Monday, December 29, 2014

Our New Flooring

Hello everyone.  Mike and I finally made a flooring decision.  We had a few hold ups and then some issues with the choices we made.  The current floor has terrazzo in the living room an kitchen, the hallway is plywood and the dining room is concrete.  We knew we had to pull it all together to make it all flow right.

Since we want one kind of floor throughout carpet was out.  That does not work in a kitchen.  Next choice click and lock laminate or hardwood.  As pretty as the floor was in the last house we did it was horrendous to maintain…and we were only there a few months.  We also felt that would be an issue since laminate and hardwoods are not waterproof.  Next choice tile.  OK…tile would work even though it is a very hard surface.  Mike and I drove to about six different flooring places to find the right tile for us.  We both like a glazed light colored 24x24 porcelain.  We know exactly what we want…sadly no one had an exact match.  We did find one that we thought might work.  We had to wait for a sample to be mailed to us.  When we got it it was the wrong sample.  We tried again and apparently the manufacturer sold that entire line to a big commercial business.  They had no idea when they would start producing our tile again….grr!!!

Then we found a really pretty 24x24 porcelain "topped" tile.  It was very light in color but we thought we could deal with it.  Then Mike started worrying about how it would cut when we went to install it.  The last time we installed a porcelain tile that was not colored throughout the tile it cracked when we tried to cut it.  This is too big of a job to worry about that..

Now that we cannot find a solid porcelain tile that we like it's back to the drawing board.  We know what we don't like…now what, lol?  There really aren't many options left.  We love our flooring in TN which is a sheet laminate.  It is indestructible, never scratches or dents and is waterproof. Our only problem is the seaming.  Some of our seams started to come up.  We also want to install it ourselves.

OK…time to look at some of the vinyl floors that are available.  Nicole did her floors in a stick down vinyl plank.  We didn't see any that we liked.  Then we saw the floating stick down click vinyl flooring but that was only water resistant.  Lastly we looked at a floating vinyl wood look click and lock that is 100% waterproof.  That seems the best fit for us considering all of our options and taste.

Now to choose which one.  Some of them come in larger planks but the individual lines are very small. Others come in smaller planks but they are a full tile.  Although it might be harder to install we liked the look of that better.  We bought a few samples and brought them home to pick a color.  Finally we made a decision.  We kept the one box of the one we liked and special ordered the rest.



Mike tests our first box:




You have to put the end in first and then slide in the long side:





Ten days later and we picked up our 44 boxes….oh joy, lol:  But it will be so much easier than tile.





The straight runs are pretty easy.  Mike and I work together on each plank.  He gets the edge lined up and I help with the long side.  All it takes is some patience and a rubber mallet.  It is easy to cut.  Just score it and snap:





Ugh…one of those fun cuts.  I am so glad Mike can do this.  And the scary part….hoping that all the flooring matches up from room to room and still snaps together:




We made it past the living room/kitchen entrance…whew!!




Now back to the shorter runs….just the living room:





Almost finished with the living room:




One big room finished:




And now to finish up the kitchen:




Trying to get it done.  By now our backs are killing us:





Mike fills the crack that was between the kitchen and the dining room:





Now to get the hallway done, move over to the dining room and meet the kitchen floor.  I hope it all fits.  Mike used his new oscillating tool to cut out door jambs.  Now to get the hard spots together:




Working on the last run in the hallway.  This was a tough spot since we had no way to slide the ends in together.  This one row took us longer than the rest of the hallway:





It all matched up:) and we got the dining room done:





Now it all flows together:




Wow…it looks so much bigger:





All in all we went with "our" best possible choice.  We are very happy with the floor.  It flows nicely and it is very easy to clean.  The only downfall is for Niki.  Even though it is not a super shiny floor it is slick and makes it hard for her to walk on.  She is fine if she goes slow…but not if she goes fast.  I ordered some non slip boots for her.  I hope they help.



It is a "fairly" easy floor to install especially if it is just one room.  It takes patience and some of the cut outs around doorways can be tough to get it to go together.  Oh and be careful if you ever choose this floor.  It can be a little brittle so if you hit it too hard with the rubber mallet it will break.  We found that out after Mike tried to beat a piece in place, lol.


This is the floor and the color that we bought.
Our Floor



That's all for now.  Sorry I was late…we had to find counter tops today.  Next Monday I will show you our kitchen cabinets:)

Have a great week.

Lisa:)

15 comments:

  1. Wow I love that floor and I love those built-ins. You guys rock ~ Happy New Year

    Deb Cheever

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  2. That looks very nice, Lisa. You know I was a big terrazzo fan, but I understand you needed one flowing floor that is appropriate to the climate. Time will tell if you made the right decision, but it looks even better than the sample. In the picture, it looks especially nice with the fireplace.
    gentlearts

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    1. Thank you. I know you loved the terrazzo. On a good note we didn't ruin it like tile would have. It is still there and sometime in the far future someone else might be pleasantly surprised:)

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  3. Looks great! Reading and looking at the pictures makes it look as if it was an easy job, but I know different....I'll even bet that it took longer than the 10 minutes it took me to read about it...LOL!!
    I'm curious about the flooring, and the thinking between this floor, and the vinyl flooring with the adhesive strips along the edge. I'm guessing that is what Nicole used? Did she like it? We found a couple of styles we like.... Home Depot sells both, and there is about about $0.50 difference per sq-ft., but the one you used is thicker, right? You mentioned using the other kind, and not liking it as much, and we're right in the beginning stages of doing our floors too, so I'm looking for that input. We had put down the laminate in the past, and it's showing wear from water in the kitchen and laundry room....figured the vinyl would be better than the wood/laminate type.

    Again, it really looks GREAT!!

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. It was a slow go. It took us almost 4 days to install about 950 square feet. It was hard on our backs and knees. We needed lots of breaks, lol.

      Nicole did the full stick downs. Hers are nice because if you ever have a problem with one like scratching you can replace an individual piece. Sadly she is having trouble with hers now. Her top coating is starting to wear now and it is getting more scratches.

      The interlocking ones don't give you the flexibility to change just one piece out. We did look at the ones with the adhesive strips on the edge. They were a little thinner than the one we bought and also only water resistant. Then there was one Nicole told us about. It was also a vinyl floating floor, at Lowes, that was supposed to be waterproof but required and underlayment. Hmm…something does not sound right about that so we nixed that idea.

      We feel we made the right choice. No choice is 100% perfect. That's just the way life is, lol. I would not go back to laminate after using this. Laminate is hollow sounding and not good with moisture.

      I do love vinyl flooring for their durability and if you ever need to they are not hard to take out….unlike tile. Ugh.

      I am being very careful when I clean them. I want to make sure they stay in good shape for a long time. Only vinegar and water mopping and no steam cleaners or waxing.

      Thanks…go with the vinyl and let us know what your chose. So many choices, lol. Good luck.

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  4. Looks FABULOUS!! Great job!

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  5. Looking at the pictures again, I can't help but think that the fireplace would look a lot better, if you painted the brick to match the walls. We did that on our fireplace, which is floor to ceiling, and it looked 100% better. I was never crazy about painting brick, but I think it turned out really well.....red brick is now beige.
    It's something to consider.

    Oh,l we've decided to go with the same flooring as you guys (though probably something a bit darker, since we have light cabinets in the kitchen...or maybe even the simulated slate tile that they have.)...though it may be a month or so before we even get started. You guys are working with a blank slate (empty house), we've got one with 30+ years of accumulated stuff, and need to make room before we start tearing up the house.

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    1. Ahh…we have plans for the fireplace. Some people cringe but I like a "red brick" fireplace that has been painted. I just really really have an aversion to the old red stuff, lol.

      That should be easier for you. Dark colors are in. Nicole is remodeling her master bath right now and she is thinking of doing the vinyl tile. If she gets it done before you I will post a picture.

      I cannot even imagine 30 years worth of stuff. Maybe it's time to purge a little, lol. Good luck.

      Happy New Year.

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  6. Love all of your other projects. Too bad that you did not want to retain this very durable terrazzo floor. Is this house like all of the other ones and your goal is to fix and flip it? If so one has to consider that their own tastes in paint, flooring ect may not be a popular decision when trying to resale. Most flippers try go with neutral colors, flooring ect. Good luck to you both!

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    1. This house was for us. We'll see what the future holds. The floor is still there and not damaged as we put a floating floor over it. No harm done if someone likes the garage, I mean terrazzo:) floor.

      Thank you.

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  7. This wasn't bought to FLIP.
    Mike has a medical issue, and they planned to move from the mountain home.
    Of course, with these two, who knows?? lol!

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