2/24/2015

DIY Lay Hardwood Flooring





I have remodeled many homes and lived with the process. I'm 65 days into this mess. Demolition is completed. Well I've gotten all the carpet, pad, wood strip and scraped the glue.  Next step is to remove the floor molding and scrub the concrete. It's a dusty project. Wet  mop twice a day...






























Here towards the end you can see my progress. 
After shopping on State College at seven stores, Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators, and two local flooring showrooms I decided on six inch wide plank with a matte finish. A number of Realtors told me dark is "out." I opted for a conservative tone that is in between gunstock, red oak and medium warm. I purchased from Floorstoyourhome.com online. I am not certain this method is for everyone. after educating myself about all the brands, how they are made and prices I was careful to shop on their website waiting for a deal on the type of specs that I desired. It took me a couple weeks to actually execute the purchase as they have small lots and they come and go. Small company in Indiana that shipped for free. Price was vital as my budget for a 1100 square foot downstairs was $ 7000. I had bids for $12000 to $21000 including labor and all the parts.
I planned to order t-molding, transition strips and stair molding from them, but found they wanted to charge shipping and material was available at Ganahl Lumber.  
One problem about picking up the long strips of t-molding (one was 17 feet) I'm not certain I would
choose to do that again with my BMW X5 and the goofy flags hanging out the back. Might have been worthwhile to pay $33 in shipping to floors to your home as I worried about getting a ticket.
Here's the very first piece being "laid." Floor is clean enough to eat dinner off and wood is glued to my nice level floor. All my belongings are upstairs in boxes, and antiques scattered as best I could. My son Carson has been pretty ill, and I thought I was going to have my second pair of hands but all things you plan seem to go awry.