Anyone with experience with hardwood floors

[Dragonvale]

Were finally going to get quotes to refinish our hardwood floors. Its just the bottom floor which lets say at most is 800 sqft if even that. We want it refinished with a darker color also. Some boards need replacing also just to add to the bill. Does anyone have anyone in mind that gives good prices or can even tell me what to expect? I talked to one person and he said your looking at $4 a sqft.... holy crap if hes right. I appreciate any thoughts. Once we figure it out and get it done I can get my display tank set up.

 

[zeroinverse]

At $4/sqft, I wonder if laminate would be about the same price.

 

[carriej]

I just asked my husband, he is a flooring installer... I'm sure prices differ majorly; but he pretty much said unless you love the floor; it's sometimes just cheaper to replace it with something else. He doesn't do refinishing - as people lie and say things like "oh it's never been refinished before" (or they just don't know) when in fact it has been multiple times, and you can only do it a few times depending on floor. Anyway, rambling.

We have every type of floor - and I mean EVERY TYPE OF FLOOR in our house. I like laminate way better than hardwood, and honestly with the thicker stuff you can't even tell the difference. My husband can - but he's a floor freak. All of us normal humans won't notice. If I drop something on the laminate floor - no biggie. Pick it up. Drop something on the super expensive shiny hardwood floor and there's a ding in it.

Only issue (with both hardwood and laminate) is you're not really supposed to get them wet. I went with tile under the reef (just directly underneath it and about 3 feet all the way around in every direction) because of this and my prone to spill stuff. Obviously I am a bit lucky since my husband can just do it; but the water factor upset my floor obsessing husband too much.

 

[zeroinverse]

I think it is just hilarious o have a floor obsessing husband.

I installed laminate in my son's room and it is pretty straightforward with the right tools.

I just asked my husband, he is a flooring installer... I'm sure prices differ majorly; but he pretty much said unless you love the floor; it's sometimes just cheaper to replace it with something else. He doesn't do refinishing - as people lie and say things like "oh it's never been refinished before" (or they just don't know) when in fact it has been multiple times, and you can only do it a few times depending on floor. Anyway, rambling.

We have every type of floor - and I mean EVERY TYPE OF FLOOR in our house. I like laminate way better than hardwood, and honestly with the thicker stuff you can't even tell the difference. My husband can - but he's a floor freak. All of us normal humans won't notice. If I drop something on the laminate floor - no biggie. Pick it up. Drop something on the super expensive shiny hardwood floor and there's a ding in it.

Only issue (with both hardwood and laminate) is you're not really supposed to get them wet. I went with tile under the reef (just directly underneath it and about 3 feet all the way around in every direction) because of this and my prone to spill stuff. Obviously I am a bit lucky since my husband can just do it; but the water factor upset my floor obsessing husband too much.

 

[Dragonvale]

Would orginal hardwood floors add more value rather than laying something over it? Thanks 4 chiming in everyone.

 

[Clear water]

Original floors are of Great value. They are pricy to maintain and refinish. The quality of the floor as mentioned depends on how many times it has been refinished. If they haven't and for the most part are in great condition you have a gem. For the most part depending when the house was built and style of the house when selling It will increase the value of the house.
I think you have to ask the question if spending the money on the floors and setting up the tank on top of the refinished hardwood floor is a wise decision.
Personally I wouldn't.

 

[Dragonvale]

Original floors are of Great value. They are pricy to maintain and refinish. The quality of the floor as mentioned depends on how many times it has been refinished. If they haven't and for the most part are in great condition you have a gem. For the most part depending when the house was built and style of the house when selling It will increase the value of the house.
I think you have to ask the question if spending the money on the floors and setting up the tank on top of the refinished hardwood floor is a wise decision.
Personally I wouldn't.

The floors havent been refininished and it was installed in 1998. It will be stained to a darker color also. For the tank, its only going to be a 50 gallon cube rather than my old 250! Can you even lay pergo on a hardwood floor? Only thing im scared of is a indoor yorkie and a going to be 5 year old kid. LoL

 

[zeroinverse]

You can put laminate over plywood subfloor. Which is just wood. Usually the laminate has a "foam dampening material" liner and since they interlocks together so it is a floating floor. You leave 1/8"-1/4" around the edge.

Then your base molding just goes on
Top of the wood. Depending on baseboard thickness, your "edge gaps"
Of laminate will vary (1:8 to 1/4).

Main problem with putting laminate over existing floor is the "threshold". It adds 1/4" or more additional height between the rooms that you have to account for.

There are many variations of threshold transition pieces that may work for your needs or may not.

 

[Dragonvale]

Ron, we accounted for the threshold since we only have two doors. But we do have some steps to consider which may have to be ripped out. Again I want to do it right the first time, and a buddy told me not to go cheap if putting something over the orginal hardwood floors.

 

[Grant W]

The main differance would be what type of floor you are starting with. If its a 5/16" thick top nailed the repairs will be easy but if it has already been sanded then there may not be much floor left and the nails will all need to be set. If 3/4" T and G then the repair will be more time consuming but you have more thickness to work with when sanding. Protecting the floor will be the biggest issue. As you know our tanks are not hardwood friendly. If you are doing the whole downstairs anyway you could have the floors sanded a room at a time and maybe have the area around your tank removed and install a nice tile or stone in that area if that works with the decor and layout of that room. Most of the lower floor of my house I did in hardwood( 3/4" T and G) and I recently had my guy quote refinishing in three chunks. We have about 1200 ft of wood. Whatever you do make sure the guys sand, stain and coat the floors with three coats of satin finish and screen between each coat of finish and the floor dries completely between each finish coat. Do not let them rush the finishing as many will try to apply multiple coats too quickly. I wouldnt recommend overlaying the existing floor as the height will get pretty rediculous and probably squeak, especially with a floating floor like most of the laminates. I hope this helps. Grant

 

[Reef Bass]

Gosh darn I get tired of saying it, but Grant's advice sounds pretty right on.

What I'm hearing is if the wood is good, and you get a crew that does a quality job, you can have some beautiful results. Without those though your mileage may vary.

I ripped out the old wall to wall carpet in my asthmatic daughter's bedroom in my old house and installed a Pergo floor. It was easy, inexpensive, and looked good. Threshold height was not an issue because I replaced carpet whose pad and pile were thicker than the Pergo padding and boards.

Laminate can be tough but if you gouge it hard enough, you'll expose the board's substrate which is very unlikely to match the laminate's appearance.

 

[Dragonvale]

Is it possible to do one half of the floor then the other half? Meaning we have no where to put the sofas, kitchen table etc. So we would have to move them from one side to another. The individual stated it would be a week if everything were cleared out and bare floors were just there. He did state on a brief phone call about sanding then wetting the wood, then staining. Then 3 coats would need to be done. He stated if we were to do the transition of items from one side to another were looking at a week and a half now. Is this do able, does the time frame legit? Any thoughts or comments or questions to ask? Just cautious since this isn't a cheap project. Thank you

 

[zeroinverse]

I think it won't work to "split the room". The dust from sanding will get all over the place.

And the staining may prevent easy access across/through rooms and those chemicals may not be great for anyone nearby?

 

[Grant W]

Once the floor is done you will also need to stay off of it for a few days until it dries hard even with waterbased finish. I prefer the oil based bacca glitsa but the fumes are nasty. Like extinguish the pilot lights and apply wearing a respirator. But the stuff creates a finish thats hard as stone.

Regarding the furniture, you could rent a pod and have it left in the driveway. The wood floor finishing has always been the only subtrade that kicked me, the contractor, off the job.

 

[Dragonvale]

Once the floor is done you will also need to stay off of it for a few days until it dries hard even with waterbased finish. I prefer the oil based bacca glitsa but the fumes are nasty. Like extinguish the pilot lights and apply wearing a respirator. But the stuff creates a finish thats hard as stone.

Regarding the furniture, you could rent a pod and have it left in the driveway. The wood floor finishing has always been the only subtrade that kicked me, the contractor, off the job.

Thank you everyone for giving me the great ideas. Grant your experience is awesome but at the same time scaring me

"I prefer the oil based bacca glitsa but the fumes are nasty."

Are you kidding about extinguishing the pilot lights? How long does the smell last? The person who gave the quote made it seem like he thought we would be gone for a week. LOL I said we have a 4 year old and a yorkie, the longest we would be gone is Friday night till sunday ha,ha,ha Unless you count sept when we will be going to the Denver vs Ravens game in Denver, yeah buddy! That right there will cost more than these freakin floors! Anyways, if I don't hear from you on here. I'll probably talk to you tomorrow.

 

[woodnaquanut]

I'll +1 what Grant said.

It's really best to clear the entire floor. A pod is not that expensive. If you can be gone while it's being done, so much the better. Can you get to all the places in the house without crossing this floor? If not, you better be gone. I'm having visions of little Yorkie prints on the new floor!!

The other big issue is where are your tank(s). Can they get access to fresh air while all this is going on?

 

[Dragonvale]

I'll +1 what Grant said.

It's really best to clear the entire floor. A pod is not that expensive. If you can be gone while it's being done, so much the better. Can you get to all the places in the house without crossing this floor? If not, you better be gone. I'm having visions of little Yorkie prints on the new floor!!

The other big issue is where are your tank(s). Can they get access to fresh air while all this is going on?

That's the problem. There is no way we can get access to the bottom floor. Even entering the house there's wood before stepping on the carpeted stairs. So literally more money would have to be spent for use to leave for a weekend. Would a Friday-Sunday be enough for drying? For the tank it's a small cube but a frag tank has just been set up just recently in the garage.

 

[Grant W]

Not stain and three top coats. If its cold or damp it can take even longer to dry. Having said this though I dont know how your house is layed out. Theres always a way to get it done by building a bridge out of planks or something.

 

[zeroinverse]

Are we talking about walking the plank. ^_^
ARRRRRRGGGHHHH
:fish2:

who'll be swimming with the fishes?