We’ve had experiences with different kinds of flooring over the years. And a few oddball flooring situations. Like the bowing of the upper bedroom floor. I found out that the inventive Amish farmer had installed a water resevoir up there after bringing the toilet facilities indoors. Trouble was, it leaked and the weight ended up bowing the floor. That floor ( and bedroom) is still on the to-do list. The floorboards have to come up and new joists scabbed in which will level the floor surface. That will be only the beginning of the needed work- the crumbling old plaster walls and ceiling will all need replacement. That room is unoccupied until we get the work done. We’ve used it for storage- which I’m trying to relocate so we can finish this one last big job. Medium job,in comparison to some of the others, really.
One of my husbands learning experiences was on the first floor we did here- refinishing the dining room floor. It has oak boards that were under old vinyl covering. We removed the worn, damaged vinyl and my husband then rented a floor sander. Not for the fainthearted! I don’t think he will ever attempt that job again… the lesson learned is to keep the sander moving- he had some places where he went over the areas a leetle too assiduously and it doesn’t take long to get an uneven floor. That was never really resolved, but the stain with polyurethane was a good choice for the finishing. It has been easy to upkeep and looked pretty good all these years. The floor is something we can live with- which is almost surprising since my husband is a perfectionist about things (which is why we both don’t want me to do the wallpaper work)- but just goes to show that over time there are things you accept and adjust to. Yet, if you asked him…. but I try not to go there.
Now. The newest project was to put new flooring on the remodeling project. I wanted something easy to keep clean, without too much work to keep up a decent finish, and fairly warm underfoot. I love the ceramic tile in my kitchen, but that was out due to it being both hard and cold underfoot. And forget it if you drop something breakable on it. I did some research and came upon something not widely used: cork. We bought the rectangle tiles that snap together in a floating floor. It takes a few special tools, but turned out to be fairly uncomplicated to assemble. The caveat is to ignore the contractor who tells you the floor is “level enough”. aside: First time we had to use outside work was on this project because it was so ambitious and -let’s face it, we had to move my mom in a time frame of less than who knows how long it would have taken on our own. A floating floor has these weird bubbled places if the floor underneath isn’t sufficiently level. My husbands job was fine and went without a hitch… the contractors part above the garage? Had to use leveler and it still bubbled a bit. Just saying; I really have no complaints about the person who did the work- he was great,really- a friend of ours. I just don’t think people realize that [for the cork floor, anyway] those floating panels need a truly level surface to keep from having weird bubble places-sort of a bit bouncy when you walk on them. Like, hmm, did that floor just move? ooo.
But wow. We really liked the way it turned out. I am so sold on cork flooring now- fantasized about re-doing all the downstairs in it. Which, practically speaking won’t happen, but the cork was lovely. I loved the choice my husband made for the office part. It is the natural color [which I like best], and has a burled look. He coated it twice with polyurethene sealer and for cleaning just vacuum and use the Swiffer type cleaner on it. Couldn’t be simpler to maintain.
I’m supposed to exercise in that room. But have been ….remiss.
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