And another update. Upstairs Floors. (With PIPs)

[mrs.jacinthe]

It's been a while since I did an update on the upstairs.  We pulled back all the carpet and approximately 4 billion pad staples and found ... painted wood floors!  Unfortunately, it was not in salvageable shape.  There was BAD cupping in spots and substantial leveling issues.  Additionally, in several rooms, there were spots where they cut the flooring up during what we presume was the electrification process, leaving weird gaps in the floorboards.  It was not savable.  Additionally, we're pretty sure that the paint on the floors is lead-based, so sanding to remove it and/or planing to get rid of some cupping was not an option.

As an example - this is the hallway:



See how the boards go two different directions?  The floor joists, upon inspection, CHANGE DIRECTION in the middle of the house, so the floor does too.  Also, that different color spot in the middle there is a spot where the board was SO high, R had to pry out a floorboard and plane off the bottom to make the floor "level" - or at least FLAT.  

So, last weekend, we found ourselves trotting out to every floor place in town to find someone with engineered floors IN STOCK in the quantity we needed.  This was pretty tough.  We ended up getting laminate flooring (I KNOW, I didn't like the idea either, but it was under budget and literally the only stuff in-stock.)  Now that it's in, it's growing on me a little.  I'll deal - it was what we HAD to do - we did not have time to let hardwood acclimate prior to install because they needed a week for acclimation, a day for install, 4 days for finishing in place, and a week to cure ... and we had to be moved in by this upcoming Tuesday.  I was sad for no hardwoods, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  (That said, laminate has come a LONG way, I was impressed by what we saw.)

In process in the master bedroom (please note the 4-5 different paint colors on the floor.  We're still trying to figure out what's going on with that:



Here it is, fully installed (except the quarter round trim) in the guest bedroom:



We were originally thinking of getting a lighter color floor, but this floor (which is a 12mm walnut) is *exactly* the color of our downstairs hardwoods (in the entrance and bathroom).  So we'll deal.  

[davescatch]

I love the color. And I agree, laminate has gotten so much better over the years. It looks amazing!

[mrs.jacinthe]

For the record: I'm aware that installing laminate floors in a historic home makes me eligible for flaming. I'm ok with that. I'm not 100% pleased we had to do it, but I'm coming to accept it. So that said, I've got my big girl panties on - feel free to be honest/give your actual opinion.

[ssmjlm]

You gotta do, what you can do. That said, I think they look really good. I was surprised at how nice laminate can look when we were shopping for just our tiny master closet.

[thewop]

I think it looks great.

[emoflamingo]

Hey, it happens. I like it, it looks nice.

[rondonalddo]

Heh, our joists change direction in our house, too-- under the kitchen. We found out when we had our crawlspace excavated and all the supports under the house fixed and/or replaced. It looks like you installed the laminate over the existing floor, is that right? So the nice thing is that those floors are still there. (Hopefully) sturdy old wood and if anyone ever wants to re-do them, they can. And the laminate looks really pretty :-)

[sierramist03]

It's a very nice color!

[tarheels]

They look great! I haven't ever seen laminate that nice before. And you do mean plastic laminate, right, not engineered HW which is real wood? I'm impressed.

[boiler717]

It looks great, Mrs J! Those floors are a fantastic color. I think you made a smart decision on the laminate.

[ktzmoh]

looks fantastic!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Feb 19, 2013 13:47:22 GMT -5 tarheels said:

They look great! I haven't ever seen laminate that nice before. And you do mean plastic laminate, right, not engineered HW which is real wood? I'm impressed.

It's the "printed picture" laminate with a thin layer of (something) over pressed MDF, essentially.  But it looks reasonably believable, with the exception of where R wasn't paying attention to the pattern and put like 4 of the exact same board (with a clearly identical knot) in the same part of the floor.

[sjh722]

I'm surprised! I was cringing when I read "laminate" and thinking, "ooh, that is not going to look good" and picturing what is in my parents' kitchen circa 1996. It's come a long way! I think the individual boards make a huge difference.

[sratsey]

I think it looks amazing.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I think you're right, sjh722 - the individual boards help a LOT. These boards even have a small bevel at the edges, so it looks a LOT like real hardwood. It's also super pleasant to walk on.

[boiler717]

Feb 19, 2013 13:03:19 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Feb 19, 2013 12:53:22 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

For the record: I'm aware that installing laminate floors in a historic home makes me eligible for flaming. I'm ok with that. I'm not 100% pleased we had to do it, but I'm coming to accept it. So that said, I've got my big girl panties on - feel free to be honest/give your actual opinion.

I think they are gorgeous. I truly love them. Not everyone can afford to fulfill certain things like hardwoods, whether it was time or money or both. That is when I get frustrated. Some people seem to forget that we don't all have these things and need to save up or deal with what we have.  

I think people realize that there are limitations. I think when people post "given x, y, z, I think this was the wrong/right call" they don't mean for it to be extrapolated to any and all other situations.

I had vinyl in my old kitchen. It was definitely the right flooring for the house, price point, etc. It didn't offended me when I lived there and posters said you should never put vinyl in a kitchen because I knew they didn't know our specifics. I also wanted vinyl in my kid's bath here (to be ripped out after potty training) but DH vetoed.

[wawa]

Feb 19, 2013 14:30:42 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I think you're right, sjh722 - the individual boards help a LOT. These boards even have a small bevel at the edges, so it looks a LOT like real hardwood. It's also super pleasant to walk on.

that does make a huge difference.  they really look great!  And that's awesome that they match the existing flooring downstairs.  

[niknik]

I'm putting laminate in our house. I have two kids and dogs and I want a floor that looks nice, is tough, and I can replace down the line with something nicer. I have license to destroy my floors. OK not really, but I won't cringe when Kona comes sliding in through the room and leaves nail marks all the way across the living room.

Laminate has definitely evolved and I feel it's pretty much in line with engineered hardwood. I want regular hardwood eventually but for now. This will be good. Hopefully it won't be purple the way things are going with my contractor....

[Ramz-ee]

It looks fantastic!

Laminate has come a long way. We put it down in my office a few years ago. The kind we got even has texture to it, so it makes you kind of believe it's actually wood.

[crispnclean]

I'm impressed - looks great!

[Deleted]

That looks terrific!! I'm glad to hear that laminate has come a long way. We are at some point going to replace our kitchen and laundry room flooring and need a budget friendly option. Maybe I can put laminate back into consideration if it could look as nice as those do!