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The OFFICIAL Hardwood Flooring Thread

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Dec 11, 2008
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I have parquet on my main floor, what isues would I be facing if I wanted to just lay laminet or hardwood on top as opposed to ripping it out? Uneven floors? Squeaking?
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Dec 26, 2005
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Thornhill
speedyforme wrote: I have parquet on my main floor, what isues would I be facing if I wanted to just lay laminet or hardwood on top as opposed to ripping it out? Uneven floors? Squeaking?
In our relatively small family room (250 sq-ft), we just ripped out the parquet - took my cousin and I (relatively strong people) from 2:30pm until 10pm (excluding a 1hr dinner break). Do normal people rip these things out? :)

bjl
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Deal Guru
Dec 11, 2008
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t3359 wrote: In our relatively small family room (250 sq-ft), we just ripped out the parquet - took my cousin and I (relatively strong people) from 2:30pm until 10pm (excluding a 1hr dinner break). Do normal people rip these things out? :)

bjl
Wow it sounds like a lot of work. I probably have an area the size less than 400 sq ft. (Living/Dining room combined and a Great room)
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speedyforme wrote: Wow it sounds like a lot of work. I probably have an area the size less than 400 sq ft. (Living/Dining room combined and a Great room)
Going through what we did yesterday, I would be more likely to take a circular saw to it and just replace the sub-floor. The only reasons I did want to was the cost and clean up of the basement. (and my aunt wouldn't like it if my cousin fell into the basement :) )

bjl
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Apr 17, 2005
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t3359 wrote: Thanks... we just ripped off the old parquet floor which was glued onto plywood... I don't know what kind of adhesive it was, but it was very difficult to remove. I plan to put the OSB on top of this to raise the level of the floor before putting the hardwood on top of it.

Currently, the plywood is perpendicular to the joists which runs the length of the room. In the end I want the hardwood to run parallel to the joists. Should I run the OSB perpendicular to the joists (parallel to the plywood) but staggered relative to the plywood?

Also, when we removed the parquet, certain parts of the plywood had a layer ripped off. When we put down the OSB, is it with scratch adhesive in addition to screws?

You're awesome man... definitely thread of the year!

bjl
Stagger the new sheets with the same direction. Use construction adhesive & screws. The little parts of missing plywood will not interfere.

How thick is the new OSB? I hope it's 5/8" or 3/4".
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speedyforme wrote: I have parquet on my main floor, what isues would I be facing if I wanted to just lay laminet or hardwood on top as opposed to ripping it out? Uneven floors? Squeaking?
If you don't have squeaks right now & the floor is pretty straight & the parquet is not popping up anywhere, you can lay on top. But it will increase your height.
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patrob wrote: If you don't have squeaks right now & the floor is pretty straight & the parquet is not popping up anywhere, you can lay on top. But it will increase your height.
Thanks. Oddly enough the tiling of the powder room and kitchen/breakfast area is higher than the current parquet. So either way, I don't think the transition points will even be the same height.
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t3359 wrote: In our relatively small family room (250 sq-ft), we just ripped out the parquet - took my cousin and I (relatively strong people) from 2:30pm until 10pm (excluding a 1hr dinner break). Do normal people rip these things out? :)

bjl
Yes you're normal :D
speedyforme wrote: Wow it sounds like a lot of work. I probably have an area the size less than 400 sq ft. (Living/Dining room combined and a Great room)
If you have proper tools like sharp chisel, 6" - 8" ice scraper it comes off pretty well. 400 ft. you should be able to take off in one day. Don't forget about gloves - blisters everywhere :cheesygri
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patrob wrote: Stagger the new sheets with the same direction. Use construction adhesive & screws. The little parts of missing plywood will not interfere.

How thick is the new OSB? I hope it's 5/8" or 3/4".
It would be 3/4" (to make it flush with the other room). Would you recommend plywood? I'm only thinking OSB because of cost.

thanks...
bjl
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t3359 wrote: It would be 3/4" (to make it flush with the other room). Would you recommend plywood? I'm only thinking OSB because of cost.

thanks...
bjl
3/4" OSB is just fine, should make the sub-floor nice & straight.
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Nov 13, 2005
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I'm finishing the basement and we have put down a subfloor (styroform type then plywood). The plywood is buckling in the in the middle of some rooms. The boards don't look really tight so I'm not sure what's causing it. The plywood that we haven't used yet (has been in the basement now a few weeks) is also starting to warp. Can we screw the sheets down to the concrete to stop it from being 'springy'?

Also I'm looking at various flooring and leaning towards engineered. I have about 400sq ft I need to do and wanted to find something good but not really expensive (approx. $1000 - I'll install). Any suggestions in the GVR?

edited to add: I was reading up on the Golden Select laminate from Costco. Would that be an ok alternative to engineered?
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Jul 10, 2009
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I know this brand, have bought this brand many times for high end commercial jobs. It's a commercial wholesale floor you usually can not find at retail outlets. Never had a problem but you must always glue and nail down any exotics from any manufacturer or you will get gapping, not a lot of glue just a squiggle on the back. Good luck and install it properly!!!

Also Kempas is not Brazilian Walnut. There is a lot of stuff from Asia that they call it Brazilian Walnut but it's not even close. Brazilian Walnut is not orange or red in colour, it's a darker brown. Also buying hardwood from auctions is what you see is what you get. Don't expect a quality product and there is no history on this product, where it came from, how it came, where was it stored and what kind of finish was really used...[/QUOTE]
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ging54321 wrote: I'm finishing the basement and we have put down a subfloor (styroform type then plywood). The plywood is buckling in the in the middle of some rooms. The boards don't look really tight so I'm not sure what's causing it. The plywood that we haven't used yet (has been in the basement now a few weeks) is also starting to warp. Can we screw the sheets down to the concrete to stop it from being 'springy'?

Also I'm looking at various flooring and leaning towards engineered. I have about 400sq ft I need to do and wanted to find something good but not really expensive (approx. $1000 - I'll install). Any suggestions in the GVR?

edited to add: I was reading up on the Golden Select laminate from Costco. Would that be an ok alternative to engineered?
Yes, you can screw down the plywood to concrete. If the plywood is starting to buckle a lot, I would look into moisture levels in the basement. It will be pretty much impossible to find 400 sq. ft. of engineered hardwood for $1K.

Some have said that the Costco laminate is not bad but it's def. not engineered hardwood.
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Winterman wrote: I know this brand, have bought this brand many times for high end commercial jobs. It's a commercial wholesale floor you usually can not find at retail outlets. Never had a problem but you must always glue and nail down any exotics from any manufacturer or you will get gapping, not a lot of glue just a squiggle on the back. Good luck and install it properly!!!
You can glue the whole floor with moisture cured adhesive & nail it. But if you don't maintain your humidity at recommended levels, exotics especially will shrink, gap, crack & cap :!:

And if you can't find it at specialty flooring stores it's not a high end product :| If you Google Exoticorp only auctions come up, really high end :rolleyes:
Here is at least one unsatisfied customer with Exoticorp http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/show ... count=1504
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patrob wrote: Yes, you can screw down the plywood to concrete. If the plywood is starting to buckle a lot, I would look into moisture levels in the basement. It will be pretty much impossible to find 400 sq. ft. of engineered hardwood for $1K.

Some have said that the Costco laminate is not bad but it's def. not engineered hardwood.
is there an easy way to figure out the moisture level? I have hardwood on the main floor and don't have any issues with it. We are opening all the windows and door from outside to get some circulation and to help dry out the mudding but it's been rather dry lately so I'm not sure if that adds to the problem or not. It's not in all areas that the boards are doing this but so far one room and a few in the hallway.

Is there a good product to screw the plywood down with? We tried one (they were blue screws but I can't recall the name) but they popped out and broke. We used almost the longest ones possible.

I saw engineered hardwood at Home depot today for around $3/sq ft which I thought looked nice. It was trafficmaster brand. Not sure if that is a good price or even a good brand name.

thanks
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ging54321 wrote: is there an easy way to figure out the moisture level? I have hardwood on the main floor and don't have any issues with it. We are opening all the windows and door from outside to get some circulation and to help dry out the mudding but it's been rather dry lately so I'm not sure if that adds to the problem or not. It's not in all areas that the boards are doing this but so far one room and a few in the hallway.

Is there a good product to screw the plywood down with? We tried one (they were blue screws but I can't recall the name) but they popped out and broke. We used almost the longest ones possible.

I saw engineered hardwood at Home depot today for around $3/sq ft which I thought looked nice. It was trafficmaster brand. Not sure if that is a good price or even a good brand name.

thanks
Hygrometer will tell you the temperature & humidity levels in the room.

The blue screws are called tapcons (for concrete). For reg. sub-floor, use 2" flooring screws. Can't comment on the HD engineered stuff, you get what you pay for. But if this is your budget, I don't think you will have too many choices.
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Jul 11, 2009
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Great thread ! a wealth of info.
Trying to get my head around a few issues I have been thinking about lately

I am looking to install ~340 sq ft of solid hardwood in a room (Dining/Family Room) which is 11' X 31' feet

1. Near the center of the room off to the sides, there are decorative columns which span from the ceiling to the floor. Do you need to remove the columns and install the wood or is the wood normally cut-to-fit and placed around the column base.
What would the Pros normally do?

2. Transition Pieces: The entries into the room have a marble inlay between the tiles and the existing carpet. The wood I am looking at is 3/4' inch thick and the marble is slightly lower (~quarter inch). I have noticed in some homes that the wood butts up to the marble (tight and level; no noticeable ridges) .
Is this possible in my case ?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks
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Jul 5, 2006
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Hi patrob:

I plan to install laminate (Golden Select Walnut from Costco) on the main floor including kitchen. I have the following questions:
1. The laminate is 12.3
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hsj1 wrote: Great thread ! a wealth of info.
Trying to get my head around a few issues I have been thinking about lately

I am looking to install ~340 sq ft of solid hardwood in a room (Dining/Family Room) which is 11' X 31' feet

1. Near the center of the room off to the sides, there are decorative columns which span from the ceiling to the floor. Do you need to remove the columns and install the wood or is the wood normally cut-to-fit and placed around the column base.
What would the Pros normally do?

2. Transition Pieces: The entries into the room have a marble inlay between the tiles and the existing carpet. The wood I am looking at is 3/4' inch thick and the marble is slightly lower (~quarter inch). I have noticed in some homes that the wood butts up to the marble (tight and level; no noticeable ridges) .
Is this possible in my case ?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks
1. Do not remove the columns. Cut it tight around it. You may require a small moulding around it.

2. Transition pieces/reducers, you cut them from the same wood to match the height between the marble & 3/4" wood.

It should look like this
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2919/waseem1tm5.jpg
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/486/img8172.jpg
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[quote="right4you" post_id="9058947" time="1247442875" user_id="50678"]Hi patrob:

I plan to install laminate (Golden Select Walnut from Costco) on the main floor including kitchen. I have the following questions:
1. The laminate is 12.3
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