Putting It All Together: How To Give Back
Here's the second video in the Putting It All Together series. This one features Susan and Michelle chatting it up at the Pioneer Woman's ranch, the topic du jour being how to give back. I'm getting more and more nervous that next month's video is going to feature ME.
Speaking of me, I'm working on a post right now about the trip my sister and I took to Paris last month, along with recommendations for some of the things we did. Which was, as you know, mostly eating. What's not to like about that?
Anyway, I hope you had a lovely weekend. We spent about ninety percent of ours in Home Depot, talking about floors. The room we're going to use for the study in our new house has a funky 70s linoleum, you see, that we're going to be ripping up before you can say "John Travolta." We want to put a wood floor down there---the rest of the house has the original 1940s hardwoods, which are lovely---but we're total newbies at this kind of thing. Engineered wood, for instance: what the heck is it? Pergo flooring: the best of the laminates? The crazy low prices at Lumber Liquidators: too good to be true? I mean, this is the kind of person I've become, Internet, A PERSON WHO TALKS ABOUT FLOORING. Trust me, it's a shock to me too.
May 10, 2010
I bought a condo in MD (just outside DC) in August 2008. It had horrible carpeting and I have allergies, so up came the carpets and down went wood floors. I got them at lumber liquidators. They are great...except I didn't particularly care for some of the sales people I interacted with prior to purchasing. The floors are wonderful and very beautiful. I've had no issues - other than my boyfriend who scratched them with a book case on accident. It was totally his fault and not the floor though. I have them throughout the 2 BR, 2BA condo, except in the kitchen, and two bathrooms. Make sure you get an experienced salesperson who knows what they are talking about though.
May 10, 2010
Free Assvice: Get pre-finished real wood, not the laminate as the real wood can be refinished 1x or 2x if necessary, laminate has to be replaced. In addition, real wood should fit in better with the existing wood floors.
Also, please buy from Lumbar Liquidators as the headquarters is literally 5 minutes from my house so your purchase would help support my local economy, and also my brokerage account! I'm not selfish much... :)
And I am apparently the type who talks about my brokerage account, so I'm right there with you.
May 10, 2010
Go with what you like...but don't let anyone sell you on bamboo floors because they are "green". They are pretty, and hard, and certainly durable, and yes they are made from a sustainable product. They are also produced in facilities that use some of the most toxic glues & polywhatevers known to mankind in the process of making said bamboo floors. Pretty & durable, yes. Green? Absolutely not. Go with bamboo because you like them not based on an ecological myth!
May 10, 2010
Holly,
Lumber Liquidators is great. I also agree with Blanche, get real wood. Laminates are for rentals. I am one to always be thinking about home improvement so I am happy to see this as a topic on your hilarious blog.
Meghan
May 10, 2010
you know the original floors are still under that shag-tastic vinyl flooring? (I'd say I'm at least 90% sure).
It will suck for sure ripping out the vinyl (and maybe a thin underlayment material) but as long as the floors underneath are in reasonably good shape (not missing big chunks of the wood) you should refinish. Even if they look horribly stained and discolored - sand the floor and you'll be amazed how much better shape they're in than you though.
If you replace the floors with something else - no matter what - they will look different from the rest of the house and be "new" looking.
If for some reason the original floor is destroyed, and you want to install the replacement floor yourself, go with engineered wood. It is still a snap-lock type installation and is pre-finished. Engineered wood floors are pretty much veneer wood on a more stable engineered base material.
May 10, 2010
So, my advice was basically going to be exactly what Ryan (comment 5) said.
So, just consider this a thumbs up to him.
-K
May 10, 2010
Ryan -- not sure if the original floors will be underneath the lino, since the room is the only one downstairs (away from the rest of the house) but that's a great idea to check! As for the floors matching the originals, it's not the biggest deal since the room IS so separate from the others. Would be nice though!
May 10, 2010
I'd say the best of the laminates - and Pergo is one of them - is better than a medium quality real wood. They are less prone to scratching, longer lasting and easier to clean. They also look as good as wood.
The cheaper laminates are the ones to avoid.
May 10, 2010
We replaced some nasty old linoleum with bamboo flooring and love it. Ours was from IKEA, which meant a big road trip, but we found that when you've got a lot of home remodel projects to do, the rented minivan (we fit a whole kitchen in it!) and the drive were totally worth it. The bamboo is espresso colored and absolutely gorgeous.
May 12, 2010
Breaking this down into several comments in hopes that it takes:
Just my two cents (which I don't think is even worth that much)...we've been in our house about 3 years now. Before we moved in, the owners were trying to get rid of 1980's linoleum in the kitchen and some awful carpet in the adjoining den. There were already some nice, and real, hardwoods in the hall, foyer and dining room. They put some type of engineered something down that looks really nice and is wearing ok, but would have looked so much better if they had taken the time to MATCH the flooring that was already here! (is my exclamation mark big enough? How about two more...!!).
May 12, 2010
AND, they didn't take the time to make the floors all the same level. What I mean is, they put the new flooring OVER the old linoleum in the kitchen (making it a bit higher than everywhere else), and ripped up the carpet and carpet pad in the den without putting down new subfloor (making that room LOWER than everywhere else). I actually have a doorway merge between several areas with 3 different threshold boards (that aren't necessary if the floors match)and 4 levels of flooring.
May 12, 2010
All of these "levels" are NOT a good thing if you're ever thinking of having toddlers try to learn to walk anywhere in those parts of your house. When my niece was just learning how to walk, she busted it several times going from the den, ACROSS the threshold board into the kitchen.
May 12, 2010
Which, if done right, wouldn't have required a threshold in the first place. So whatever you do, I'm suggesting making it consistent throughout. Just sayin'....
May 12, 2010
Ehh, we have real hardwoods throughout our 1940's built home that are orginal to the house. They scratch so damn easy that I swear when we build our new home we will be putting in top end laminates so the pets don't scratch the bejeebus out of it. Pergo is the best of the laminates but it won't nessecarily save you money over hardwood if you get the good stuff.
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