Flooring for New House

[chipy]

hi guys. currently i'm thinking of putting new carpet throughout the house but i want to entertain the idea of putting hard flooring on the first floor.

1. what is the resellability if i install Pergo or laminate flooring?

2. is there a discount store where i can buy hard wood (locking type)?

thanks!

 

[alfa147x]

actual hardwood 5''+ wide planks

This is where we ordered from:
http://www.builddirect.com/Hardwood-Flooring.aspx

I think, let me double check

 

[JEDIYoda]

hi guys. currently i'm thinking of putting new carpet throughout the house but i want to entertain the idea of putting hard flooring on the first floor.

1. what is the resellability if i install Pergo or laminate flooring?

2. is there a discount store where i can buy hard wood (locking type)?

thanks!

Just lay some 8x4 laminated sheets of fibre board and paint over it...get er done!!!

 

[alfa147x]

Please don't go with laminate flooring, unless you have pets that don't have their nails clipped. Actual wood is worth it.

btw
hardwood != laminate flooring

 

[Bignate603]

Please don't go with laminate flooring, unless you have pets that don't have their nails clipped. Actual wood is worth it.

btw
hardwood != laminate flooring

Hardwood with an epoxy coating is ridiculously durable, significantly more than any laminate. My parents had that in their house and it was practically indestructible.

 

[Wyndru]

Regarding #1, when we were buying our house, our real estate agent said that installing wall to wall carpeting actually lowers the value of the house. We removed all the carpeting and did hard wood floors (actual planks, not pergo) in our house. It's a little bit cooler in the winter, but it looks much better IMO.

We have cats who destroy everything, and the floor still doesn't have any scratches on it. Well worth it for us.

 

[allisolm]

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ Check to see if there is a store near you.

 

[lepper boy]

Call up and see if they have any extra stock of something, or if you can find someone (like a contractor) that is putting in a BIG order, you can save a lot of money. We bought some Cherry hardwood at a great buy. The contractor had ordered like 2k square ft to much so we picked up enough to do our new family room.

I wouldn't carpget unless that was your absolute last option. The hardwood floors are to nice.

-Dave

 

[tfinch2]

This is where my parents ordered from:
http://www.builddirect.com/Hardwood-Flooring.aspx

Fixed that for you

 

[jteef]

pergo can work depending on your house/neighborhood. it screams cheap to anybody who knows better though.

it is ridiculous to put some exotic hardwood in a starter home, as you won't see the return on investment.

as just a rough gauge, if your home value is less than $150K, i wouldn't put anything more expensive than pergo in there. Less than $300K and I would cap your flooring at about $4 / foot. over that and you should be able to put whatever you want and see some value returned.

i recently bought a bunch of carbonized strand bamboo @ 3.50/ft from lumber liquidators for my house.

 

[vi edit]

Yeh, it just really depends on the cost of the house and the market you are in. Some of the higher end laminate is actually quite nice and won't hurt your resale if you are in that entry level/budget minded market. I'm building a house that is going to deck in at over $400k and I'm putting laminate in the kids rooms and my office. I'm only paying a $1.00-$1.50 a sq/ft and installing myself but you can't beat the durability and scratch resistances. The stuff going in the kids rooms even has a very nice bevel to the edges that really reduces that seemless laminate look.

Another option is to look at bamboo/strand bamboo. We bought strand bamboo for our main floor dining/eat in nook/family room. It's as hard as battleship armor and looks great. Has one of the most durable finishes of any hardwood product I've used/been around. I paid about $3.29 a sq/ft for it from www.ifloor.com

Look for their sales that you 15% off and odd lots. We picked up the kids laminate in an 850 sq/ft lot for $.79 sq/ft.

Sam's Club also has some nice looking laminate with the foam backing already preaffixed for around $1.50 a sq/ft.

 

[Codewiz]

Bamboo is pretty inexpensive. I got 6' long 6" wide planks for $3/sqft. It does scratch but it is the same color throughout the bamboo because it isn't stained. It is cooked or natural.

 

[vi edit]

Bamboo is pretty inexpensive. I got 6' long 6" wide planks for $3/sqft. It does scratch but it is the same color throughout the bamboo because it isn't stained. It is cooked or natural.

That's why I suggested strand. It's not that much expensive than the regular stuff but it's about several times harder.

 

[vi edit]

i recently bought a bunch of carbonized strand bamboo @ 3.50/ft from lumber liquidators for my house.

Which install route did you go with your strand? Did you nail, glue or float it? I'm considering float since I don't want to bother with gluing down and I've read that it's an absolute bastard to try and nail since it's so hard.

 

[jteef]

Which install route did you go with your strand? Did you nail, glue or float it? I'm considering float since I don't want to bother with gluing down and I've read that it's an absolute bastard to try and nail since it's so hard.

i'm trying some all-in-one urethane moisture barrier / adhesive over concrete slab. They haven't shipped it to me yet, though. I would've like to float, but it isn't recommended by the mfgr.

I haven't decided what i'm doing when i replace the carpet on the stairs with the bamboo, might have to nail that, will be a pain in the ass, regardless of what i choose.

 

[vi edit]

Here's what we bought:
http://www.ifloor.com/item_439525/b...ection/strand-woven-solid-bamboo-equinox.html

Got it on sale for like $3.29 a sq/ft. Absolutely beautiful stuff. Got it sitting on a pallate in my parents garage right now waiting to get installed in another 3-4 weeks. That stuff weighs in at almost 80 pounds a box. :\

That brand allows floating floors.

 

[Codewiz]

I floated my floor(took me, my wife, and in laws about 2 days to do the install for 650sqft). But our floor wasn't click, it was glue the tongue and groove. I know people always talk about ensuring the flatness of your subfloor but if you are going to float, I stress you REALLY must have a flat floor.

We used really high end underlayment and we still have dips when walking on our floor. If I had to do all over again, I would probably go with glue down.

 

[sdifox]

Hard wood.

 

[alfa147x]

Fixed that for you

Was that necessary? I said WE because at the time I was living with my parents. I also helped install the flooring. Your damn edit added no content to the OP's questions.

 

[jteef]

Here's what we bought:
http://www.ifloor.com/item_439525/b...ection/strand-woven-solid-bamboo-equinox.html

Got it on sale for like $3.29 a sq/ft. Absolutely beautiful stuff. Got it sitting on a pallate in my parents garage right now waiting to get installed in another 3-4 weeks. That stuff weighs in at almost 80 pounds a box. :\

That brand allows floating floors.

the strand bamboo is less prone to moisture / temperature variations, but you're supposed to have it acclimate to the area you're going to install it for at least a week.

i have a big crack in my slab i'm trying to figure out what to do with this weekend. 1/8" - 1/4" wide, ~20 ft long. I think i'm just going to fill it with a urethane sealant and then use the leveling compound to fill in the dips around it.

 

[alfa147x]

the strand bamboo is less prone to moisture / temperature variations, but you're supposed to have it acclimate to the area you're going to install it for at least a week.

The hardwood laying company I worked at did this for all types of materials.

 

[tfinch2]

Sam's Club also has some nice looking laminate with the foam backing already preaffixed for around $1.50 a sq/ft.

This is what my parents have in the kitchen and dining room. I think it looks very nice.

We bought our house with something similar to this in the living room and office:

http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/s41455891.html

 

[daw123]

Personally, I like parquet flooring where it is slats of wood laid in a herringbone or finger pattern. It looks awesome but is more expensive to install.

Herringbone pattern:

Finger pattern:

 

[Newbian]

Hard wood.

That's what she said.

 

[zerocool84]

If you want resellability then hardwood bar-none.