txdohczc

why would you do that?

Tom-Guy

What do you recommend for attractive, affordable flooring that lasts a little longer? I have 500 square of really attractive Italian tile, but I'm afraid of doing more than the bathroom in tile because I don't like the cold feeling that sometimes creates. One of my friends just did his house in a deep wood tone laminate and his house has a really nice, warm feel now. Seems bigger, the lighting is more subdued without being the least bit dark.

Also, your sig is a form of excellence. Back ~7 years ago one of my roomates hopped out of my CRX and beat the ---- out of two (2) hippies who started yelling at me when one of them intentionally waited for me to roll up to an intersection before stepping out in front of me. It was great, he knocked one to his knees with one punch, down on the ground with a second, then turning around to hit the other one as he was getting up, and kept doing that for about two minutes straight. We were a block and a half from the police station, and I kept pacing him down the street as he beat hippie *** saying, "Uh, Justin? I think we gotta go, I see at people on their cells calling the cops," the whole time he wouldn't get in and kept whaling on them.

CspecRun

Is that Gary Coleman in his avatar?? If so, that ----'s great. lol

RacingTiger

Well you really can't beat tile for durability. Unfortunitly I can't lay tile because I'm not a masonry contractor(they license tile differently since you need mortar) But heres some stuff I know about tile. To get rid of that stupid cold tile feeling I recommend using something like this. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...3X-_-100607090

There are many different brands and you can probably get a better price than what home depot/Lowes/etc offers from a dedicated flooring supply store(Not the materials depot but a supply store like Tom Duffy's that doesnt sell floor covering). Now yes it does use electricity, but everyone I talked to said their electric bill worked out to be the same or less because heating a house from the floor up is the most efficient way. Also to your feet are one of the most thermally conductive parts of your body so this floor makes you feel great. You dont have to carpet bomb the whole tile area with that mat. Just the main walk way areas. Also if you have the mat hooked up to a thermostat (most heating mats use these) then it will gradually heat all the tile as the area that arent heated absorb heat from the heated areas.

Now another option for hardwood is, and this is my personal favorite as woods go, Is engineered "hand scraped" hardwood. Basically it gives it a rough, but smooth worn look. Like this

The used to have convicts with hand scrapers make this crap but now the have machines do it...lot cheaper. But the cool thing with this is just get one of those wood touch up pins and you can scratch the heck out if it and never have it look crappy. It just adds more character. And it's spanish/italian old country looking.

RacingTiger

Yeah it is. And that's an awesome hippie story JD

RacingTiger

Also , like with everything, if something is cheap, there's a reason. Usually cheap hardwood is cheap because its not square. So the joints will really stick out and they wont match up right. So now you'll have a crappy floor that will just get crappier...and squeak. Shaw is a good floor covering company FWIW.

j3w

bamboo. i just did a 8K square foot waterfront house on the ocean here in bamboo. it looks incredible, it's way more enviro friendly than anything else (chicks dig that), and it's twice as hard as oak. it's around 3$ if you buy it by the pallet (1200 sf usually), and marginally more if you buy half pallets.

here's a pic.



edit: bamboo is not only more durable, but needs virtually no maintenance throughout its entire life. sweep and vacuum. that's it. no refinishing or anything like that. also more insect, fire, and moisture resistant than any hardwood. it's also dimensionally stable.

Tom-Guy

Most of my friends are in the construction biz. If I have to pay a little here and there it's no big deal, I already get cost on plumbing and plumbing fixtures from the manager of a local plumbing supply, small stuff like the mortar and sealer for the tile I have was given to me, and there's always someone willing to spend a day showing me how to do a job. Friends are ------- great like that.

Yah, I liked the engineered wood flooring too, but I don't know a lot about the whole shebang, so ty for your $0.02.

Yah, and so was this:

http://www.themadpigeon.com/diary_of...alentines.html

:P

RacingTiger

Yeah I've done some bamboo as well but it was about 3 times that for my cost on it. I love the stuff but I would never consider it cause of the initial cost. But J.H. is right its the next best thing to concrete. Very nice job J.H! what brand did you use?

Tom-Guy

I normally don't like super light colors, but that bamboo is pimpshit.