For questions regarding various types of floor coverings in general, including hardwood and laminate board, tile, carpet, and sheet flooring (linoleum/vinyl). For questions about the structure beneath this top layer, please see the "floor" tag.
3
votes
3answers
60 views
How can I remove tile grout from floorboards?
We've removed old ceramic tiles that cover a tongue and groove bathroom floor. What is a good way to remove the hard tile grout that now covers the floor?
EDIT: updated title as we've found Rimu is ...
3
votes
2answers
78 views
How can I install T molding on concrete subflooring?
I'm at the point where I want to install some T molding for the transition from our main room to the bedrooms. I just took a look at the directions and they only show screwing the track into the ...
2
votes
3answers
99 views
Shall I undercut the drywall to let the baseboard cover the hardwood floor expansion gap?
I am going to replace my carpet with Engineered hardwood floor(the choice would be Kahrs floating installed floor). The problem I am facing is my baseboard is thin. It's not able to cover the ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
Should I use underlay when tiling a bathroom?
Recently I had a water leak in the bathroom.
I noticed water spilling out from the tiles grouting and I removed them to prevent any more water penetration.
I noticed that the following layers have ...
4
votes
1answer
99 views
How do I repair water-damaged hardwood floors?
We moved a pot plant that was sitting on top of the wood floor. We discovered there's a wet spot about 2 inches wide where a couple of seams meet.
The wet spot has probably been there for months.
...
2
votes
1answer
146 views
How should I prepare a plywood subfloor for floating vinyl plank flooring?
The floor of my laundry room was three layers of hideous vinyl flooring of various vintages, a layer of 3/4" plywood underlayment (to match the height of the vinyl to surrounding hardwood flooring) ...
2
votes
2answers
95 views
Does cork flooring underlayment have to be glued down?
I'm finally getting around to installing an engineered floating floor in our living room. It's 1/2" thick. I am looking at using 1/4" cork underlayment underneath such as this from Home Depot.
It ...
2
votes
2answers
118 views
Should I peel off the top layer of vinyl in preparation for tiling?
I'm preparing my kitchen floor for ceramic tile. Currently it's a sheet of vinyl(linoleum?). The plan was to sand off any gloss and tile over it. I was going around the edges picking off any loose ...
4
votes
4answers
250 views
How can I transition between these floors?
I have recently fitted some new laminate flooring to my living room floor. This floor meets directly with the tiled floor of the kitchen. I'm looking to fit some sort of transition bar between the ...
3
votes
4answers
488 views
How to remove construction adhesive from concrete?
We removed a wooden dance floor that was glued to concrete with liquid nails. How do I remove the liquid nails that is all over the concrete floor? Has anyone had success with heat, mineral spirits ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Do soft casters on rolling chars hurt hardwood floors?
Or should I just get a floor mat? Obviously I'd rather have the soft casters, if they do the job, but if they don't it's not worth it. What should I do?
1
vote
1answer
95 views
How do I replace the front door on a stucco house?
I'm going to be taking out the various floors that have been laid in our house down to the sub floor so wood flooring can be laid. But in doing so the floor will be about 1 inch lower than what it ...
4
votes
2answers
134 views
How can I replace a board in floating wood floor?
I have a condo with a concrete subfloor so I floated an engineered wood floor above it. It's not a "click-lock" floor, it's a glued T&G install.
A contractor recently did some work in the unit ...
4
votes
3answers
286 views
How do I fix bubbles under linoleum flooring?
We put down a sheet 12X9 of linoleum in our kitchen and it went under the new cabinets and baseboard. The flooring depot said no glue was needed. Well now we have bubbles, a great big one and several ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
How do I install vapor-retarder underlayment paper under vinyl floor planks?
Do I overlap the sheets of paper or are the seams supposed to lay flat against each other? Is it okay to use nails to hold it down, or does it have to be stapled? Can I use silicone to seal the ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views
How do I install a range anti-tip kit into hardwood floor on concrete?
I'm preparing to install an anti-tip kit for an electric range. It's a piece of shaped metal designed to be bolted to the floor with two screws or bolts. The floor is hardwood (probably engineered) ...
1
vote
0answers
72 views
Is this a scuff on my hardwood floor? How can I fix it?
We've tried using a whole bunch of wood cleaning products for this and similar marks on our floor, but nothing seems to work. What exactly am I dealing with here and how can I fix it?
1
vote
1answer
187 views
Should I carpet the stairs or install hardwood flooring first?
I will have hardwood on my first floor and carpet on the stairs and 2nd floor. My question is: regarding the transition, is it better to carpet the stairs first and then do the hardwood (as to avoid ...
2
votes
1answer
170 views
What can I do about a toilet drain pipe that is too high above the floor?
My toilet drain pipe protrudes about 1/3" above the floor, and makes the toilet wobbly. What can I do to fix this?
0
votes
1answer
93 views
How can I figure out where this water is coming from?
I have the situation where my shower piping is leaking underneath a tiled floor. This only occurs when the shower is running, suggesting a drainage issue.
The pipe passes from the shower faucet ...
0
votes
0answers
59 views
Is it possible to purchase giant sheets of foam rubber flooring?
I need to install a ring of anti-fatigue mat material (foam/rubber) that has an outside diameter of 20 ft and inside diameter of 12 ft. I seem to only find it sold as interlocking squares though ...
2
votes
1answer
68 views
Which tile cutter to use for commercial flooring tiles?
I am putting (vinyl?) commercial flooring tiles in one of my hallways. The product I've seen one guy (pro) use at a supermarket once was this:
Now, that baby is $200+. I was wondering whether the ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
How should I remove carpet in preparation for sanding and polishing floorboards?
I have a bedroom I want to convert into a nursery. The room's mostly carpeted, with a small section missing where a wardrobe was built in. From what I can see, it's just carpet over floorboards, no ...
0
votes
3answers
542 views
How do I cut a brick fireplace hearth to allow for a laminate flooring expansion gap?
I am attempting to cut a small piece out of the brick fireplace (already in place) to allow for the expansion of the floating laminate flooring that I am installing. I don’t want to just leave the ...
2
votes
3answers
193 views
How to make a Bevel Lap Splice joint, for connecting a portable floor?
I'm new to woodworking, and I've read that I could potentially create this joint using a table saw, jointer, or even a circular saw - but I do not want to rent/purchase one and find out that I can't.
...
1
vote
2answers
557 views
Can I float a tongue-and-grooved 1x12 pine floor over a concrete slab on grade?
I have bare concrete floor that was, until recently, covered with carpet. After recently seeing a friend of mine purchase raw pine, shape the tongue-and-groove himself, and seal it to achieve a ...
3
votes
3answers
231 views
Can I install hardwood floors (not floating) on a concrete floor?
We have recently bought an old house, and the ground floor has a hard floor and is currently covered in tongue and groove laminate - which we hate.
We'd like to put reclaimed floorboards down - is ...
-2
votes
2answers
267 views
Should I have a break between rooms when installing laminate flooring?
I'm going to be putting in laminate flooring in my basement on top of a concrete slab. The basement consists of two rooms, the boards will be running perpendicular to the wall with the door between ...
6
votes
2answers
134 views
Is cork an effective solution to reverberation problems?
I own a small English language academy in Spain. After a rebuild last summer I find that problems with reverberation persist. This is at its worst when less people are present but I'm looking for a ...
3
votes
1answer
239 views
How long does radiant heat in a concrete floor last?
I am looking to purchase a home built in 1950 that has radiant heat with copper pipes inside the concrete slab foundation. The home has been vacant for a little while now too, not sure if that ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
How do I repair my porcelain floor?
How can I repair chips in a white porcelain floor? The chips came from dropping heavy cans, and they are small, less than pencil eraser size.
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Should I install floating solid bamboo flooring?
I have been looking at flooring choices for my new home. The house currently has carpeting on the upper story and a cheap laminate floor on the ground floor. I'm planning on replacing both.
I've been ...
4
votes
2answers
2k views
Should I nail, and glue my hardwood flooring?
Well since I'm waiting for an answer on my first hardwood floor question I might as well throw my second question out there too.
I’m face nailing my new hardwood flooring (Tasmanian Blackwood 19mm x ...
4
votes
1answer
186 views
Waterproofing nail holes in a hardwood bathroom floor?
I’m face nailing my new hardwood flooring (Tasmanian Blackwood 19mm x 130mm) then puttying the knot holes and nail holes. This will be done through the whole house. The subfloor is Particle Board ...
3
votes
2answers
584 views
Vinyl tile installation over a concrete basement floor with moisture
I would like to put some sort of flooring over part of my basement. Something with the look and simple installation of an interlocking garage tile (example) would fit the bill -- this isn't a living ...
7
votes
2answers
248 views
What do I need to do to raise a subfloor?
We're installing an engineered wood flooring in a room that already has a plywood subfloor. The engineered flooring will be 1/4" shy of the height of the hardwood in the other rooms, so I'd like to ...
3
votes
2answers
192 views
Is it a good idea to put 1/4" XPS under engineered floors?
We're pulling out the carpet in a room next to a room with hardwood floors. After removing the carpet and putting down the engineered floor, we'll be 1/4" short of the hardwood.
Options:
Use ...
4
votes
1answer
105 views
How can I repair my floors' finish?
We had our Victorian boards (throughout house and staircase) sanded and varnished a while back. We have recently had builders and painters in our house for a month and they are looking a little worse ...
2
votes
2answers
484 views
Should I run laminate continuously through rooms, or separate with T moulding?
I am installing laminate flooring in an area that has two bedrooms and a living area. The bedrooms are about 150 sq ft each and the living space is around 250 sq ft.
--------------- ...
2
votes
1answer
254 views
Should I try to remove backer board and leave the plywood subfloor in place?
Currently I have ceramic tile in the main hallways of my house. I am looking to replace this with hardwood flooring and will potentially be performing the demolition work myself to save money. I know ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I lay “click system” laminate flooring across an opening?
I want to lay laminate flooring throughout my apartment as one big continuous floor. Normally you start laying a row against a wall and then create a new row and click it into the previous row. This ...
6
votes
1answer
607 views
How do I obtain a smooth, white floor?
I'd like to obtain a smooth, seamless, a bit shiny, white floor in an apartment. Something similar to this:
How can I achieve this? I was thinking about epoxy flooring. Is that the correct route to ...
7
votes
1answer
462 views
How can I remove large nails from cement?
I am redoing the flooring in my basement and removed a built-in toy chest. I disassembled the chest and the floor 2x4's are attached to the cement with large nails. If I had to guess on gauge I'd say ...
5
votes
2answers
477 views
What type of subflooring should I use for a basement?
My basement has wall-to-wall carpet in the two bedrooms and living area. The carpet was probably from the 70's when the house was built and we decided to remove it. After removing the carpet from ...
5
votes
2answers
141 views
Should I use concrete, or some other method to fix this entry area?
I have an entry walkway that's 9ft x 4ft by my front door that I need to fix so it is solid ground. I was thinking of putting concrete down and then laying tile on top of the concrete. I have some ...
4
votes
1answer
126 views
How do I know when my wooden floor has fully dried out post-flood?
So I had a bit of a flood (tap overflowing) and the wooden floor in my house was under an inch of water for a few hours. It's drying out now, and is a bit warped but otherwise fine. I need to wait ...
3
votes
2answers
320 views
How can I repair laminate floor boards with damaged edges?
I noticed that two panels of my laminate floor board have not joined well: there is a small gap between them. Now, it seems that constant wear is damaging the edges of the board.
Is there any way ...
4
votes
1answer
529 views
How do I install carpet tiles in a below grade room?
A few years ago, I saw an advertisement for carpet tiles that had a jagged edge so there would be less movement in the interlock between tiles, and prevented the need for glue. (would like to find ...
4
votes
2answers
251 views
Is a cork floor pet friendly/durable?
We have some pet rabbits. (don't ask... ;)
They're pretty good with the litter box...maybe batting .900 but it's that other 10% of the time that wreaks havoc on the carpet. Rabbit pee is pretty nasty ...
7
votes
2answers
283 views
How can I remove a portion of a hardwood floor board?
I am adding a small pantry with door to the kitchen area and want to continue the hardwood floors from the kitchen area into the pantry. After removing the baseboard moldings I see that the last ...
