Sat - August 6, 2005

cork considerations



Look at several brands. Things to consider are the thickness of the top cork layer, whether or not there is a cork layer on the bottom as well and the density of the inner core (HDF is more durable than MDF).

Posted at 09:29 PM     Read More  


Thu - June 2, 2005

tile pattern tester



Something at the Crossville site lets you test out tile patterns (potentially useful even though we aren't going to use their tile).

http://www.crossvilleinc.com/2002/who-what-where/cross_vision.htm

Posted at 12:04 PM     Read More  


Thu - December 16, 2004

Linoleum in This Old House



This linoleum article in This Old House magazine has a description of how it's made.

Posted at 10:41 AM     Read More  


Thu - August 12, 2004

cork pros and cons



posted by groschuni

We've had our cork floor in the kitchen for about a year now. I posted this before, but it has since disappeared. Here's what we like about it (Pros):

--It's soft underfoot. Downright yummy to the footsies.
--It's warm underfoot during the winter. Walking barefoot off of the wood floor in the front hall onto the cork floor in the kitchen, you immediately notice that the cork is much warmer.
--We like the natural look of it. The burl design we bought is very organic. The downside of this, if you can call it a downside, is that it really hides dirt. It's really hard to tell if the floor is clean or dirty.
--Maintenance is similar to other flooring. You vacuum and damp mop with a wet jet, or whatever.
--The floor is sound absorbent so it makes the kitchen feel more cozy.
--It is very gentle on dropped dishes. Since cork is 50% air, the dropped object is more likely to bounce than break.
--If you have allergies, it is hypoallergenic.

Here are the Cons:
--A flood can damage the floor in the same way a wood floor is damaged by flooding. The edges of the planks will swell up as the water suffuses into the HDF supporting the cork veneer. (The cork itself really doesn't swell.) To protect against this problem you should have at least one or two coats of something like Bonakemi Traffic professionally applied after the floor has been installed to seal the edges. In particularly vulnerable areas, like around the sink or fridge, I would recommend coating the edges of the planks with poly before you install them. That's probably not necessary if you get the entire floor sealed, but I like an extra layer of protection.
--The floor can be gouged the same way that wood or vinyl floors can, so you must be careful with dragging sharp cornered objects over the floor. Cork is actually a bit more durable than wood in this respect since it has some extra give to it, but you must respect the material to protect it from harm. Make sure all your chairs and tables have protective nylon or felt disks on the legs.

Posted at 04:07 PM     Read More  


Sun - May 16, 2004

Floating Floors


What are the advantages of a floating floor?

* Posted by: CatherineID (My Page) on Fri, Apr 16, 04 at 0:46

Laminate floating floors have the benefit of being a hard surface with the benefit of having a padding under it. So the hard surface is a little gentler on your feet, knees and back. A floating floor is also designed to lock together so you end up with a seamless look. Tile is laid separately then grout applied. A wood floor will expand and contract along the tongue and groove. Many engineered wood floors are designed with a "micro-bevel" which can catch dirt and grit. Even a sheet vinyl floor will have a texture imprinted on the surface that is heavier than most floating laminate. Floating floors won't telescope any imperfections in the subfloor like a glued down sheet vinyl can.


* Posted by: raptorbu2001 (My Page) on Fri, Apr 16, 04 at 10:06

To add to CatherineID's comment...a floating floor does give you the benefit of a softer feel. The comments made on this page are true but somewhat insignificant. One of the main reasons a floated floor benefits over a glue down or nailed floor is that it is not attached to the subfloor. Why is this good? If the subfloor is concrete you can have moisture rise through the slab, when you glue to it you smother the slab and the moisture can build up under the floor and ruin it. Also, a floating floot is connected together and works as one large piece. This means that instead of each individual board expanding and contracting and creating gaps or swelling as in a glue down or nailed floor; the entire floor expands and contracts together because it is not attached and this eliminates the seasonal gaps and swelling that is usually involved in other types of installations. If you have the option to float a floor, do it.


* Posted by: titan2 (My Page) on Fri, Apr 16, 04 at 11:32

Another reason some use a floating installation rather than glue down is that it can be placed over surfaces that have imperfections, making prep much easier. For example, if you have old ceramic tile or linoleum on the floor and did not want to rip it out for some reason, then floating over this would allow you to get around removal of the existing floor, assuming that height was not going to be a problem.

Posted at 11:48 PM     Read More  

good deals on cork?




Posted at 10:22 PM     Read More  


Tue - May 4, 2004

Cork Floor examples



Nice herringbone pattern cork floor here, interesting offset pattern (using 2 different sizes & colors) here , and other examples linked here

Posted at 06:57 PM     Read More  


Mon - May 3, 2004

Soapstone floor tiles


(thinking ahead to some future bathroom :^)

* Posted by: kecs (My Page) on Mon, May 3, 04 at 16:57

I'm installing soapstone in floor of Master shower and in the immediate walkout area. Price per s.f. is around $13 s.f.--don't know if your G.C. can get better prices than this though.

Pros: dense and inert stone with heat retentive properties; because it is dense, bacteria cannot thrive. Because it is inert, or nonreactive, it does not stain or etch after contact with either alkaline or acidic products. Soapstone has a silky feel underfoot and is nonslippery when wet.

Cons: Soapstone is more expensive than other materials; it comes in only a few dark colors--gray blue, gray green, and just plain gray.


* Posted by: byBill (My Page) on Mon, May 3, 04 at 17:03

Soapstone is non-slip
but it stains and wears away quickly ( like 50 years or so)

It still is cold, unless U R doing radiant floor heat it is miserable--

hard to clean __grout lines mean getting down on your hands and knees with a tooth brush every time the in-laws are visiting.

Hard---drop something and either of two things happen--the thing you drop breaks or the tile cracks.

Noisy

Posted at 10:52 PM     Read More  


Wed - April 14, 2004

Flood Saver



"There is a product called Flood Saver that is a special built pan which goes under the dishwasher. It has a built in drain to handle any water problems. For the dishwasher it cost $39. Also available for the wash machine(we are putting wood floor in the kitchen AND adjoining laundy room). Its $139 as it also goes up the wall behind the wash machine. I think the pan for the dishwasher would also work under the fridge if that was a concern. You can see them at www.floodsaver.com . Looks like the answer for these problems."

Posted at 11:25 PM     Read More  

sealer on cork floor



* Posted by: brianadvent (My Page) on Thu, Mar 25, 04 at 2:52

Just finished doing our floating cork planks (Nova) and it wasn't bad at all. First, clean, clean, clean. You don't want to seal in the dirt (turn off all fans, etc to keep air movement to a minimum,)

2. Buy a soft-cloth pad applicator and pole. We bought ours at Restoration Hardware.
3. Buy Water based selaer. We bought "BONA" Hardwood Floor Refresher (Urethane Maintenance Coating). Factory is Bonakemi. www.bonakemi.com Also bought at Restoration Hardware but most specialty flooring places have it.
4. Work in small areas; about 3 ft x 3 ft. Squirt liquid onto floor in swirls; don't let it puddle or dry;
5. Work the liquid into the area being worked with cloth aplicator; back and forth several times to get even spread of liquid. Always go with grain of the cork = length wise of the plank.
6. move to next area, overlap a little and repeat process.
7. Let dry 2 hours, apply 2nd coat (we did three).
8. Wait 24 hours to move back in furniture.

Ours looks great; the gloss is restored.

Posted at 10:03 PM     Read More  

PVC clad cork floor



* Posted by: scottwod (My Page) on Sat, Apr 10, 04 at 9:45

I'm a wholesale distributor of the cork floor you are considering. Wicander makes two versions of it's cork flooring. The residential/light commercial product has a UV-cured urethane surface (wear layer). The commercial product has a 50 mil PVC surface. Both products are available in a glueless, click-together version and a glue-down tile version. The click-together product is most likely what you are considering and is the appropriate product for a residential application. It installs exactly like a plastic laminate floor (Pergo, Armstrong, Wilsonart), which means that the flooring panels snap to each other, but float over your existing floor. The primary difference between the Urethane and PVC wear layers, is the amount of traffic and abuse each can handle. In most homes, the standard urethane product will perform very well. If you anticipate heavy traffic (excessive sand or grit, dog's nails, etc), the commercial PVC product is a wise investment, as it will be much less likely to show scratching and small dings.

In your mudroom, this type of wear is certainly a concern. The more critical concern, however, is moisture from people tracking in snow or water. While the surface of the product is quite resistant to water, standing water can penetrate the seams between the flooring panels. This is why I would not advise installing this product in a full bath. To provide an added level of protection, I recommend running a bead of laminate flooring glue on the top of the tongue before snapping the boards together. The excess glue that squeezes up through the joint should be cleaned promptly with a clean white cloth, rinsed frequently in warm water. This will seal these joints and provide superior protection from water damage. It would only be necessry to do this in the mud room area, where water would be the greatest problem.

Posted at 09:42 PM     Read More  


Thu - April 8, 2004

even more linoleum comments



* Posted by: house_vixen (My Page) on Tue, Mar 23, 04 at 19:39

Hi there! I do have a lovely lino floor that's been in for about a year. I love it...truly it's one of my favorite things about our modest kitchen reno. I know several other Kitchen Forum folks have lino floors too; hopefully they will see this thread and pop in. Mine is sheet lino, and the few seams are nearly invisible.

The odor I noticed for a few days after install was more like a burlap bag (the lino backing is jute). It's not unpleasant per se, and since lino is an all-natural material we're not talking about a headache-inducing off-gas.

IMO, maintenance is a snap. Lino has anti-static properties, and is totally smooth...in our house this translates into cat hair and dirt sweeping up with ease--nothing gets stuck in grout etc. The marbled pattern actually er, hides dirt flecks very well--not that my floor is ever dirty (g). Every so often one of us damp-mops with straight water.

We have one of the lightest shades, and so we originally used the sealer/polish on it per manufacturer recommendation. This is a bit tedious--string mop, floor must dry for 30 minutes or so--but it protects the floor from stains. This is less necessary with darker colors. We need to use the cleaner to remove the polish and redo it, but as I said above, it's been in a year. I'm quite lazy but don't mind a spring clean!

One of the things I like best about lino is the feel under bare feet--another is that it's resilent. I can't stand for long on tile/hard floors (bad joints), so lino is great.

In short, I'm a huge fan and would definitely install lino elsewhere/again! I've included a link to my kitchen, though the photos do NOT do the lino justice. FWIW, we get lots of "oooh, what's your floor/ I love it" comments.

ps This is a "shoes-on" house so it's not as if this floor gets babied!

Posted at 05:04 PM     Read More  


Tue - March 30, 2004

General Considerations



Floorings can affect noise levels, so check if your choice has sound-deadening properties to muffle footsteps or whether it will exacerbate them. Look at the safety aspect to assess whether the flooring is slip-resistant when wet and whether splashes are easy to see before they cause an accident.

Also consider warmth and "softness" (e.g. tile is hard and tiring, cork is supposedly resilient and not so tiring). Consider cleaning and any regular maintenance.

Posted at 11:41 PM     Read More  


Wed - February 11, 2004

even more on cork



I installed a floating cork floor in our kitchen last summer. We love it. It is much warmer underfoot than the oak flooring in the front hall it abuts to. However, I would strongly suggest that you install it during the driest part of the year, like now. This will keep tiny, paper-thin gaps from appearing during the winter when it shrinks. Also seal it after you put it down, even though it is pre-finished. This is to keep water from getting into the cracks and swelling the fiberboard. I would recommend Bonakemi Traffic. It is the most durable finish you can apply, but it is a two part finsih and should be installed by someone familiar with it. Cork smell is no problem. Good luck. :-)

-------

I love this thread! Several of you already gave me some great info on cork flooring. I think that the floating floor planks would not be as attractive to me, because of the interior fiberboard that can get wet.

------

Cork is very easy to keep clean - since it's typically polyurethaned (tho you can choose to wax some brands instead) spills just sit on the surface - they can't penetrate. So you just wipe them up. I generally sweep the floor when needed and wipe up any spills with plain or soapy water.

Our floor has not faded over 6 or so months, whereas some of my furniture that is near a window has in that short a time. Wonder if the polyurethane helps with that?

The darker colors of cork can have a smell, depending on how they were darkened. Some are actually heated to darken them and they give off a kind of smokey smell (like ham, not tobacco). Duro's corks are stained so they don't have that smell.

We got 12x24 glue down tiles. They were suprisingly easy to install. (So much so that now we are putting Expanko rubber/cork blended floor in the bathroom. Anything to avoid vinyl!)

linedry, for install tips, I have a couple from DH. Make sure the subfloor is SMOOTH. All irregularities will show through the cork.

Cut the pieces a hair bigger than needed - the cork is kind of soft and you can "squeeze" the tiles in next to each other. That way you don't get any gaps between the tiles. On our floor, you can see the difference after he figured that out vs. not.

The other tip is to try to do all the polyurethane coats sequentially in the shortest period possible. We waited with the third coat because we had houseguests coming and couldn't allow enough drying time for heavy foot traffic before they were due to arrive. So we put the third coat on just about one month after the first coat. Duro's polyurethane recommends using it up within a month of mixing it up. Well, the third coat is not as nice as the earlier coats were and isn't as consistently smooth and shiney. In some spots it's kind of rough and dull and catches dust. We think it's because the urethane was getting old. We'll fix that eventually with a light sanding and fresh urethane, but not into dealing with it now.

The polyurethane was water based, a little smelly (kinda fishy smell) but not bad. Because I was 2-3 months pregnant at the time, I stayed out of the way, but if I hadn't been, I would not have taken any extra precautions with it.

Duro also says you can grind up a bit of cork to fill small gaps - that was harder than expected and doesn't look good in the few spots we did it in. Try to cut the tiles to fit as much as possible. We have pocket doors and so around some of the edges, couldn't get a good cut.

A nice thing about Duro is they send along small bottles of extra stain, so if you need to touch up or fill an area you have the correct colors (do this before applying polyurethane.)

If you order from Duro, check your credit card statement when it comes through. We are quoted prices in US dollars, but the charge comes through converted from Canadian. With the dollar falling, you end up paying more than quoted. They will adjust the amount to your quote, but you have to call them.

-----------

We're ordering Duro for our kitchen and family room. I was concerned about fading as we have many windows. The Duro rep recommended getting a floor with a slight stain, as he said it's the cork that fades, and a stain will lessen the effect. We were quoted a couple of different prices, depending on who I talked to on the phone -- they varied from $6 - $6.50 a sq ft. I gather $6 is the contractors price -- this includes the adhesive and enough poly for 3 coats. They recommended an installer who averages about $3.50/sq ft for installation. Do these prices sound reasonable?

Posted at 11:23 PM     Read More  

more linoleum comments



* Posted by: nonaberrie (My Page) on Mon, Feb 9, 04 at 21:24

after getting 4 separate est on linoleum, which we love, we decided we could do hardwood or vintage tile WITH a radiant heating element for 1/3 the price of lino...everything I had read, heard led me to believe that it was 'about the same as good vinyl' but the prep is much more extensive, at least for Forbo, and seam welding, if you do it, is approx $4 LF..thats for every seam..we originally wanted an inlaid accent strip but fainted at the total cost so then we thought about laying just the sheets...still to high, for us anyway,so we're back to hex tile (sigh).

Posted at 09:47 PM     Read More  
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