[another Linda]

Boomer, I'm so glad you were able to resurrect your dissertation on floors! I still need to go back and read the other thread. I love your idea about getting a floor the color of dirt -- Makes perfect sense to me. I just knew I could count on you. (I love Annie too).

Army Guy, HD's policy of not paying the sub makes perfect sense. I wonder if Lowes does that too. And if so, why didn't they mention it? They knew that was the reason we didn't go with them. A mystery.

[Army Guy]

Another Linda, I asked HD about the payment policy. Since we were going to be long distance and not there to watch, I was like what is the Contractors incentive to do it right and good? That is when they told me. That is also why I think it was installed so quickly. I told them my trip schedule to TV, so they worked it so they would be just finished and I could review......they wanted their money quicker instead of having to wait several more weeks/months!

Army Guy

[Xavier]

We were at Home Depot yesterday to look into their flooring and we got the distinct impression that they could care less if they sold anything. Their display of wood flooring was not appealing at all. After looking over what they had and being ignored for the entire time, we decided to try Lowes. Lowes was much more helpful. The advantage of the local places is that you can see sections of various products installed on their floor. It really helps. We're leaning towards Lowes so far but we have several stores to check out before the decision. We're doing wood or laminate in the living room, dining room, part of the foyer and the hallway to the master bedroom. We're doing carpeting in the master and guest bedrooms and tile in the den. Home Depot lost their chance at a pretty good piece of change. They are big and won't even miss it!

[Army Guy]

Wow, that experience at HD was totally different then ours! Mark who works in flooring was super helpful, plus brought the Expeditor out who works with theContrators to talk with us. Probably spent 1-2 hours with both discussing and planning. They even laid out samples of the tiles together so we could really get the feel.
Had the same treatment with Sarah at HD is Kitchens who helped us do our granite.

Army Guy

[otherbruddaDarrell]

HEY Linda,
I forgot that we have porcelain tile and not ceramic.
My wife said that if ceramic cracks you see the cracks, but if porcelain cracks it is the same color all the way thru

[another Linda]

Well, our new floors are in. We ended up going with Floormasters on 301 and using porcelain tile. I haven't seen it yet, but Redwitch kept watch for me and said the installer did a great job. bruddaDarrell also saw it and said it looks great. And, yes Boomer, I chose something that is the color of dirt! I'll post pictures when we get there next week! Can't wait.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by another Linda

Well, our new floors are in. We ended up going with Floormasters on 301 and using porcelain tile. I haven't seen it yet, but Redwitch kept watch for me and said the installer did a great job. bruddaDarrell also saw it and said it looks great. And, yes Boomer, I chose something that is the color of dirt! I'll post pictures when we get there next week! Can't wait.

Hi Linda,

We will look forward to your pictures.

And you will be really glad that you took my advice about how to choose the color. I have never regretted doing that.

Annie, in the picture, the spokesmodel whose hair matches the tile perfectly, is still with us. She is asleep at my feet. She is now 15 years and 8 months old, and really loves it when it is time to heat the tile. Be glad you do not have to worry about doing that.

(Actually, I think our floor is porcelain like yours, not ceramic. I am not sure I even know what the difference is. It might have something to do with the color going all the way through porcelain -- but I also could be making that up. I don't really know. But I do know my color-choosing method sure works.)

Boomer

[eremite06]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Hi Linda,

Here is a dissertation on flooring for you.

Shameless Confession Time: I absolutely love to talk about floors. In fact, in an old thread on here, I called myself the Cliff Clavin of talking about floors. (before somebody else called me Cliff -- but at least I am not talking about potatoes)

And then I went on to say that actually, I start to sound a little like Forrest Gump when it comes to floors. You know. Ya got your engineered wood. Ya got your sanded and finished on the job hardwood. Ya got your pre-finished hardwood. Ya got your laminate hardwood-look hardwood. Ya got your ceramic tile. Ya got your porcelain tile. Ya even got your ceramic tile-ish looking laminate

My Ohio house is all hardwood. (except for the ceramic tile parts) 5-inch wide planks, 3/4" thick, tongue and groove, pre-finished hardwood. Mr. Boomer did the install after the purchase of many, many, many expensive power tools. A pneumatic nailer. Some kind of laser level. Some saws. A saw stand. A screw gun with a handle so you can stand up and use it. And a bunch of other stuff. It was quite a project.....But I digress......

Anyway, about laminate, I don't have any, but Mr. B. has installed it in our daughter's house. It is a lot less expensive than hardwood. It is really easy to install and to take care of and it is practically indestructible. Regular hardwood does get scratched, even the prefinished stuff can. Not easily. But it can. (We have it in the kitchen, too.) A few scratches do not bother me. I think it kind of goes with the territory of real wood.

I saw that you said rental and that might be another reason to keep laminate under consideration. Laminate saves aggravation.

There are some nice looks to be found with laminate, too. It can be a good choice.

But no matter what kind of floor you choose, the underlayment is crucial.

And now, for Part II. I must go on and on about ceramic tile. Our bathrooms are ceramic, and so is the 4-season room that we built last fall.......and winter. (4 months -- aaaaugh!) But I digress.....once more... back to floors.....

I think the key to ceramic tile is picking a color that does not show dirt and keeping the grout line as skinny as you can. In the new room, we did 1/8 inch. We also used some hideously expensive can of quartz grout that I talked about on here somewhere before. It is supposed to resist dirt and stains like nothing else. I have a big fear of red wine. (This from a woman who has a yellow couch....go figure) So anyway, we sprung for the more expensive grout, but we have not tested it yet so who knows.

If you end up choosing tile, it is very important to choose tile that is the color of dirt. Preferably a mix of several dirt colors.

Now, I know I already showed the following picture of my dog Annie in a different thread. But I am using the picture again because in this thread Annie is being the spokesmodel for the ceramic tile floor with the skinny grout lines.

Please notice that the floor is not only the many shades of dirt, but it also matches the dog’s hair. (Boomer is no fool.) That floor is in Ohio, of course, and it is heated underneath so that my feet do not freeze on winter mornings and the dear old dog loves it, too, as you can see.



And here is a picture that shows why we need the heated floor.



Well, enough from me about floors – again. I just cannot resist going on and on about floors, even if I am repeating myself. (been around here too long -- stuff comes up again) But hey, at least I know I am repeating myself.....I think.

But one more thing, whatever kind of material you choose, buy a little extra and stash it. You might need to replace a spot for some reason, somewhere down the road.

Boomer

PS: I apologize for making the pictures the size of a billboard again. I do not know how to get them smaller.

For all interested in flooring, check out the latest Consumer Reports Aug. '10 issue, page 37.