Archive for the ‘Flooring’ Category

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

We’re guessing by now you’ve probably heard the buzz about bamboo flooring.  And for good reason: (just take a look at this)

Photo Credit: Teragren

In a faltering real estate market its smart to consider eco-conscious investments for your home.  The reason?  If you’re planning on selling your home in an uneasy market, you need every advantage you can get.  And what a way to separate your home from the others, as well as sway the hearts and minds of potential buyers, than by adding some green flare to your home.

The great part about choosing to embark on a green remodeling project like bamboo flooring is that you might get to enjoy it in the mean time.  Most home improvement projects take around 3-5 years to recoup their value, so it’s a good idea to think long term where your remodel is concerned.  The added bonus is also that you may get to enjoy the benefits of your remodel before you move on to bigger and better things. 

But back to why we’re twitter pated with bamboo: what makes it so ‘green’ you may be asking?  The thing about bamboo is that is grows like a weed, and it is almost, well, a grass to be exact.  Bamboo matures within a meager 5 and ½ to 6 years after the crop is planted which leads to an abundance of the stuff in relatively short order.  Compare that to the average cedar tree, which needs up to 50 growing years before it reaches maturity and can be harvested for valuable timber. 

Bamboo flooring is also harder and more durable than many conventional wood flooring options, and there are no extra steps involved when it comes to cleaning and maintaining.  I don’t think it gets much better than that.

Want to know more? Find out how its made!

More options for bamboo flooring:

http://www.bamboohardwoods.com/

My kitchen has constant action. There are always cookies being baked, vegetables being steamed, bottles of wine being opened, and cupcakes being iced. With all this time on my feet in the kitchen, I’m constantly thinking about what kind of flooring might best work under my shoes.

Growing in popularity, and providing an array of benefits that traditional flooring options can’t even come close to offering, cork flooring is a great investment for any kitchen remodel.

Cork flooring first came across my attention because of my yoga studio. All the studio spaces were installed with cork flooring because it is soft, durable, and of course, a natural sustainable choice. If it’s the perfect comfortable flooring materials for yogis practicing difficult poses, it must be just as comfortable for the busy cook.

But it’s not just about comfort. While cork makes for happy feet, it’s also fire resistant, reduces heat loss (it’s a great insulator!), is mold and bug repellant, reduces sound and vibrations, and is easy to install since cork flooring can often comes in click-into-place mosaic tiles. 

And for those of you increasingly concerned with your impact on the environment, cork flooring is a perfect sustainable product.  Not only is it easy to easy to grow and harvest, it’s very easy to recycle too.

And, don’t think cork only has to go on your kitchen floor. You can try it in just about any room of your home, or you can even look into cork siding for your walls, and cork furniture. Examples of new uses for cork are coming out everyday, so keep your eyes open and see how you can use it in your home.