The Flooring Expert

Q: I am building a screened-in "porch" over a pre-existing patio. The patio has a cement floor and I want to install a wood floor over it. Sleepers will raise the new floor about 5 inches above the cement slab, but will not be ventilated. The room will have a roof, but the screens will allow for some weather. I had considered using Mahogany decking, but planned to install without any spacing. I am now afraid this will buckle with changes in humidity and have changed my thinking to a tongue and groove porch decking material. I am not sure of what would be best in this situation. Do you have any recommendations?

A: When exposing wood to uncontrolled climate, such as the great outdoors, it is key to keep in mind you must use product suited for this application. Although this patio will have a ceiling, it is best to treat it as you would a deck. Using a tongue and groove decking material for your patio should work, but keep in mind you will want to leave room for expansion similar to installing any hardwood floor. This should help alleviate worry of buckling issues you might run into. You will also want to acclimate your product so that the wood's moisture content is within 2-3% of the subfloor of your patio. Keep in mind, this can take awhile as the environment you are installing in is not controlled like the interior of your home and if this area has some open air below the decking without having ventilation your could run into issues with moisture accumulation beneath the floor.

Beyond patience in allowing for acclimation and account for some expansion room to ensure the floor does not buckle, treat this similar to a deck by ensuring proper weather sealing is on the floor decking. Do not use residential flooring for a project like this, as it is not suited for the uncontrolled outdoor environments. I hope this helps you out for your project.

Follow-up: After some review by a co-worker of mine, I realized that I forgot to mention a good product to take a look at for this would be slat decking such as the ones iFLOOR.com carries by Vifah. Vifah's snap together plank decking is very easy to install, is well suited for a deck or outdoor porch, and its a great looking product. Now if your specifically after a single plank look rather than the slated look of Vifah's deck planking, you will want to ensure the planks you purchase are made for outdoor use, such as decking and make sure its properly water sealed.

Q: How will a hardwood floor hold up with pets?

A: This will depend on how active your pets are. Most floors have aluminum oxide or similar protective measures added to their finish to prevent abrasion, but no floor is bullet proof. Certain types of flooring with higher hardness ratings can be more dent resistant, but this does not affect how resistant a floor is to scratching.

Your best solution to keep your hardwood floors beautiful while letting your pets roam your home is to keep your pets groomed and ensure they are potty trained. Scratching and Staining is the most common problem when combining our beloved pets with a wood floor. Hardwood floors are more susceptible to scratches from a larger pet's claws. Even tile, although nearly impervious to scratches, is vulnerable to strains from pet urine due to grout lines and potentially porous surfaces.

As with any floor, to prevent staining from urine or any other accident, it is important to spot clean the area immediately and to perform proper and regular maintenance on your floor with the right cleaning products. This practice will help your floor retain its beauty for a longer period of time.

Q: What type of flooring goes over cement subfloors?

A: There are several floors you can put over a cement subfloor. Floors that can be installed as a floating floor are your best bet for installing over concrete floors. You can also install most floors which are suitable for a glue-down installation over concrete, such as 5/16” solid hardwood products from Bruce and Westhollow. You can also look at glue-down Bamboo and Cork flooring.

I will caution you that glue-down floors are very difficult to install and I do NOT recommend this as a DIY project. If there is a floor you really want to install that can't be floated and is suitable for a glue-down install, contact a professional to have this installed. When installing over concrete, especially in basements, I would suggest a floating floor, such as laminate, engineered bamboo and hardwoods, or cork flooring. Also, make sure you use a vapor barrier along with your underlayment when floating a floor over concrete.

Always ensure the floor you choose is approved to be installed over concrete by the manufacturer and ensure the installation is done up to the manufacturer's standards to ensure you keep your warranty.

Q: When I lay out the first row of flooring I end up with a 1.5 inch cut off. Would I be better off to cut a board in half to start the row, so I end up with random lengths at each end of the room?

A: The short answer to this is “Yes.” Let's examine this a bit further though to explain why you don't want such a short piece at the end of a row. I will mention as a preface, that it will matter what type of installation is being done. For floating and nail/staple-down floors you will want to have a longer section at the ends of each rows. For nailed/stapled floors you should not nail or staple closer than 4 inches the the end of a board. The reason behind this is that if you nail or staple that close to the end of a board you run risk of cracking the tongue-- so ideally you will want 8 inch to 1 foot sections or longer at the end of your floor.

For floating floors, the lock mechanisms require certain distances to maintain enough pressure. This means that similar to nailed hardwoods, you will want to have a plank length of 8 inches to 1 foot or more at the ends of each row to ensure proper locking power is maintained and the floor will remain intact.

With glue-down floors this can be different, but ideally you will want to remain to the same practice. An end piece that is 1.5 inches is not a wise idea as this will be unstable and could cause issues later on regardless of the floor installed.

Q: What is the best way to remove the thinset?

T&B Flemming

A: There are several methods to removing thinset. You can use a grinder to grind the thinset down, use a hammer and wide chisel to chisel this away or get a machine chisel. Go with the automatic chisel to remove your thinset. This will be a strenuous process, but its the fastest and easiest way of the three.

Go to a local tool rental place and rent an electric chipper with a 4-inch (or wider) chisel tip. A good example is the Hilti TE505 and these on average can be rented for around $40 per day. These devices resemble a jack hammer, but the advantage is they will not destroy your concrete subfloor.

Keep in mind, these things are big, heavy and loud. This being said, wear eye and ear protection and take breaks to give your hands and back a rest, cause you may regret it otherwise. Also, be prepared to stop and vacuum up debris and dust because this will be somewhat messy.

Start by holding the chipper at about 30 degrees off of the vertical (hold at a 60 degree angle) and let the machine shake the chisel against the thinset. This will break up larger chunks. You will want to do one pass like this to remove a good portion of the thinset. Then go back across the remaining thinset holding the machine at a slightly shallower angle and press down hard on the forward handle (usually your left hand) and use your opposite leg (usually your right) to hold the machine steady. This will smooth out the surface and remove the remainder of the thinset. Remember this will be tough and can be somewhat hard to control at first, so be prepared.

Q: Hello. I am ordering hardwood from iFloor that I intend to install myself, as I have some hardwood flooring experience. To obtain a finished look in the entrance area, I would like to replace the carpeting on our stairs with matching hardwood. There’s nothing “special” or unique about our stairs, but this is something I have never done. Regardless, I am confident that I can do this with the right know how. That’s where you come in. If this works for you, I’ll tell you what I know and maybe you can fill in some gaps, point out possible pitfalls, and give me any pointers that you feel will help the job come out well.

Tim
Cambridge, NY

A: Tim there is very little I'll need to help you on because you are already well informed. I'll admit I am a big fan of the white riser look to accent the treads on a set of hardwood stairs. After getting all of the carpet removed and cutting your stairs to be flush. You will need to be very precise with your cuts for the wood for the tread, so take your time.

I will admit, I prefer using solid stair treads over flooring and nosing (the links I am using are bamboo, but they serve as great visual examples); however, if you can't get solid treads don't be surprised if there is a slight difference in color between the nosing and the floor. This will be much like trim pieces where they will match as close as possible, but the wood used for trim tends to come from different portions of the tree than flooring, which will have a slight difference in appearance. Using a paint-grade poplar is a great idea and I would suggest going that route.

When installing the stairs, you should be using glue to install your treads and then nailing the along the scribe line at the back of the tread. A scribe line is a line used to mark the extent that the riser will cover the tread. This answers your other question, always install tread, then riser. This gives a clean professional look.

You will want to take time to rack out each stair, cutting the last plank in the tread that will go under the riser. This will allow you to easily install. After doing your cuts, lay out each tread and make sure they fit well. You'll then be ready to get to the install. Use a urethane based mastic adhesive to glue the treads in place. Spread the adhesive per the instructions from the manufacturer across the base of the stair then lay the tread into place. Start from the back riser and put each piece in place up to the nosing. Take extra caution not to get any adhesive on your fingers, this stuff will be messy and you don't want this to be on your treads. Once everything is in place, you must make sure the nose is snug and use a pull bar to ensure the boards are pulled tightly together. Remember to allow plenty of time for each tread to cure.

You will be gluing the riser in place as well and using a spread across the back of the riser. Remember to paint before hand, I know its obvious, but getting paint on those nice new treads would be terrible. I think this should cover all of your needs for putting in your stairs, but just as some extra help I have a picture that John R., one of our content designers, found to show a similar stair style to what you are going for. Notice in the image you can tell the tread goes beyond the riser, indicating that the riser was installed after the tread. Did I mention I really like this look?

Reply: I am very grateful for your detailed reply. That was a big help to me, and underscores the major reason why I placed my order with iFloor. It always eases my mind before going into the unknown to know that I know something about what’s unknown. Or at least to know someone who does. You know?

Thanks again, and take care,
-Tim

A: I'm glad we could help you so far Tim and that's why we're here, to help people make informed decisions in regards to flooring. Our CEO, Steve Simonson, is huge on education (as you well know if you read Steve's blog), so I am proud to be helping you out. Now, let's get back to the help part:

For the poplar I would say this is really based on how you want your stairs to look. My honest suggestion would be to measure the space between where you will add your risers and how the stair nosing will sit to get an idea of what you need. Honestly this will be fairly thin, but get a width that in the end will give you the look you want.

You will be using the same adhesive and will be applying to the back of the riser then install the riser. How long you need to wait is based on the adhesive you use. I would say always observe the instructions given by a manufacturer, especially with adhesives, but this is normally around 8 to 12 hours. Basically put, over night your stairs should cure enough to walk on without worry, but make sure to consult your adhesive's manufacturer's suggestions.

In regards to cutting, I have a few tips from Sean H., who used to work with custom molding before joining the team here at iFLOOR. If your using a circular saw, make sure to use a blade designed for ripping with a lot of teeth. The more the better. The same philosophy applies for a jig saw. Now, when cutting, you want the impact of the blade occurs on the back side of the flooring. So if your using a circular or miter saw have the face of the floor up, for jig or table saw, have the floor face down. Another great tip from Sean, is to use some tape along where you are going to cut (pretty sure masking tape will be a great bet) to reduce the amount of blow out you get when making your cuts.

I really looking forward to hearing back from you on your project Tim and good luck!

Q: We have installed carpet in our basement and had flood so we remove the carpet and needs to install the new flooring, but not carpet and ceramic tile. what is the best flooring for the basement with flooding problem? Please advise.

Thank You,
Raksha

A: If you're encountering flooding issues do NOT install any new flooring of any kind. What ever is causing your flooding should be addressed before installing any new flooring. Until then I would honestly leave the concrete bare to help identify issues in the subfloor.

I had similar issues in my own home and have taken many measures to prevent flooding in my basement. Unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees, (but what interesting flooring that would make!) so my basement is still bare concrete while we have tested to see which issues have been resolved and what issues we may have missed.

Until you finish ensuring flooding will not occur, which I would suggest going through the season where you experience flooding with the concrete bare. Identify what is causing the flooding and work to resolve these issues. Once they are resolved, leave the concrete bare for at least a full year and see if any flooding or excessive moisture occurs. If so, which is what happened in my case ruining some nice new rooms I had built because I had not waited long enough (assumptions can cause a world of headaches), continue working to resolve your flooding issues. If you experience no moisture issues then you can work to find a new floor. Until you have resolved your flooding issues, do NOT install a new floor (unless of course you want to put in a new floor every time it floods).

Good luck to you as I know this process can be a pain.

Q: After pulling up the carpeting in my living room, I found red oak hardwood floors. However, they're 40 years old, and in poor condition due to water and pet stains. I was considering having them refinished, but due to logistics problems (where to put the furniture, where to live while the work is being done, etc) I think a prefinished hardwood floor would be an excellent alternative. Aesthetically, I would need to run the strips in the same direction as the current floor. I was told that it's not a good idea to nail the new flooring to flooring running in the same direction. Would it be a better idea to rip up the current floor and nail the new floor to the subfloor? How difficult would that be? Would the bumps left from the nail holes be a problem?

Mike P.

A: Nailing a new hardwood floor in the same direction of a pre-existing hardwood floor is a bad idea. The major reason behind this is a matter of stability. In this case, if you are unwilling to take the time to repair and refinish the original floor (which I would not suggest based on your mentioning of water damage) you will want to remove the existing hardwood floor and replace it with a new floor.

The pre-existing nails should be no issue after removal, although I would heavily suggest hiring a professional for this project as removing a pre-existing nailed down floor can be tedious and will take a few days. Once the old floor is removed, you will need to examine the subfloor below, check for areas where you may need to screw down areas to reduce squeaking. Afterward you can then install your new floor.

As I said before, I would suggest consulting a professional for this project, but if you take plenty of time this can be a good DIY project (although it might be a bit strenuous).

Q: We had over 2300 square feet of hardwood installed by our builder in December of 2003. We have been fighting with our builder since then due to cracking issues, and water damage issues, due to building. We had some boards replaced and 3 inspections by builder funded inspectors. Each inspection came back in the builders favor because they didn't meet the 5% minimum replacement clause. At the time since two rooms were already slated to be replaced and they weren't added in the total square footage. This very well could have pushed us well over the 5% minimum. One of the inspectors even went so far as to say no one should live this way, with flooring like this for as long as we had to. Then his report came back exactly the same as the second report, even the same wording. He never indicated that there wasn't a problem with the flooring. The biggest problem is each came in with the expectation that the job was small. We have approximately 2400 square feet of hardwood flooring, mostly on the main level and the upper hallway. The kitchen is tile. One inspector even went so far as to say he wasn't qualified to approve a job of this size.

We are in the process of hiring a civil engineer for their expertise and the ability of their sitings to hold up in court. Our plan is to take it as far as we can go. We have had 3 inspections on our own from flooring companies that agree with our opinion that there is something wrong with the wood. Our largest problem is getting them to write a report with the particulars. Each one deals with Bruce / Armstrong flooring as a flooring provider and are hesitant to create a supplier issue with a company so large. This is why we are hiring a certified inspector. Our builder is pressuring us to sign a paper agreeing to the work they specify which does not match up to the complaints we have. They send each letter by certified mail with a response date on it. We are frustrated and concerned since we spent so much money having the hardwoods upgraded in the first place. Each time they send a letter they leave out additional work left to be done. Our hardwoods are cracking, not just a little at the edges, but huge cracks down the center. This is not normal! We have had Bruce hardwoods for over 10 years in our prior home and never had these problems. With our first inspection the inspector was marking boards to be replaced with a sharpie in red, I asked him to tape the boards instead because I wasn't sure when they would be out to do the work. The Bruce hardwood inspector was marking boards that have cracks that are minimal compared to the ones I am complaining about. I have been diligent in marking only board that exceed the cracking from the initial report. Now those initial cracks they say are within the tolerance level. This was not the case during the first inspection. Our builder thinks we are trying to extend our warranty, this is not the case. The floors are under their own warranty and far exceed the minimum for replacement. I know we are heading for arbitration with our builder as well as the installers and Bruce themselves. The company where the wood came from even went so far as to install two different lots in the same room at the same time, the builders had me take pictures for them so they could assign the blame to them, the color differentiation was that great. Now all is stalled, and no one will respond to us. They blame us for stalling and all they are doing is creating a time reference that would indicate just this. They are angry we have copies of work orders where it's stated that defective boards were installed and need to be removed. Now the builders refuse to acknowledge these at all. Since this has been going on for 2-3 years we are at a loss as to what to do after the civil engineer examines our home.

Kathy

A: Kathy, I'd first like to say that I personally can not offer advice in the realm of what to do legally at this point. What I can do is offer some advice as to a few actions I would take.

Based on the issue you describe with cracking boards, This leads me to question two very important things. As a preface, cracking boards is most commonly cause by a moisture related issue. Since Bruce's Kennedale Strip is a solid hardwood, I'm lead to wonder if proper acclimation time was allowed. Solid hardwood floors should be acclimated longer than any other floor and I would personally suggest letting them sit in the room to be installed in for a week or longer just to ensure the wood gets plenty of time to acclimate. If the floor was not given proper time to acclimate, its own natural moisture content compared to the moisture content of your subfloor could cause this. Secondly, without knowing the environment for your home (what temperature and humidity it stays at, climate control used, etc.), I question how much of an expansion gap was left for the floors.

In regards to the water damage issues, I question how this water got to the floor. Also, where your floor has been installed is a key concern along with how it was installed. (like if this home is split level, has a concrete subfloor, etc.)

What duties beyond the floor was your builder responsible for? Was there anything that was needed to be done to the subfloor or is the subfloor new? (I know, I've got a lot of questions, but without seeing the floor its all I can do)

You also mention some flooring companies inspecting the floor. I will warn you, if these people are from local flooring retailers, their observations or opinions can not be taken as expert opinion. Although I have faith in the immense knowledge the folks who work in the stores here at iFLOOR.com have, they can not speak for issues in a floor to a legal level like a certified inspector.

Here is what I would suggest doing. Get a certified third party inspector to come out and look over the floor. Make sure you verify the inspector's qualifications. Make sure to have plenty of photos taken of the floor and present any documentation you have for the floor to the inspector to ensure they have plenty of information.

From this point, I would then get any other area of the home inspected by an appropriate inspector to ensure any other work done is up to code and satisfactory. Should this go to a legal standpoint, at that time you would want to consult an appropriate legal professional (sadly, I'm not one) to further your case.

The issue you may run into is that from a product claim perspective, this claim will most likely be denied. The reason being that a moisture issue is not a product defect and by that reason, the product can be determined to be working to its expectations.

Follow-up: I've spoken back and forth with Kathy over a few emails and even our very own Steve Simonson has pitched in a few bits of advice.

Steve suggested that it is good practice to file a product claim with Bruce, regardless of how the damage was caused. In the mean time, the civil engineer that will be inspecting will be key. Ensuring the c.e. takes plenty of time to inspect the home and documents all of the damages. Also, asking the c.e. questions as to what actions should be taken is a good idea. I suggested asking if any other inspectors should be brought out and what advice the c.e. has to proceed. Also, the c.e. should know the local laws a bit better and should be able to give some insight on that subject.

In the end, we hope the best for Kathy as this is one of the few stories where a beautiful floor goes bad, and hopefully Kathy can get everything back to being great looking. Below are several pictures sent to me by Kathy to show the various damages that have occurred.

In the above photos you can see a couple different cracks from the moisture damage to Kathy's floor.

In the below photo you can see how beautiful this floor would be without damage to it. (and then you can see the tape marked areas with how spread the damage is)

Here's a little extra post with a bit of handy info I received from Steve earlier today about Strand Woven Bamboo which I wanted to share. Steve took the time to answer a great question while still checking out new flooring manufacturers over in Europe.
Q: Steve,

I am really wanting to put down some strand woven bamboo in my home, but I ran across your blog about formaldehyde and I had a couple of questions. Are the two criteria you mention (testing and spot checking) actually being employed by anyone? Is that the reason ifloor is not carrying this type of bamboo? Why is the strand woven bamboo being highlighted as a potential problem. Some sellers say that a dynea formaldehyde-free resin is being used. Does that sound plausible? Thanks for your help.

Don

A: Don,

We hear the claims about dynea or similar quality adhesives being used - which have proven false on inspection 90 % of the time.

Even with dynea the quantity of glue required using a hot press system is so high that it may still fail emission tests in a solid bamboo format to be within acceptable guidelines.

That is why we have not carried it to date.

Starting in mid-July we will offer strand with ultra low emission by making it in an engineered format vs. Solid.

This will give the benefit without the downside carcinogen risks.

Good luck on your project - we wish you much success!

Ss

Q: My wife and I bought a new house that has an existing oak staircase (in excellent shape, about 7 years old), and carpet upstairs. We'd like to install hardwood floor upstairs, but we're not sure how to match it to the staircase -- first, we're not sure we'd ever be able to find the exact same colour, and, second, that colour is not really our favourite anyway. My question is: what is usually done in this case? Should we go ahead and do our new floors in our favourite colour, and forget about the mismatch with the stairs, or will that look weird? Should we also restain or re-floor the stairs to match the new floor?

Thanks!
Stan

A: There are two schools of thought when it comes to floors in a home. Either make all of the wood flooring the same, so you keep a uniform flowing appearance or have each area floored differently to give unique feels in each new room.

Since you dislike the color of the current stairs I would not directly suggest trying to match the existing floor. Wood floors will naturally darken over time, although oak is less likely to darken as drastically, some darkening has probably occurred since it was installed.

At this point you can either leave the stairs and install a floor you like in the carpeted area or remove the stairs as well and make the entire area in the floor of your choosing. If you want the more professional look (and to have the stairs in a flooring that suits your taste) I would suggest replacing the stairs at the same time. If you are looking for a different stain to the oak, you will want to get the stairs and the new floor site stained and finished to ensure it has an even color. This can be very expensive so you might want to replace the stairs at the same time.

If you choose to replace your stairs, I would highly suggest finding solid stair treads and risers for your floor if they area available as this gives a much better appearance (my example here is bamboo, but it will give you a visual idea of what to look for). It can be difficult to find solid treads and risers for many floors, but they are well worth it when you can get them.

When it comes to stairs, installation can be very difficult so I would suggest looking into a professional installer such as our team here at iFLOOR.com to make sure everything is done just right. If you plan on doing this as a DIY project, take your time and make sure you get everything you need in order ensure this install goes without a hitch. So do your homework and make sure all your measurements are dead on.

Q: We're buying a new townhouse which will have hardwood flooring throughout the first floor. We've never had hardwood floor before and have had a very difficult time deciding what type of wood to go with as well as color. We've finally decided on one of our builder's options which is Bruce Turlington American Exotic 5" maple plank, color natural (with the help of ifloor where we ordered a box of the caramel color to help us decide).

Sincerely,
Ruthie B.

A: As a preface, decoration ideas are highly opinionated in regards to what looks great versus what looks terrible. What I will try to do is give you some installation sound ideas on how to break up the “bowling alley” feel.

Installing at an angle, when done properly and with care, can bring a great effect to a home; however, I would not suggest it for something like a hallway. Most angled installations are done in larger open rooms, as this is where they will perform better.

One of the reasons some folks choose to install hardwood floors is to make a room seem larger. The plank appearance of wood gives a natural feeling of openness and elongation – so that bowling alley look is exactly what should happen. Don't despair though, there are plenty of ways to work around this.

The easiest idea would be to use runner sized area rugs (usually 2-3ft by 8ft or so). This will naturally deter attention and break up the floor some. Another idea is installation based.

This technique comes from Tad A., our Director of the Installation Program here at iFLOOR.com. Tad suggested building a foyer like break in the flooring. I've drawn a very basic mock-up from looking at the photos you included to give you an idea of how this would work. If you combine this with an area rug a bit farther down the hallway past your stairs you will get the best of both worlds, a great looking entryway and some additional break up with a well placed rug to accent your decor.

For the foyer like break, use a 2 or 3 board border, then install inside of it. Due to the width of your planks I would suggest using a 2 plank border. Your foyer can be anything from simple to a bit more artistic and difficult, though any good installer should be able to accomplish this installation easily. The border will be similar to a picture frame and you will want to use a bit of glue at the edges to ensure it anchors very well to the subfloor. From the border, you can install the dining room and hallways in differing orientations, but it will still flow well since the entire floor is the same wood and is connected to the entryway.

For the foyer you would be creating (assuming you like Tad's suggestion as I feel it gives great potential to add some unique look appearances to your home) there are several artistic designs you can look into. Another thought would be to buy 1 - 2 boxes of a different color of the same floor and intermix a few of these boards in order to add some additional color to the floor and break up the hallway even more. Below I have drawn up a few design ideas including a few with some tile inserts (or you could use wood medallions) to give people something beautiful to look at the moment they enter your home.

Here are a few various designs including some using the herringbone technique for installation at a 90 degree angle and a few designs with some area for tile insets. Tile could be replaced with carpet or mosaics for various appearances.

Q: I recently had Armstrong tile laid over old tile. Approx 10 to 20 percent of the tiles raised up on the corners and are now crumbling on those corners

Flo

Here you can see some of the tiles in question from the pictures Flo sent in. Notice the large area of damage in this photo.




Here you can see the tile raising away at the seam.




In this picture you can see both a damaged corner and the seams raising up.

A: After talking to Flo a bit and with some great insight from Gene D., we figured out the problem to this dilemma. This self-adhesive vinyl tile was installed over an older embossed tile. She had the tile installed by her grandson after purchasing her tile from local Lowe's stores.

With how the self-adhesive tiles are made, they rarely adhere well to any surface that is not perfectly flat and well prepared. Vinyl tile especially is very fragile until it is well adhered to a subfloor, which is why Flo encountered the crumbling corners on her tiles. The embossed tile makes for a difficult surface to adhere to, which is why the seams were raising. Although Flo's grandson rolled the floor, the roller he used was not a 100 lbs. roller, which is what a job like this calls for.

Luckily, Flo contacted Lowe's and they offered to supply enough new flooring to replace all of her damaged tiles along with any adhesive she would need to complete this job. Both Gene and I applaud Lowe's for this great customer service to help Flo out, as it can be very rare to get such from a big box store.

Here's a few tips for an installation of vinyl tile:

• Make sure your subfloor is clean and flat. If you're installing over a tile surface similar to Flo's, make sure to use a good adhesive or contact cement.


• Gene suggested 2 coats of contact cement on the subfloor and one layer on the back of the vinyl tile over this to ensure a great bond.


• After installing the tile, use a 100 lbs. roller once per hour to ensure the floor stays flat and adheres properly.


• Finally, remember that these types of tile tend to be somewhat fragile until fully installed, so take caution until the floor is installed and the adhesive is cured.

Q: I hope you can help me…..I’m thinking of knocking down the wall between my dining room and kitchen and making it all one large room – there’s currently a vinyl one piece flooring in my kitchen and carpet in my DR so obviously I want to replace the entire floor covering…..what do you suggest I use since it’s now one large room?

Maria

A: Flooring any area in a more kitchen friendly sense, but still flowing into additional areas can be tricky, so let's examine a few bits of information. First and foremost, the “best” choice is the one you like the most. Every type of flooring has its own benefits and downfalls, but in the end the best floor is the one that makes you happy and proud of your decision.

We'll start with laminate, since Pergo is just a name brand of laminate. The big benefit here is laminate's durability, the downfall as you mentioned is the potential for water to seep into seems. As long as water is not left standing on the laminate you should you not run into issues with this, but the same can be said for nearly any hard surface flooring.

Hardwood tends to be the big no no when it comes to any area where water is more likely to meet wood. We'll want to go the old motto of “Wood and water do NOT mix.” I have seen plenty of kitchens done in both engineered and solid hardwoods that looked amazing, but if your worried about spills you may want to avoid wood.

Cork is becoming very popular in appearance and is the most comfortable hard surface flooring under foot. Although cork is porous due to its cellular nature, it is also naturally water resistant, hence why we use it for wine bottle stoppers. The secret to making cork one of the best choices when it comes to a kitchen is a good install and then a site finish. The site finish will add a bit of protection along with sealing your seams so you won't have to worry as much about water (although you should always clean up standing water ASAP).

Marble (and other stones for that matter) are great when it comes to durability and moisture resistant, but they are, as you mentioned, cold and hard. However, stone can allow for some interesting design work.

For your two dogs, my first bit of advice is simply to ensure proper grooming is done. Keeping nails trimmed and ensuring longer hair does not cover the pads on their paws will significantly reduce the chance of them marking up your floor. Dogs tend to only use their nails for traction heavily when they aren't getting enough from the pads of their paws.

With that buffer, let's look into some options. To floor both your kitchen and dining room I would first suggest looking into cork. After a good install and taking the time to site finish the floor beyond what finish it may have, these floors are amazing. The other key thing to keep in mind is cork's memory feature. When your dogs get a bit riled up, any dents that may occur will be removed over time by the cork.

Another option would be to do marble in the kitchen and a nice hardwood in the dining room, but add a few insets of the same marble in the kitchen to tie it all together and get a truly unique look that no one else will have.

One more option to look into would be bamboo flooring. Although you are limited on color choices, natural bamboo is tougher than white oak and has made several contemporary kitchens awe inspiring.

In the end here, I would look into options and find 2 – 3 floors that you really like, then decide which one will fit your project the best.

Q: We are building a new home in Western North Carolina, it is concrete slab on grade. No crawl space. We want to install 3/4 hardwood floor's. What is the best sub-floor to install over the concrete? What is the best method to attach the sub floor? Thanks for your help.

Needs Help,
George in NC

A: George and I have traded email back and forth for a bit and with some great insight from Gene D., we have a good solution to George's question. We found out the home is in the ground breaking stage and Gene had a great build based suggestion instead of gluing down directly to the concrete:

If I were building or intending to build a new home, I would make the necessary adjustments to accommodate such an install. That would include the installation of 2" x 4" cut in half to act as sleepers (glued and shot in place) on 12" centers then the installation of exterior grade 3/4" plywood, then resin paper followed by 3/4" nail down. The cost on this is surprisingly close to the cost of the adhesive that would be required to make this installation.

Gene also mentioned how a glue-down install to the concrete with 3/4” solid would be toast if it got wet. Now the reason behind this is because of how much movement can occur in a 3/4” solid should the floor absorb water from a large spill, water heater bursting or similar incident where there is liquid beyond normal cleaning, the floor will move and warp. Glue down installs do not allow for much movement nor for a whole lot of breathing room as far as the floor is concerned.

The subfloor spec Gene suggested creates a breathable subfloor which will prevent movement and be sturdy to boot. George asked about the possibility of floating two layers of 3/4” plywood for a subfloor then nailing to that. This would be a big no no, as it is not stable nor is it safe in the unfortunate event of moisture occurring. Should something cause the floor to move (such as humidity, water spills, or temperature changes beyond the norm) the entire floor would move in panels as the subfloor moved below.

Another thing to keep in mind here is price. Glue down floors tend to be fairly pricey, and the treated plywood required for George's floating idea also comes with a decent price tag. The sleeper set up, using treated lumber, is actually a fairly economical choice that, as an end result, will give far more stability and life for the floor as a whole. End result – if your building a home, this is a great way to spec the home and it won't cost much more to do when its spec'd in at the beginning.

Q: Which way do you run the laminate wood grain when the areas go different directions? Such as opening the front door if you go end to end, which way do you go when the hall goes to the right? Then left to the kitchen?

Confused,
Judy Bell

A: There are two visually better ways to install in areas shaped such as your halls. The easier way to do this is to install the entire area with the planks going in the same direction. Although this will mean a bit more cut work than running each area length wise, it will look far better.

Another way to optimize the amount of space your planks cover without transition work is a method called herringbone. Typically herringbone is used at angles or to give a bit more visual appeal to a room, but in the case of hallways and rooms, it is a great way to install flooring at 90 degree angles.

The other method would be to install planks length wise in each area. This will minimize the amount of cutting required, but usually requires some transition work with t-moldings to make the changes look a bit more smooth.

In the end, which install method you choose is a matter of the product's capability and the skill or the installer. This also is a factor of the amount of time spent during the installation. Additional time can allow for smooth transitions without the need for t-molds or similar transition pieces. Personally I prefer he look of Herringbone or uniform direction in a floor, but in the end, make sure you do what looks best for you in your home.

Here is a quick sketch I made to illustrate the various installation methods for flooring in halls and rooms connected to halls.

Q: Dear Steve Simonson;

Thank you very much for the article comparing laminates that you wrote; I've been out of the flooring industry for about five years (ever since L. D. Brinkman closed). I put Pergo on the map in Tennessee after their initial abortive marketing effort. I was shocked to see the dealers they list as local on their site and the quality of the dealer group I set up has definitely declined. I sold Wisonart initially with R. A. Siegel Company.

I'm a former manufacturer/distributor salesman and am currently disabled/retired in Nashville. Your article brought me up to date within 10 minutes and was the most comprehensive and honest comparison I've ever seen. I do NOT want back in the business; just was looking for patterns for a very old hosue I'm rehabbing in Knoxville, TN, my home town. The house was built in 1826, is on the National Register, and whatever I put in the main foyer entrance will be critical to making a first impression. I liked the old grey and yellow tile combinations of old Pergo Select and have yet to see any just plain color tiles of equal durability and quality. I"m also kinda partial to real Oak too, so time and what I can beg will be a factor.

If you know of any lines that feature durability and colored squares, I'd like to know about it. It would save me lots of time in my search.

Mostly, though, I'm just thanking you for being very thorough. I appreciate the knowledge and time it took to compile that page. Best to you.

Alex B.

A: Finding single color tiles of any form is extremely rare nowadays. The only product I know of off hand would be commercial grade vinyl composition tile. Armstrong makes a good line that is single color that you could look into. The tough part of this flooring is getting a hold of it when not doing a commercial sized build. Here is a quick link to the Excelon Feature Tile & Strip collection

As far as oak is concerned, it’s the most common floor on the market and thus you get many options. From solid or engineered hardwood to high quality laminates such as Pergo, Quick Step and Westhollow – Oak is everywhere!

On a side note for our readers, I highly suggest looking into the many articles on our site, especially all of the great information Steve has put out there. The independent lab testing we have had done to give a statistical comparison along with Steve's years of knowledge in the flooring industry is a valuable resource for anyone in the process of putting new flooring in their home.

Check out Steve's Articles

Ryan W., iFLOOR.com's VP of Products, sent me a quick email with a few tips he wanted to share on the blog:

I get asked about this many times and there are a few things to know before just saying "yes" it can be done. Follow these easy steps and you should have a successful installation:

• The heating temperature should be brought up gradually (5° C or 10° F per day) till it reaches 25° C or about 75° F.


• The heating should be operating for at least 2 weeks before the flooring is installed. Also let the floor sit in the home for 4 to 5 days this operation allows the laminate planks to adapt to the humidity content of the air for later use.


• As the flooring is an organic material, it is important that it be completely dry before installation.


• 24 hours before installing , bring the temperature down to 20° C or 70° F.


• Leave a gap of at least 8 mm (about .3 inches) between the planks and the walls or any obstacle in the room.


• Put down the appropriate underlay (sound barrier 6, 3/6mm cork) -Install the planks, follow the instructions and precautions set out in the manufacture installation guide.


• Wait a minimum of 24 hours and then gradually bring the heat back up to the normal temperature over the following 2 to 3 days.

Q: I have seen photos of brick flooring with wood trim. I asked a representative of a brick company about the photos as they were in their advertisements. He suggested I install the wood (I think oak 1 x 6) first by nailing it to the floor, which proves to be a problem since we have concrete slab floors. He also indicated that we would need to allow for expansion around the wood. How would I do that if I was going to grout between the bricks and the wood? Any suggestions on the whole process and the specific points I’ve noted?

A: The method used to install wood flooring as an accent or trim around brick flooring is heavily dependent on the look you are striving for. Regardless of design, you will use the wood to create a picture frame like border around the areas where the brick is to be installed. You will want to build a 2 – 3 plank border (depending on the width of the planks) then install the brick (tile or stone can also be used).

Since you are installing over a concrete subfloor you will need to look into a wood product that can be glued down. I would suggest looking into an engineered product as they tend to expand and contract less than solid wood flooring.

Assuming this border will only be along your walls or mostly along the walls with little wood intermixed along the floor itself, you should only need to account for expansion gaps along the border of the floor. This means inside each frame of wood you will be able to grout the brick accordingly without any gaps.

This technique is very similar to one suggested for Ruthie's project back in July where we talked about making a foyer to break up the bowling alley appearance of her hall from the entry way of her new townhouse. I also discussed this somewhat with Glenna when she asked about wood flooring with tile insets.

In the end the key here is first deciding how you want the floor to look, then finding a suitable flooring to go over your concrete. After this is done, mapping out the project itself becomes much easier and accounting for the proper expansion gaps will be a breeze.

As promised, Lev sent in some new photos. As a reminder, Lev has been working with the team here at iFLOOR throughout his project of converting his garage into a playroom. The concrete subfloor used to have a slope to it and the goal was to install a radiant heat system and prepare for a new floor.

Here's the Update:

The floor is level and we put one step from the play room down into the new room, and
one step up from the patio (which used to be a driveway).

Best regards,
Lev

Now Lev is shopping for his floor so he can finish off this great renovation. We'll have more updates for you after Lev gets his new floor install going.

This was a question was initially worked on by another great member of iFLOOR.com's sales team James A. James and I have recently worked to help another customer out with some underlayment questions - so James gave me an opportunity to chime in to help Colette out.

Q: I am a Canadian consumer and have been shopping for flooring for my home, believe me it has not been an easy task. I am interested in laminate and engineered hardwood but an unsure which may be right for me and my family (4 kids and 2 dogs). I have been to many dealers and I don’t know that I am getting the big and complete picture. What I was hoping was that you could direct me to where I may find unbiased expert product ratings on flooring. I have had a couple fellows tell me don’t buy anything except German as they are technically advanced as compared to other producers. I have yet to find such a site. If you could offer me some advice I would greatly thank you.

Sincerely,
Colette

James' A: I completely empathize with you on how difficult it is to pick out the floor with the best fit for your needs. One of the reasons iFLOOR was conceived was because of an article that Mr. Simonson wrote that outlines the frustrations people have when shopping for floors:
Steve's Stages of Floor Shopping

You describe a pretty active household. Since wood floors require a lot of care, most folks will tell you to go with laminate. There are people that will still install engineered hardwood in an active home, so it's dependent on how picky you think you will be with the floor's appearance. The following article does a good job of explaining the advantages and disadvantages of both:
Pergo vs. The World

A more recent project that iFLOOR completed was to do independent lab tests on many of the major laminate players in the market today. We tested for durability and moisture resistance, as well as included information gleaned from our customers' experiences with asthetics and design. I don't know how many of the following laminates are available in Canada, but hopefully this will help narrow down your choices:
Brand Wars II: A Laminate Showdown

Best of luck with your decision! At the moment we do not ship to Canada due to currency exchange, customs, tax and shipping issues. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future we'll be setting up shop there soon though.

A: For the most part I will agree with James’ suggestion to take a look into laminate flooring. Laminate is the toughest stuff out there and is rather user friendly when it comes to installation. However, I have seen great success with many types of flooring in homes like yours where there is higher level of traffic from both family and our furry friends.

If you have not taken the time to read through Steve’s great articles which give both basic information to detailed testing on products, I highly encourage you to look into them:
Articles Section

I would suggest reading Laminate Brand Wars 2, Hardwood Brand Wars, Is Bamboo for You and Is that Cork on Your Floor. This will give you a good bit of information across all of the major flooring categories. Depending on your personal taste, I would look into Cork, Engineered Hardwood, Natural Bamboo and Laminate.

Here’s a quick rundown of tips for you:

• Laminate has great durability and is easy to install, but if you don’t use a premium underlayment you will get a hollow or clicky sound when you walk on it.


• Bamboo is a great eco friendly product and in the natural variation is harder than white oak. Bamboo also has a unique beautiful look.


• Engineered Hardwood is great for a combination of hardwood look with the benefits of an engineered product. These floors are more resistant to expansion and contraction than their solid counterparts and the cross-ply lamination technique used to make them increases their durability against denting.


• Cork is another eco-friendly floor. Although softer than hardwood floors, cork has a feature called memory. When dented, cork will naturally attempt to return to its normal state meaning it will naturally push dents out over time. Cork is also hypo-allergenic and naturally water resistant, making it a huge success in the commercial market as of late.

The flooring industry as a whole can become very opinionated rather easily, but we do our best in these articles to be objective and provide raw data rather than opinion. The statement you received about buying only German product has some insight into the opinions of various people, but its not entirely off. A vast majority of the European made floors are made to higher quality standards than products made in countries like China. European made products also tend to hold far superior environmental standards in regards to the manufacturing process and the product itself. However, there are many superior quality mills in Canada and the US making amazing floors.

My biggest tip would be to take your time when finding products and use every resource you can, including folks like James and myself.

Today's question makes several references to Steve's Stage of Floor Shopping, which I highly recommend to folks who are just beginning their floor shopping experience. Adam also makes reference to Laminate Brand Wars II: A Laminate Showdown, which is another great article from Steve giving lab and experience based comparisons of many popular lines of laminate flooring.

Q: My wife and I, thought we were at Stage 4, but we’ve slipped back to stage 3. Part of our research into laminate floors, has been to visit local stores, as it’s easier to obtain a sample that way. We were pretty well set on Alloc Original, or Wilson Art Estate, until our last local store visit, when the salesperson started pushing the Berry Floor line, which I had previously never heard of (which just goes to show, I had not done enough research on Alloc). The sales person said that Alloc, while good, hadn’t innovated in several years (which seems in line with the laminate wars 2 article on your site, although the Alloc original, still rated high), and that the Berry Floor was also superior to the Wilson Art because it was thicker (by maybe 1 mm), and had a better joint locking system. Furthermore, he stated that the underlayment that comes with the alloc is not very good because it is so thin, and pointed out the brand of underlayment the store carries as an add-on (Silent Walk). However, as soon as I heard the price on the Berry Floor, I knew something was up, as it was considerably cheaper then both the Wilson Art and Alloc.

Thanks
Adam Salvo

A: I am going to answer your questions a bit out of order, but I do have answers to them all. First off, Alloc and Berry Flooring are both owned by Beaulieu International Group. As we all know, many companies in the corporate world are owned by a larger parent company. In the case of flooring, 90% of all flooring comes from two companies: Mohawk and Shaw (assuming you include carpet in the numbers here). The relationship here is simply that Alloc and Berry are owned by the same parent company, but the flooring itself is different. Berry uses the Uniclic locking system made by the Unilin Group. This is the same locking system featured on Quick Step products and is essentially the best locking system in the industry.

Alloc is the wider known brand of Beaulieu International Group and has unique claim to fame in its use of a metal portion to its locking system. Alloc also had several innovations years ago where as Berry has simply used effective patented material to make their product. In saying this, Alloc and Wilsonart are not "better" than Berry on a brand level nor is Berry better than Alloc and Wilsonart, but rather think of them as each having their own benefits and that from collection to collection there will be different choices as to which is the better product. Berry's benefit is that it is a lesser known brand so you see some savings from that end. This is similar to companies like Westhollow and Woodstock whom choose not to advertise themselves heavily in order to pass savings on to their customers while still providing a quality product.

The warranty being pro-rated after 5 years would concern me some, which I would be wary of before purchasing. Most flooring warranties have the same benefits for an entire time period so ensure you know all of the details about a warranty before making a purchase.

Is Wilsonart's locking system inferior? Somewhat when compared to the Uniclic system, but keep in mind it is still a good locking system and Wilsonart still makes some of the best stuff on the market, especially the Red Label collection.

The attached underlayment on Alloc's Original Collection is ok. This is similar to many products which feature an attached underlayment, where the underlayment is a good value, but not necessarily the best stuff out there when compared to premium underlayments like Cork and Sound 6. One suggestion that has worked well for customers in the past is to add a bit of additional underlayment, normally 3mm cork as it works as a much better substrate than foam based underlayments, then laying the floor with attached underlayment over the top. This gives you the added benefits of additional sound suppression and cushion while still being rather affordable. As far as performance is concerned for attached underlayment, it is heavily dependent on the laminate manufacturer, but these attached pads tend to work better than cheaper combination underlayments.

So let's sum up here: Alloc and Berry flooring are owned by the same parent company Beaulieu International Group. When comparing brand to brand there is no way to say one is better than another as this is more opinion than anything else, instead, compare products at a collection level and you will be able to easily weigh the benefits of each product to determine which one is best for your project. The laminate industry has several different locking mechanisms and directly comparing them tends to show the Uniclic system as the best on the market, but the locking mechanism alone does not make one laminate better than another.

Q: We are going to install a good quality laminate flooring in our mountain cabin (4,800ft. elev.). There is a concrete slab subfloor. At one end of the great room where the flooring in to be installed, is a large brick fireplace with a curving hearth that extends out approx. 1.5 feet into the room. How do we attach/detail this part of the laminate floor that comes up against the curving bricks?

Thanks for your help!
Peggy

A: There are two ways you can do this. You will either need to cut the boards to account for the rounded area and still leave room for an expansion gap around the hearth. You will then want to use a trim piece of some form to cover this gap. The alternative would be to cut an expansion gap directly into the bottom of the hearth so you can slide the edge of the floor just under the brick and mortar. This will require careful work with proper tools, but would work similar to undercutting door jambs or existing dry wall in a home.

Q: we live in a mobile home that the flooring is in pretty good shape. my question is how much flooring will we need if we do our living room which measures at 12x 16 which is one of our larger floor areas we just don't know how many boxes of flooring or underlying we need

Thank you
Lee Ann

A: This is a very common question as many people will see boxes of flooring at a local home store and not know how much is in each box.

All you need to do to determine how much flooring you will need is to calculate the square footage of the room or rooms you are doing (in this case 192sf for your living room). You will then want to add about 10% (19sf for you) to account for your cuts and ensure you have enough flooring as there will be some waste.

Keep in mind, each type of flooring has a different amount of flooring in each box, so you want to keep to the raw square footage you need. Overall for your project you're going to want about 220 square feet of flooring (or as close to that number as you can get when ordering your boxes). This will be similar with your underlayment. Its likely you will have a bit of left over underlayment, since it typically comes in either 100sf rolls or 150sf boxes (depending on the type of underlayment).

Q: I just finished installing a new lock-and-fold engineered hardwood. I had some problems with getting the concrete subfloor level in the bedroom and ended up pouring down some self-leveling compound. However, now that I have the hardwood installed I think there are still some problems with the subfloor. There are “dead” spots in the floor where it is not in contact with the subfloor and it flexes when you walk on it. What should I do about this? Should I take it back up and pour down some more leveling compound? Or should I get a humidifier and hope it levels itself out?

Thanks
David L.

A: In this case a humidifier will not level the floor out. Your best bet would be to remove the flooring, patch your dead spots, then reinstall the flooring. This will be a bit of a hassle, but let me explain why this is the route you want to go.

With floating floors, when they flex more than is expected it will begin to put serious wear on the locking mechanism of the floor. Floating floors are expected to flex a very minimal amount which the underlayment will compensate for. The amount of movement you are running into will eventually cause the locking mechanism to break, which will splinter portions of the floor along with allowing for even more movement in the floor.

In the end, you will want your floor to be flat. Take your time when you are doing the patch work and make sure you don't run into this problem again.

As a bit of a tribute to Thanksgiving, I wanted to put out some advice to anyone trying to get their new floor in by the holidays. For the flooring industry, this is a very busy time as so many folks are looking for that extra tough to make their homes the place to be for the holidays.

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone shopping for a new floor for the holidays is to plan ahead. Everyone in the industry gets busy during the holidays, so don't expect to order a floor a week before the family is supposed to start coming over with an expectation to have it in your home and installed in time. Plain and simple, unless you are talking carpet this will NOT happen.

Typically many hard surface floors, especially wood floors, are shipped from the manufacturers warehouses and take (on average again) 7-10 business days to be delivered. That's 2 weeks of time right there and that assumes that the product is in stock.

From here you have to let the floor acclimate (because we want this floor to last for many years) which will typically take another 3-5 days. From here, its install time and depending on how much flooring you are having installed, takes 1-3 days on average. Very large jobs or glue down applications do take longer, so always consult your installer on the time required to complete an installation.

Add that all up and you are looking at 3 weeks or more from the day you order a floor to having it fully installed. This is the average floor process (not to mention all the time spent finding the floor you love that fits your home) and anything faster than this is a huge benefit. Every flooring retailer has some product they keep in stock, so some products can be taken home that day and you reduce your time some, but my point here is to plan ahead and give yourself realistic expectations.

As I've always said when it comes to the install process, patience is your friend and plan accordingly. Make sure you talk to the salesperson you work with to get realistic time tables so you can plan ahead and if it sounds too good to be true, question it.

Q: I have installed the 3" Bubinga Deep Cognac Westhollow® Wood 3/8" Engineered. I wanted to know if I could put a coat of wood floor polyurethane on them? I like for them to be real shiny and not to get damaged. I feel if I put the polyurethane on them they will be less likely to damage if something is dropped on them.

Thank you
Mona Clark

A: Adding additional Polyurethane finish (which is your common finish on most wood floors) can add some additional protection and if you use a higher gloss finish, a bit more shine, but keep in mind that with pre-finished floors, once you add more finish, the initial warranty on the floor is usually voided.

Let's do a bit of background here about floor finish and the pros and cons of refinishing or adding more finish to a floor.

The level of gloss or matte to a floors finish is a key indicator to one thing. Typically, floors which are matter or low gloss carry more aluminum oxide (or similar protective agents) which help prevent scratching and abrasion on your floor. High gloss floors (which have a great shine) have less of these particulates in them, meaning that they are more susceptible to to damage from abrasion (scratches typically). The key lesson to learn here is that by adding higher gloss finish to a floor, you gain minimal protection when compared to the matte finishes which contain higher amounts of aluminum oxide and similar protective additives.

So this might leave you with the question "What is Aluminum Oxide?" Good question! Aluminum oxide is one of the toughest substances on Earth, and it has been added to flooring finishes to give additional protection. If you were to look at a wood floor through a high powered microscope, you would see a jagged surface where the finish containing aluminum oxide is. The jagged portion is the aluminum oxide particulates, which act as a barrier, causing items which run over the floor (such as grit, pet nails, etc) to hit the aluminum oxide and not touch the actual flooring itself. Pretty handy for keeping a floor looking tip-top.

Finish typically protects against abrasion and is not as pivotal in preventing denting (such as dropping a soup can on your floor would cause). A floor will get damaged in this manner over time, no floor is bullet proof so to speak, but certain floors are less likely to dent. Floors which feature a species with a higher Janka hardness r