I have literally just sat down with a beer after completing my 3rd ~8 hour day laying floor with the DW and the FIL in our master bedroom.
Hi everyone... a new project came up...
In oirder to complete my kitchen open space living room project we are replacing the linoleum area of the kitchen with hardwood flooring in order to match the living room.
We found the perfect match in terms of color even though the flooring we currently have is god knows how old.
The flooring we have is oak ... golden oak/butterscotch are the terms that i found that match perfectly in terms of color.
From all the prices i was able to find online and in store, I am thinking of buying directly from Lowe's where they have American Pergo Butterscoth tongue and groove 2 1/4" x 3/4' (perfect match) already finished.
I woukld be perfectly fine buying unfinished and then sanding and applying the finish myself, however... all the quotes i was able to get for unfinished flooring, the price was very similar for the finished version so why going through the more complicated process?
As an added bonus, the UV cured aluminum oxide finish that is on many pre-finished floors is more durable than the site applied poly urethane.
At lowe's I am able to get 30-40% off which actually makes the finished version cheaper than unfinished alone (unfinished i was able to get 3.39$ per sq foot ... at lowes the finished version is 4.29 sq foot however through coupons and gift cards I can get an out of pocket price of 2.8$ sq foot).
My question is... in terms of materials and process what should I get?
- Underlayment/felt paper
- Flooring
- Floor nails ...
What else?
You'll probably want (or at least we did):
- a pancake air compressor to power the tools
- a 16 gauge nail gun for face nailing boards close to the wall
- a flooring nailer (I was gifted a NuMax, ~$110, which makes proceeding at your own pace easier than renting)
- air tool oil
- a saw for under cutting any door jams and the like (we used an oscillating saw)
- a set for flooring cleats (there will be a couple that don't set)
- we used a miter saw, a jig saw, and a table saw for making cuts (some more complex than others)
- if more than one person will be doing the work, you will want a pair (or more) of matching tape measurers)
- wood glue (without fail there will be a tiny piece somewhere that is best just to glue on to a larger piece)
- a pile of pencils and a good sharpener for them.
- a pry bar or two (there will be at least one tongue that splits and the need to take the board up)
- a speed square for marking
- slap stapler/tacker for the underlayment, with staples
- a flooring pull bar
- a flooring tapping block (we used old flooring samples)
- a dead blow hammer
- knee pads
- optionally a back brace
- ear plugs
- safety glasses
- box cutter for opening flooring and cutting underlayment
- and I am sure I am still over looking many of the tools that we had to pull into service along the way
In terms of underlayment, what should i get? The one that is currently under the remaining floor is black ... so i am thinking it's just normal felt paper?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
We ended up going with Aquabar B (basically asphalt and kraft paper) as a vapor retarder.
BTW, the area of linoleum the previous owners have just been putting underlayment on top of underlayment and the previous vinyls instead of just taking it out. This has created an uneven surface.
I was thinking of using a hand circular saw and cut throught the floor at a depth to reach the plywood that matches the rest of the house so everything is even. Any input here?
This is going to be a bear. Depending on what the layers are they could just be screwed down or they could be glued (scraping is a royal PITA) or they could be glued and screwed. And of course the linoleum is glued.
Here it is a picture of the area that needs to be finished:
I asked quotes for 2 companies for doing it for us and the quotes we got for this small 200-250 sq ft area was outrageous at 3000-3500 dollars
In terms of underlayment, should i try to match the old underlayment from the other sections of the house or could i go with something better?
I see a lot of foam pads, cork underlayment etc... as long as it's the same thickness would this be okay?
Any idea what might be better?
When it comes to underlayment. . . I got lost in this world.
It all depends on what you want out of it and what you circumstances are, oh and what is below.
Personally, I would go with something similar to what exists; I wouldn't want to vary too much in how the floor feels under foot from one room to the other (which could be an issue going from 15# felt to cork/foam).
Also make sure the underlayment is designed for your type of flooring, many that are ok for floating engineered wood are not good for nail down hardwood.