Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Save hardwoods, or cover them up?
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baxtersmom
03-28-09, 07:20 AM
I recently got the not-so-bright idea to tear up the carpet in my family room when I realized it was hardwoods underneath. I have two bedrooms in my house with hardwoods, which aren't in bad shape..so I figured I'd take my chances. Oops ! The foors are in fairly bad shape - but nothing that can't be fixed. Basically, they need to be sanded down and refinished. There aren't any holes or broken pieces or anything. Mostly just worn spots and white paint splatters.
The problem is I have 4 cats and 1 dog - and I can't move them out to redo the flooring. Is there any way to fix the floor without moving my animals out of the house for a week? Also I know their nails would not be great for hardwoods - any thing I can do about that?
I've read about people painting their hardwood floors - would this harm my resale value at all? Keeping in mind this is an 80k house - nothing real fancy here.
I was originally going to put Cork floors in when I thought it was concrete underneath -- Should I just stick with that plan? One of my bedrooms is concrete under the carpet - and I will probably either go with a laminate wood or cork (this room is off the family room).
I need the cheapest way to do this. I'd love to save the wood floors - but is it worth it? I also noticed when I lifted the linoleum in my mudroom that it, too, is original wood. I'm not sure I'm daring enough to tear it up - but I did want to eventually redo the mudroom floors. The kitchen was hardwoods, but it looks like they nailed Laminate Wood over the top of that, and then they Glued over the top of the laminate with linoleum. Yikes.
Now I'm going to go read the rest of this forum and see if I can tear up the house some more LOL!
Misty
The problem is I have 4 cats and 1 dog - and I can't move them out to redo the flooring. Is there any way to fix the floor without moving my animals out of the house for a week? Also I know their nails would not be great for hardwoods - any thing I can do about that?
I've read about people painting their hardwood floors - would this harm my resale value at all? Keeping in mind this is an 80k house - nothing real fancy here.
I was originally going to put Cork floors in when I thought it was concrete underneath -- Should I just stick with that plan? One of my bedrooms is concrete under the carpet - and I will probably either go with a laminate wood or cork (this room is off the family room).
I need the cheapest way to do this. I'd love to save the wood floors - but is it worth it? I also noticed when I lifted the linoleum in my mudroom that it, too, is original wood. I'm not sure I'm daring enough to tear it up - but I did want to eventually redo the mudroom floors. The kitchen was hardwoods, but it looks like they nailed Laminate Wood over the top of that, and then they Glued over the top of the laminate with linoleum. Yikes.
Now I'm going to go read the rest of this forum and see if I can tear up the house some more LOL!
Misty
chandler
03-28-09, 09:31 AM
When I read your lead in line, my heart stopped. Don't cover wood up. Of course I am a carpenter, so I love wood. I would do all I could to return the floors to a usable condition. You could always use area rugs for the dog. And cats don't care. Painting the floor won't last and will definitely reduce resale value.
As far as the concrete floored room, you could do either cork or laminate a long as there are no moisture problems.
Hardwood in the kitchen, overlaid with laminate and then linoleum.....please tell me it ain't so! Is the laminate glued down or nailed? It would be nice if it could be removed (and it will come up as a sheet if edge glued), leaving the hardwood.
Just a nail driver's opinion, and it was free.
As far as the concrete floored room, you could do either cork or laminate a long as there are no moisture problems.
Hardwood in the kitchen, overlaid with laminate and then linoleum.....please tell me it ain't so! Is the laminate glued down or nailed? It would be nice if it could be removed (and it will come up as a sheet if edge glued), leaving the hardwood.
Just a nail driver's opinion, and it was free.