Hardwood floors, thinking of getting them.

[Codewiz]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: CTrain

Originally posted by: CTrain
I'm thinking about doing it for my house in the future too.

How big is your house JM ??
And how much is it going to cost you for 600 ft ??

I'm trying to figure out how big mine will be for everything except the 3 bedrooms.

So how much is it costing you for 600 FT ?

Almost $5,000. That is installed with new base moldings, pad, and floor leveling.

Holy Crap.

I paid about $3000 for my bamboo floors installed. Of course I did it myself

If you passed geometry in high school you can put in a floor as long as you follow the prep work requirements. Of course most installers sadly skip on the prep work. The most important thing is making sure your subfloor is within spec. I see you have a concrete slab, I bet you money it isn't within flatness spec and the installers won't check or fix it.

 

[Brazen]

Used to, I would have never considered imitation hardwood laminate... until I learned that a friends house, which I thought for a over a year had hardwood floors, was actually laminate.

The house I grew up in also had laminated floors in the bathrooms and after 20 years they still look brand new.

I'm also replacing the flooring in my house. It has 100 year old hardwood floors that are shot to heck. No amount of refinishing is going to fix these... boards are loose, scratched, chunked, water damaged, and squeaky and the floors are horribly uneven. But then, these are 100 years old. Hardwood floors are awesome, but these days laminates look just as good, are just as durable, and require less maintenance... and 1/2 to 1/3 the cost helps too.

 

[JinLien]

Check to see if your floor is level enought for laminates/hardwood/bamboo. The cost would be much higher than carpet if your floor needs subflooring or leveling mortar.

Both natural & carbonized bamboo are strong, however I prefer the natural colour over the brown carbonized version. I have seen an 8 year old high traffics floor that looks great.

Hardwood is nice but it tend to creep & warp, therefore a better solution is to go with engineered floor, however it requires maintenances like hardwood floorings.

Laminate is quick and inexpensive to install that is guarantee for 15~25 years, and requires very little to no maintenance.

[edit] Saw your post that said 5K for 600sqf.
That is about the right price if you get the pro to do it, however you can save the labour cost and install bamboo or a maple for beautiful light coloured floor. Or, save the money for darker hardwool such as patagonian rosewood, brazilian redwood, tigerwood, santos mahogany, tamarind, and brazilian walnut (3684 janka and is 292% as hard as red oak).

 

[PHiuR]

hardwood floors = PimP

FTW

 

[JinLien]

Originally posted by: Spike

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Neither. Get bamboo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_floors

Our new townhouse we just got came has bamboo on the entire lower floor (living, dining, and kitchen) and we LOVE it. The look is awesome and unique, definitly an eye catcher when people come over.

The only downside is that is can dent pretty easy. I have never had hardwood floors before so I don't know if this is commong but if you drop a can or other heavier object the floor will dent.

-spike

Wood Flooring Hardness

Natural bamboo harder than white oak but softer than hard maple.

Droping hard heavy objects on most wood floor would dent it, however bamboo should fair better than most common wood floors.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

We just put in hardwood flooring in our family room and the study this past weekend on our own, definitely go for hardwood, make sure to find ones that are interlocking so they're easy to install.