I'm concerned.