Floor Shopping

[Vette73]

Yep like engineer said I would hire based on your knowledge. I did my own hardwood floors, actually I showed my wife 1 room and she finished the rest of the house. I watched others do it and did some basic help so I had a idea of what to do and common problems.

I did about 1000+ sq ft of Jap. Cherry 3/4" hardwood. I also used the 15pound tar paper to go under the wood. I did not want to use the plain paper as I have seen it break/age to where holes would form and/or it came apart enough to squeak more then average. Also make sure the subfloor can handle what you want to put on. I did my hardwood over tghe very old oak. My tools were miter saw, table saw, hardwood air gun (eBay less then $100 to own), and soem hand tools to pull the wood and rubber malet type ones.


Global Hardwood
I got my floor for less then $4 a foot. Quality was actually pretty good for the price.

 

[ICRS]

Get Faux wood laminet flooring. Like the kind they sell at IKEA. It is much much cheaper and best yet, no one can tell it isn't real wood.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: ICRS
Get Faux wood laminet flooring. Like the kind they sell at IKEA. It is much much cheaper and best yet, no one can tell it isn't real wood.

You can tell the difference.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: ICRS
Get Faux wood laminet flooring. Like the kind they sell at IKEA. It is much much cheaper and best yet, no one can tell it isn't real wood.

You can tell the difference.

You absolutely can. Even if it's floating, I recommend "REAL WOOD" (and no "That's what she said" jokes either! ).

 

[sdifox]

First things first. after you rip up the carpet, you need to check the subfloor. Is it even, is there squeaky spots? This is the time to fix those. Also, if you are going to do 3/4, I would suggest you put more screws into your subfloor. Most subfloors are held in place with nails and these will eventually come lose. When I had my on site finish maple floor put in (1700sq ft), I personally put down 2000 2.5" floor screws. No, it was not done with a cordless drill

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: sdifox
First things first. after you rip up the carpet, you need to check the subfloor. Is it even, is there squeaky spots? This is the time to fix those. Also, if you are going to do 3/4, I would suggest you put more screws into your subfloor. Most subfloors are held in place with nails and these will eventually come lose. When I had my on site finish maple floor put in (1700sq ft), I personally put down 2000 2.5" floor screws. No, it was not done with a cordless drill

Originally posted by: Engineer
I placed a layer of roofing felt (tar paper) under the oak flooring to eliminate squeaks. I also added screws to the subfloor into the floor joist to make the floors more solid and to also eliminate squeaking. Lots of mess, no?

Added with a CORDED drill (Milwaukee)

 

[mshan]

I think you will need to spend about $3/sq ft. for at least good quality laminate or entry level engineered hardwood.

Solid hardwood I'm guessing you will need to spend around $5/ sq ft.

What you can install will depend upon the type of sub-floor you have (moisture and can you nail into it, do you have to glue it, or will it float)?

Quickstep Uni-clic makes good quality laminates will a very good click and lock joint.

And personally if I was going to spend $10,000 - $20,000 on solid hardwood or quality engineered hardwood flooring, I'd have it professionally installed so the end result looks professional and adds value to your home. The laminates, it's a toss up about doing it yourself.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: mshan


Solid hardwood I'm guessing you will need to spend around $5/ sq ft.

The Bruce hardwood that I show in my photos (currently working on as well as my daughter's room) cost $2.39 per sq. ft. on sale from Home Depot. Throw in a few cents per sq. ft. for nails and stuff and it's already prefinished so no need to do that (Thank God!!!).

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: sdifox
First things first. after you rip up the carpet, you need to check the subfloor. Is it even, is there squeaky spots? This is the time to fix those. Also, if you are going to do 3/4, I would suggest you put more screws into your subfloor. Most subfloors are held in place with nails and these will eventually come lose. When I had my on site finish maple floor put in (1700sq ft), I personally put down 2000 2.5" floor screws. No, it was not done with a cordless drill

I use the 14.4v Makita impact driver that work much nicer than the Dewalt 6.7 amp corded drill (way too much power), and the back up is the 10.8v Bosh impact driver.

I put over 3000 2 1/2 flooring wood screws before I nailed down 1700 sqf of bamboo. The stair threads & halls was glue down with Polyurethane then nail.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa

Originally posted by: sdifox
First things first. after you rip up the carpet, you need to check the subfloor. Is it even, is there squeaky spots? This is the time to fix those. Also, if you are going to do 3/4, I would suggest you put more screws into your subfloor. Most subfloors are held in place with nails and these will eventually come lose. When I had my on site finish maple floor put in (1700sq ft), I personally put down 2000 2.5" floor screws. No, it was not done with a cordless drill

I use the 14.4v Makita impact driver that work much nicer than the Dewalt 6.7 amp corded drill (way too much power), and the back up is the 10.8v Bosh impact driver.

I put over 3000 2 1/2 flooring wood screws before I nailed down 1700 sqf of bamboo. The stair threads & halls was glue down with Polyurethane then nail.

I used a drywall screwgun just because the duty cycle required was not attainable with anything less rugged. Come to think of it, I must have used more than 2000... How many is in one of those corrugated carton boxes?

 

[Engineer]

Update: Floor and trim finished. Moving back in and cleaning....

Photos to show the progress and help the OP to make a decision (and to toot my own horn too)!

Took just over a week and a day to finish from demolition to moving back into room (about 300 sq feet).

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Ignore the messy house...all part of the process!