Archive for the ‘Flooring’ Category

As I grow older, my feet get colder. Every winter I wish I had radiant floors. I first encountered a radiant floor kitchen in Washington State where friends had rehabbed a Victorian home. They used a hydronic tubing heating system, which is usually too pricey for most homeowners. It can cost more than putting in an entirely new boiler and forced air system. But the floor was toasty and muffled the shock of walking across the floor to make morning coffee.

Today, you can install an electric radiant floor heating system for your kitchen or bathroom floor for under $500–depending on square footage. I discovered two kinds of electric radiant heating systems with a wide range in costs for materials and labor. Both have gained in popularity over the last decade.

Some systems consist of cables that are wrapped with insulation and installed directly into concrete or gypsum sections that are embedded into your floor. These can be the more expensive choices because you need a sturdy sub-floor to handle the weight of the tiling.

Installing Radiant Floor Matting
The other option is installing radiant mats that have cables woven directly into them. The mats are installed directly below your tiles or onto the sub-floor and covered with  pad and carpet. The radiant mats come in a variety of sizes, are powered by 20 volts and 240 volt systems, and require about 12 watts per square foot to operate. A system installed directly beneath a carpet can heat up in an hour or so, while a system in the sub floor can take hours to reach your comfort level.

If you choose to install a radiant mat system in your bathroom, you have the option of covering it with any stone or tile that makes for a good conductor (ceramic, marble, granite, glass, or slate). There are also over-tile radiant heating systems comprised of mats that install directly over your existing tile and allow you to add a new tile floor on top. But you may need to reinforce the sub-floor to handle the weight and problems with deflected heat.

A more-recent radiant system uses mats that install directly beneath carpets and floating floors. Manufacturers claim that the systems are silent and can supplement your heating sufficiently to curb some usage from the forced-air furnace, fighting mold, pollen, and cutting heating costs. The greatest advantage, it seems to me, is that you can install these on your own.

The use of natural elements in home remodeling and energy-efficient products are more than a passing fling. Homeowners are looking at protecting their investment and the environment at the same time.  And while some so-called “green” lighting and flooring products can warm up the atmosphere of  your home, they can help you save money on your annual energy bills.

A great example is Toolbarn’s recommendation to replace existing light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. The energy efficient bulbs can use as much as 75 percent less electricity, lowering your costs nearly $60 over the seven-year life of the bulb. You can also cut your power costs by installing motion detector bulbs indoor and outdoors. You don’t have to leave the lights burning all night on your patio to scare off burglars.

Looking at Green Homes
Contractors are now offering so-called green homes in special subdivisions. That means you can borrow their ideas and retrofit your home with devices to lower your bills. A new home in Northern California’s “Carsten Crossings” neighborhood offers $1,400 in annual energy savings, according to developers.  Flooring products and sustainable paint materials feature materials that don’t release volatile organic compounds.

Today eco-sensitive homeowners are choosing natural fibers like wool or sisal for their rugs, linoleum in place of vinyl, recycled wood, cork, and bamboo for flooring.  HGTV has a nice pictorial presentation of green flooring products on its site.  Bamboo is known throughout Asia for its durability and easy maintenance.  Like bamboo, cork can be expensive to install, but it is also easy to clean with homemade water and vinegar solution. Both products lend a nice look and are efficient in baffling noise.

HGTV also recommends using recycled wood and reclaimed glass flooring products.  Recycled tiles are bright and you can choose colors that complement your decor.  You can even find ecological carpet flooring constructed out of recycled plastic bottles and corn sugar.

Don’t Forget Green Appliances
Green Home Guide authors recommend that you install “smart ceiling fans” during your home remodeling project. Fans that cost under $70 with retrofit materials that cost under $40 can curb your heating and cooling costs.  What makes these fans “smart” are the sensors that detect when people leave the room, shutting down the fan until occupants return. By using a fan, you can easily raise the thermostat on your air conditioning by 5 degrees or, conversely, drop your furnace temperature by 5 degrees in the winter.

You don’t have to spend a fortune to change the way you live.

Given all the cost and planning that goes into most every renovation or remodeling project, you want it all to go right. Practically everyone I know that has had to camp out in their living room or eat out in fast food joints while the hammers banged away in their kitchens or baths understands. And they have a story to tell, no matter how it all turned out.

Sharing your nightmares and your victories can spare others from renovation hell.  That in mind, the editors over at Repair-Home.com have launched a Share Your Project section on their website.  You can share your own experiences as well as garner tips from those who have been there.

Share Your Project Details
According to the site, you can write a post, upload project photos, and receive ratings for your home improvement project.  Categories include:

* Kitchens
* Cabinet Refacing
* Bathrooms
* Landscaping
* Outdoor
* Home Decor
* Flooring
* Windows
* Doors
* Plumbing
* Electrical
* Heating & Cooling
* Siding
* Roofing and Gutters
* Painting
* Home Building

I took a test drive through postings and found a great idea for completing a quick and effective bathroom makeover, made possible by changing out lighting, cabinets, and mirrors.

The homeowner describes an effective and inexpensive way to remove fluorescent lighting in the bath and lay in fresh sheet rock and textures to get plenty of bang for your renovation dollar.

Help With Renovating Bedrooms and Kitchens
Other homeowners posted details and photos of their efforts to remodel a small kitchen, choose a pergola over a deck, and install an effective coffered ceiling treatment in the bedroom.  The ceiling project involved plotting and installing coffer boxes in a ceiling that was not perfectly square.

Project galleries at the site enhance the homeowner stories and fire fresh ideas for your own project. One homeowner provided excellent views of the 1926 marina-style home in San Francisco where they remodeled the original, tired kitchen to open it up and add light. The renovation project involved adding space, knocking out a wall, and installing fresh cabinets and flooring.

The web is a sad repository of plenty of awful projects, too. In searching for additional victories and disasters, I discovered Dark Roasted Blend, a site that gathers photographs of renovation disasters.  Several commercial and home construction designers and contractors should have lost their jobs, since it’s clear they lost their minds when building doors or stairways to nowhere.

First of all, I’d like to extend a big thank-you to ReliableRemodeler.com for hosting my humble post on their blog.  It’s great to be able to contribute!

I should tell you something about myself.  I’ve contributed posts on our BuildDirect company blog, mostly about wood flooring and bamboo.  I should say too that becoming a wood flooring blogger was not the last thing I ever thought I’d become, but it certainly wasn’t the first.  Let me explain.

I am not a talented DIYer.  I can barely put Legos together.  So in this sense, my coming to write a blog about building materials wasn’t a sure thing to have put money on.

But, I do know a thing or two about the things that homeowners care about, since I am a homeowner myself.  I’m interested in investing in my home, in making sure that my home not only increases in value in the long term, but also contributes to the improvement of my surroundings in the short term, too.  I believe environments are important, crucial in fact, to quality of life and feelings of well-being.  Actually, that’s what I’m really investing in.

This idea of positive transformation is important to most people. Further, I’d say it’s the primary thing that drives most people in life.  And I believe that a great interior make-over is a very palpable expression of this idea.   In the end, that concept is what I find so tasty when it comes to building materials, home improvement, and wood flooring specifically.  In some ways blogging about it is easy.

I’ve come to see building projects and interior design projects as more than a series of tasks, or items on a budget.  I think many, if not all, of those projects are life improvements, not just home improvements. 

It’s an ugly duckling transforming into a beautiful swan - pretty powerful stuff!

Cheers,
Rob

Rob Jones: Rob Jones has been a part of the marketing department at BuildDirect for four years.  He’s spent most of that time as a site content builder, with the effort in providing quality resources for BuildDirect customers and site visitors as his primary mission.  More recently, Rob has been involved in driving the social media program at BuildDirect, where he serves as chief blogger of the wood and bamboo flooring blogs, as well as the manager of the company’s Facebook page, Youtube channel, and Twitter account.  Rob lives in North Delta BC with his wife and three-year old daughter.

This year, everyone is looking for ways to add to their home without breaking the bank. If you have wood floors, you’d be surprised at the options you have for updating them. Don’t think you lack options when it comes to refinishing your floors…here are some cool out of the box ideas for spicing up the area under your feet.

Dark Paint or Varnish on Floors

Want these beautiful dark work floors yourself? Here’s a tip from Remodelista that I liked:

“To achieve a noirish effect, consider painting your wood floors with high performance, marine-grade Hollandlac Paint  from Fine Paints of Europe. For a super-shiny look, top with a marine-grade clear varnish. We like black for the floors and Espresso for the walls.”

Stencil on Floors

On DesignSponge, the owner of these smartly stenciled floors said she chose this project as a temporary fix before she has the time (and money!) to refinish her floors completely. I love the look, and it’s a smart temporary fix, or permanent one.

From Emmas Designblogg, yet another intricate painting and stenciling option:

I like this unique, DIY approach to floor refinishing. How about you?

**UPDATE**: One more look to add to the post….just stumbled across this lighter, less modern, and more minimal use of paint on floors via Country Living.

Part 2: Major Dining Room Remodeling Ideas

On Monday I talked about some quick fixes for your dining room. Today, some of my major overhaul ideas if you’re dining room just can’t be revived with small changes. 

1. Knock Down Walls: One of the best ways to makeover your dining room, is to create the illusion of more space. My favorite way of doing this is creating “open plans,” which allow for direct flow of traffic between the kitchen living room and dining room. Open plans will make your home feel bigger since you’re eliminating some of the things that take up space, and confine your space, namely, your walls.  Check out these examples of an open plan home and how convenient and beautiful it looks to merge your kitchen, dining and often living room spaces.

(Photo Credits: StyleFiles)

2. Add windows: Let in the light! Nothing opens up a room and makes it like new more than natural light. Adding windows or making windows in a room bigger can make your space more inviting.

(Photo Credit: Remodelista)

2. New Flooring: New flooring in any room makes it feel brand new. Replace carpet with hardwood, or maybe a new varnish to your hardwoods to give them a new look. This picture is a perfect example of what new flooring, and new windows can do to your dining room.

(Photo Credit: Remodelista)

Check back on our previous post for smaller dining room projects.

Some houses get lightly lived in, and then there are those abodes that weather the perfect storms of kids and pets and indoor floor sock hockey.  Among other things.  Do you have a house that works hard?  Ok maybe you don’t exactly have floor hockey tournaments going down on the kitchen tiles, but your house is definitely well lived in. 

Maybe the kids are rough on it or you’ve got a favorite furry friend who likes to be every bit a member of the family as the two legged ones.  These kinds of houses sometimes end up needing some special attention, especially in the kinds of paints and coatings we choose to live our lives around.  Paying a little attention to surfaces and other aspects of hard lived homes also means homes will wear better for the long run.  And you’ll feel better living in a home you know is ready to be truly lived in. 

 There are many products and ideas out there you to help you get started protecting the places that see the most wear and tear in your house.  The first place to look might be your floors.  Protecting your floors with a durable coating will do wonders for the longevity of your flooring, and might even mean you’ll have less work to do in maintaining it.  I don’t know any homeowner who wants to spend more time mopping or sweeping. 

Walls are another big ticket feature of your house that are bound to show wear more than other places.  Durable paints and protective coatings do wonders here too.  It might be worth it to you to take a little action now, rather than making a much bigger and potentially costly investment down the road. 

 We liked looking around General Polymers and Sherwin Williams for some ideas and advice.  Check it out and you can get started.  What else do you worry about in your home? Maybe we can look into how you can solve those problems too? Let us know!

What’s not to love about natural wood?  From flooring, siding and paneling, wood is a great addition to any home. Lots of us love the look of natural wood, and besides that, its durable and pretty easy to maintain.  Despite its classy look and great wear, there’s always something that makes me feel just a little bit guilty about it.  Maybe one too many viewings of Fern Gully as a child could be to blame, but to this day I just feel a little bit bad.  Lucky for me however, there are a lot of beautiful ways to enjoy natural wood without the guilt. 

Photo Credit: Sunset Magazine

Recycled wood products have always been around, but they’re making more and more of a comeback for stylistic as well as ecological reasons.  The short version? You can have your cake and eat it too.  Companies in the recycled wood industry go about their business in a couple different ways, some wood is reclaimed from construction sites, others salvaged from demolitions.  Its used wood getting a new lease on life: now that’s something I can get behind, and the rainforest might not mind either. 

Check out more on Recycled and Reclaimed Wood