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  • Posted by noreply15801 on January 25, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    Hello, I am looking for some advice on redoing all the floors of my home in the same plank.

    The house is 15 years old, under 1700sqft, and currently consists of a mix of sheet vinyl and carpet. All the rooms are pretty rectangular and flat, so I have confidence there.

    Everything will be done except for the stairs (which I have X’d). Also, I will likely do a kitchen remodel, but I haven’t finalized those plans. I marked a rough idea for expanding the cabinets, and you can assume that it will be something like that.

    I am really unsure what direction to go on floor 2 in particular. The doorways are close together in different directions. Advice there in particular would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks

    Joe replied 1 month, 1 week ago 2 Members · 20 Replies
  • 20 Replies
  • noreply15801

    Member
    January 26, 2023 at 9:11 am

    Attached is a more traditional floor plan with measurements. Sorry for the wrinkles

  • Joe

    Administrator
    January 26, 2023 at 9:50 am
    • noreply15801

      Member
      January 26, 2023 at 11:11 am

      Thanks for the feedback. My name is Adam. The subfloor is wood.

      Floor 2: Working N/S, from the master bed/bath, makes a lot of sense to me, since there would only be that one closet to work backwards. That was the way I was originally thinking, because of the long hallway in the master bath and closet. The main hallway in the center was throwing me off with the sort of spiral of doorways. I couldn’t decide which would be easier.

      Floor1: The other issue, I thought, was if the boards aesthetically need to run the same direction upstairs and downstairs. I know this is opinion, but is that something you see a lot as a contractor? This is my first 2-story house.

      Running the boards N/S seems to solve that question, because both floors would run N/S and have the least amount of working backwards.

      Do you see any issues with transitioning to the carpet stairs? I have done stair noses before to the basement, so I’m familiar with that. I haven’t transitioned at the bottom of steps before, nor have I done much with carpet. Currently, the carpet runs from the floor, completely covers the stairs, and then continues upstairs. I plan on cutting it so that the carpet remains on the stairs and terminates at both ends. I assume there is already a seam there and a tac strip to hold it down. Does it not matter which direction the boards run at the bottom, because there would be a quarter round or something covering the transition?

      Your cleanup of my drawing was mostly correct. One closet is in the wrong room. I have attached a picture of a more traditional floorplan with some measurements. Hopefully, that helps. Sorry for the wrinkles.

  • Joe

    Administrator
    January 26, 2023 at 1:19 pm
    • noreply15801

      Member
      January 26, 2023 at 2:32 pm

      That’s a fair point: the second floor is pretty far removed from the first. The staircase has a landing and turns 180, so it’s not visible.

      I didn’t think about being able to tuck under the riser. That’s interesting. I like that plan. So, the carpet is assumably glued/stapled down hard to the riser? Makes sense.

      I have it on my list to get back to you on the planks. For full transparency, I’m not too worried about getting scheduled just yet. I got some things to take care of on my end to get there. I’m still looking for flooring. I am targeting a traditional tongue plank, but it seems like drop and lock is taking over.

      I do appreciate you answering my questions. The more unknowns I can clear ahead of time, the more confident I feel. I’m not in a rush right now, but I am looking to hit the ground running in about a month or so. I’m using this time for whatever I can plan. It’s going to be a big project and no turning back.

  • Joe

    Administrator
    January 26, 2023 at 3:02 pm
    • noreply15801

      Member
      October 12, 2023 at 2:44 pm

      Hello again. After a few unexpected issues and delays, I finally have my flooring and am getting ready to start on installation. To recap, all the old floors are removed, and new cabinet/kitchen layout has been completed. I just need to clean and patch some tearouts on the subfloor.

      I ended up going with Nakan Craftsman – Flooret

      Based on our previous talk, I am planning to start in the doorway by the kitchen; although, we haven’t yet done a formal review because I wasn’t ready.

      I need to refresh myself with some of the courses, because it’s been a while, but I’m a little unclear about how to handle staggering planks in narrow passages (such as hallways or between cabinets). When a larger room comes to a smaller area, do you treat the smaller space as if it’s a full space, or pretend like the planks align where they would have if the larger space wasn’t cut off? I don’t know if I explained that well, but it seems like there will be a lot of short planks, without a lot of stability, when it comes to narrow passages.

  • noreply15801

    Member
    June 1, 2023 at 2:42 pm

    Hello, I am in the process of installing kitchen cabinets before starting the floor. I was thinking of putting 1/4in plywood under the cabinets to have them be closer to flush with where there is floor. Do you think this is worth doing? Also, would putting a thin plywood over an OSB subfloor give any advantage to the installation or integrity of the flooring, since it would be more uniform and smoother?

    Thanks

    • noreply15801

      Member
      June 1, 2023 at 2:44 pm

      PS I am leaning towards Flooret Signature

  • Joe

    Administrator
    June 1, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    • noreply15801

      Member
      June 1, 2023 at 3:36 pm

      Just to clarify why I thought to put underlayment under the cabinets:

      I am definitely not putting flooring under the cabinets. There will be quarter round.

      I am going to put floor under appliances, like the refrigerator, dishwasher, stove. Won’t they be set lower than the cabinets? For things like the dishwasher, where countertop spans across, couldn’t it be too tall compared to the cabinets around it?

      Thanks

      • noreply15801

        Member
        June 1, 2023 at 3:37 pm

        Sorry, typo. Meant to say “won’t the cabinets be set lower than the appliances”

  • Joe

    Administrator
    June 2, 2023 at 7:05 am
  • Joe

    Administrator
    October 12, 2023 at 3:16 pm

    I have an opening for a blueprint on Tuesday October 17th, I will get you on the schedule!

  • Joe

    Administrator
    October 16, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    here is the main level blueprint – https://somup.com/c06D0MBpbf

  • Joe

    Administrator
    October 16, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    Here is the upstairs blueprint – https://somup.com/c06bcmBpqJ

    • noreply15801

      Member
      October 17, 2023 at 12:37 pm

      Wow, that was certainly a lot of information. I watched Part 1 and skimmed Part 2, but it will take me some time to parse everything. I do plan on starting on the Main Level just because it seems a lot easier and there’s less stuff in the way.

      One thing I did notice is your drawing of the layout is missing some detail. This is partially my fault. I left parts up to interpretation, and I never updated since the start of the thread months ago. I apologize for that.

      Fortunately, I don’t think they change things a whole lot. The plan you outlined stays basically the same, but I figured I would note them here:

      Main Level

      1. The stairs show both going up and down. They’re essentially on top of each other. Both stairways have a landing and wrap 180. The basement stairs have a door. To the right of that, the upstairs are open with a railing (like you saw in the picture). I understand that the downstairs are handled essentially the same as a closet door with the addition of a nose piece. And you already talked about the upstairs stairway in the video.

      2. You were unsure if the kitchen had a pantry or if it’s the fridge. It does have a pantry, which, again, is just another closet as far as floor is concerned. The fridge is next to the pantry.

      3. In the upper right corner, you thought there is a patio door, but it’s actually just a large window. I certainly see why it looks like a patio door in the drawing. There are plenty of baseboard registers (hvac) to work around, but no patio doors to worry about in the house.

      4. In the upper left corner, there are 3 doors that open into each other. Closet. Garage. Deck. I don’t have to worry about flooring through the 2 outside doors, but there’s still 3 door frames in a tight area. Particularly, the top-top wall, there are door frame casings in both directions, on both ends, that make a really tight space. Without taking the door trims off, I think I’d have to install those planks first to slip them under the trim pieces. Otherwise, I won’t be able to angle the planks to lock the joints.

      I included a picture here. It’s the same pic as I sent originally, but I made notes on it for the 4 points above. Out of the 4, #4 is the only point I have concerns about.

      Thank you so much for your detailed analysis. I will probably be starting installation over the weekend. I definitely appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I will need them

  • noreply15801

    Member
    February 13, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    Hello, I didn’t update here, but we made a lot of progress last year on the main level floor. We got everything done up to the bathroom doorway, and I even did the landing for the basement steps with some leftover pieces, right before the snow took away my place to run the saws on the patio.

    We’re taking a break for winter and also working on upgrades to that bathroom and other projects. We plan to pick up again in the next couple months.

    I did use floor patch like you show, but only when there was damage from lifting the old floor or if there was a lip/drop-off/gap between OSB. I did not level any other dips or humps across the subfloor, and it’s been fine for months. We lucked out that the subfloor is in great shape.

    I did not screw down the first row of planks. The floor was free floating the entire time. It definitely moves a lot from tapping and pull bar, but we were able to pull it back into place based on the chalk lines.

    I also learned to never use the pull bar unless I have to. The traditional way of angling the tongue/groove is superior to hammering it down the track with the pull bar (unless you’re going under something, then you have to). The hammering causes gaps in previous rows, and it’s just harder on the plank and your body. Angle the end in, then angle the side in, then tap. I feel like your content should emphasize this method more than this (https://youtu.be/UII0yYikEe8?si=Ac2a3VQ5EmXuHAGk&t=924) method.

    Overall, your directions were awesome. We followed your plans with the chalk line exactly and it came out maybe 1/16 off the line, which is good enough for us. We did make one major change. We started in the entryway, just because it made handling all those doorways easier. We were able to build a slab of planks and slide them all under the doorframes at once.

    I would say door casings is my biggest struggle. In a doorway, both sides of the row are pinned down by the casing, so you can’t angle plank into the groove. I feel like this is something that hasn’t been adequately explained.

    And that’s exactly where I’m at on the main level – the bathroom doorway. I don’t know how we’re going to get the next row of plank in when we pick up the project again.

    Anyway, I just wanted to give an update, share some constructive feedback, and say thanks. We could not have gotten this far without your guidance. I’m grateful enough that I renewed at a lifetime membership. Hope you are doing well.

  • Joe

    Administrator
    February 14, 2024 at 8:42 am

    Thanks for sharing! I am looking forward to hearing from you in the spring.

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