Most of our kitchen is 1985 original (with just cosmetic and appliance updates), but the flooring is a little younger. It's some kind of tongue & groove laminate product that looks like tile/linoleum, but is really hard and loud when you walk on it. If it's the same as the bathroom (where previous owners put the same flooring), it's just layered on top of the original linoleum, and goes around the cabinet footprint.
The aesthetics have always been fairly tolerable to me even though I didn't like the material, so we've just let it ride. (It also runs into the foyer.) Unfortunately, this summer our dog had an accident right on a seam. I cleaned it up, but the material swelled, and has not gone back down. The ridge at the seam feels rough and a little sharp underfoot. I imagine that's the sort of problem that gets worse with time pretty quickly, because now moisture tracked in from the door (right by the swollen seam) can get in there easily.
Eventually we want to reno the kitchen, with new cabinets, new countertops, new layout. I'd like to run the new kitchen floor (maybe LVP?) through the whole first floor (kitchen, foyer, LR, DR) to replace the laminate in the kitchen/foyer, and the carpet in the LR/DR. I don't see the kitchen reno happening soon though, with 2 kids in daycare ($$$$). I was hoping the floor and the countertop (where we have a split at the bevel seam by the sink/dishwasher from moisture) would last long enough to get us through until the whole kitchen was more attainable, but I'm starting to doubt it.
We don't know what the kitchen cabinet layout will be when we eventually reno, just that we plan to make some changes. Is it possible to replace the floor sooner, in a way that we'll be able to keep the floor with a reno'ed kitchen? How would you approach this?
Post by simpsongal on Aug 19, 2019 15:26:29 GMT -5
I think a lot of the answer depends on how drastically you anticipate changing your cabinet configuration. If you went with hardwoods or LVP, I *think* you should be able to keep the flooring and work around it. I would keep some extra pieces of LVP in case of changes/issues. I'd also consider how long, realistically you envision waiting for the full reno. If you need to fill in sections of LVP later, the longer you wait, I suspect the greater difference you'll see in the flooring sections.
Isn't your dad pretty handy - did he weigh in?
I feel you on this conundrum, we're living with so many half finished projects and things I want to change but it makes infinitely more sense to wait and do the big project all at once. Our first is about to start kindergarten - one DC payment down, one to go!
I'm not terribly familiar w/LVP, but I think traditional hardwoods are pretty forgiving and I don't mind if there are slight transitions or imperfections in small sections. After all, wood has a grain, and stain has variations - so I think differences in sections would not be terribly noticeable or look bad.
Curious on the answers as we are in a similar boat. We plan to swap our living and dining room, but it's officially been moved to "phase 2" which is probably 5 years off. In the meantime the living room carpet is going to need replaced next year. We want to switch to LVP but I dont want three generations of flooring scattered around the house over the next five years. It's a dilemma for sure.
Post by dr.girlfriend on Aug 19, 2019 16:25:30 GMT -5
Honestly, I would just hold out, and maybe see if there's a strip or something you can use to fasten that rough edge down Time goes fast, and I can't think of any way to do it that wouldn't be money down the drain when you do the actual reno. We replaced the carpet in our main entertaining room with wood, and then later our kitchen with the same wood, and now we're redoing it all so that we have consistent wood through the whole first floor. Even though I know we've enjoyed the benefits of it for 10 years, I still kinda want that money back, lol.
Post by thatgirl2478 on Aug 19, 2019 19:48:07 GMT -5
I'm here for the same reasons! Except we have sheet vinyl that's peeling up at the seams (we put a nail down transition strip down on the main seam split). Our vinyl covers about half our first floor (front door entry, half bath, kitchen, eat in area, back hall/garage entry, and laundry room) - and there's not really a good place to 'stop' it. I want hard wood in the living & dining room, but I want something more waterproof in the rest of the house. We're not ready to redo the kitchen (since we basically did a mini redo already), so IDK what we're gonna do. :/
We are in the same boat, but replace vinyl with hardwoods with HUGE seams (probably not the right word) that just gather shit and have some water damage where appliances leaked. I refuse to replace until we're ready to make a more permanent decision.
Can you put a rug or mat over the area? Or some other temporary/semi-permanent fix?
simpsongal , he didn't have much advice, other than that he really likes the LVP he just put into the beach house after all the water damage over the winter, so he's supportive of that idea.
I am not sure what I want to do with the kitchen cabinets, exactly. I have a list of things I don't like, but not necessarily solutions for all of them. I always figured when I got serious about it, I'd bring the measurements and the pain points to my FIL, who is a professional kitchen & bath designer. He did our full bath design, and although he might have wanted to kill me when it was done, it worked out really well. Unfortunately he's now planning to retire next December -- crap! He has been able to get us cabinets and countertops at cost, for our bath, and a few years back when my parents redid their kitchen. I'm just not sure I can save up the change to do the kitchen right in <2 years.
As far as layout changes, there's only so much I can do, but a few things I'm thinking of: - moving the fridge to the left so I have one long, useful countertop on that stretch instead of two small ones that are just junk collection areas. - replacing the kitchen table with an island or peninsula off the cutout wall, giving me a storage cabinet below it.
- somehow, the corner right of the stove needs to be more useful and accessible, but that probably won't be a major change to layout, maybe just a change to cabinets configuration. - might move the range left with a narrower cabinet on the left side, so someone can get at the drying rack/cabinet while someone else is at the stove. Not sure about that. - would love to fit a shallow pantry into the left wall leading into the DR. Even deep enough for one row of cans per shelf would help, since we don't have a pantry.
I would find a temporary solution (even if it isn't the prettiest) and hold out. It just seems incredibly unlikely that any new layout would work perfectly with floors that are put down around the existing footprint.
Susie I'm thinking the OPs are right on suggesting a temporary fix then. FWIW, We have some 1978 vinyl tiles in our foyer, which I periodically glue down. About 3-4 small ones are popping right now, I just slide them into place w/my foot. Another side benefit, when my kids pee on the floor, run into the cabinets w/toys, etc., I feel glad we're waiting for the next big reno.
Here's hoping your FIL can still at least handle the kitchen design and maybe tap into old contacts even after he's retired! I like your kitchen ideas, I think those tweaks would greatly improve the functionality - I'm pro peninsula for a space like that too (I assume the table is located behind where the picture was taken, yes?).
Also, your bathroom is lovely! Go in there for restoration and smiles when you're frustrated by the floor issues
It's not ugly, it just catches on everything, and I am afraid it's going to get worse fast so I'm trying to think ahead. It's right in the main traffic path to the sliding door and trash can, and right behind my chair at the table:
^Trash is right next to this cabinet, ^ seam is about here.
I'm not really sure what we could put over it to buy us time. Any suggestions?
It would've been much easier if it were in front of the kitchen sink or something, where a mat would naturally go and could hide it.
Also, sigh, this picture is a flashback to when the whole house had stained wood trim. We're like 85% done painting all the trim white, I don't think I could find a place anywhere else in the house to take a pic with so much stained trim left!
Finally, just for completeness, there's the rest of the room into the foyer. And the guilty, albeit adorable, party to the floor swelling. It happened on a particularly screamy day of my maternity leave, and all of DS's crying got her upset
It wouldn't look great, but I'd probably smear some liquid nails or similar product on that seam just to smooth it out and stop it from popping up further. I've used caulk to "fix" so many things in the interim (e.g., securing our pedestal sink to the wall, one anchor came out and it would be a beast to fix - caulked it to the wall...we plan on redoing the bath one day anyway).
Post by hbomdiggity on Aug 20, 2019 10:03:58 GMT -5
Agreed that I’d try some repair like glue or expoxy to seal the joint for now. Maybe even the washable rugs that keep popping up on my insta.
I’d also have your FIL start working on the new plan. Gives you time to consider options and get cost info so that you’re ready to go. It’s been like a hot second since the bath reno, right? Time for the next!
My idea would be to consider closing the cutout and adding pantry cabinets along that wall.
I really don’t think a rug will work floating out behind the table, between the table and prep area. I suppose we could do a rectangular rug under the table that extends beyond the table and over the seam, although with a 3 year old and 2 month old, having the floor as easy to clean as possible under the table is an advantage. Right now I can wipe it up, even a washable rug is more work! The epoxy idea sounds a lot easier to live with, so maybe we try that as a first resort. We can save the rug idea for only if necessary, if the epoxy fails.
hbomdiggity, that's an interesting idea about closing up the cutout and putting in cabinets. Had not considered that! One of the things I'm wrestling with is that I'd like to have either an island or peninsula instead of the table, partly for the storage underneath and partly because it would give me more counter height work space. But there have been times I've moved the table out of the way to get big things in and out of the basement (e.g. fridge, chest freezer, treadmill, washer/dryer). It's the only point of ingress/egress for the basement. An island would not have to be fixed, and could slide out of the way to move big things, but a peninsula would be firm. Someday I'll need to replace those large appliances, KWIM?
I have to imagine you can get some kind of adhesive/glue/epoxy to stick that corner back down. Have you tried asking someone at a hardware or flooring store for suggestions? I agree that's a tough spot for a rug.
We just wrapped up a refresh in our 70's era house that still needs a new kitchen layout/cabinets/counters.
We ripped out sheet vinyl and carpet plus two little half walls that divided our living and dining room. For new flooring we put down LVP the living and dining area, plus in our powder room, kitchen and informal dining area. Our whole first floor. It's a huge change and feels like a whole new house. So what if I still have old laminate countertops and dark, 70's wood cabinets? The cabinets are in good shape and will get painted soon and the counters are neutral enough. I plan to ride this current refresh out for 10+ years until we have enough money to do a full kitchen remodel.
I can't tell how important your pass through wall is, could you remove it or open the doorway? Is your living room flooring getting to the end of its life or is it like new?
We did our entire main floor (about 800 sqft) in LVP for around $3000. I'm delighted every day with the new floors and they were affordable enough that I won't feel bad tearing them out in 10-15 years. Plus my taste is likely to change by then anyway.
I can't tell how important your pass through wall is, could you remove it or open the doorway? Is your living room flooring getting to the end of its life or is it like new?
We did our entire main floor (about 800 sqft) in LVP for around $3000. I'm delighted every day with the new floors and they were affordable enough that I won't feel bad tearing them out in 10-15 years. Plus my taste is likely to change by then anyway.
The pass through goes to the family room, and that will stay separate. The family room is a half step down from the kitchen, and carpet is best in there because it's on a slab with the garage rather than having a basement under it like the rest of the house. The whole rest of the first floor (foyer, LR in the front, DR in the back, and kitchen) would be continuous, but not the FR.
Because of the step down, I hadn't really considered taking down the half wall. I'm not opposed to widening the doorway at all though. Our house is sorely lacking in natural light, and anything to brighten it is a good thing.
I think the hardest part is being realistic about our kitchen timeline. It's so hard to guess right now. We're in the middle of refinancing the house (dropping rate, term, and monthly payment, yay!) but we need to see about so many factors -- H is job hunting, I'm in the years-long process of buying into my firm in increasing amounts, we're new to the financial realities of two kids, etc. etc. etc.