Al Heavens is a Haddonfield, N.J.- based, nationally syndicated, home-improvement writer and author whose newspaper columns, magazine articles and books have been the first word on remodeling for 50 million readers for more than three decades. He is the author of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home and Remodeling On The Money: Fifteen Innovative Projects Designed to Add Value to Your Home, and was “The Gadgeteer” on Discovery Channel’s Home Matters program.
At 70, I have been finding it increasingly difficult to do work that involves getting down on the floor.
Actually, getting down on the floor is not the problem. It is, of course, getting up, especially if there is nothing that I can grab to help lift myself.
It does not stop me from doing work that involves such activity, but I attribute the problem not so much to aging, but instead to my nearly 10-month absence from the gym thanks to the pandemic.
It did make tiling the greenhouse floor in August and repairing the front porch floor in October a bit more labor-intensive than in the past, even with kneepads autographed by Norm Abram more than 20 years ago.
The last time I tackled the porch floor — 10 years ago — it was much easier. Jay Cipriani recommended a fellow who sanded the porch floor to bare wood in a few hours for a most reasonable $300 (and left all the waste neatly in a garbage bag at the curb for trash pickup the next day).
The rough part of that job was replacing original tongue-in-groove floorboards with wider modern ones and getting things to fit properly. This required use of a table saw to trim the board and then a router attachment to cut a replacement groove.
It was not perfect, but that is why they invented semitransparent stain.
Today’s topic is flooring and what you should consider before settling on a particular choice for whatever room you are planning to redo.
In my last blog post, I talked about what kinds of remodeling projects would be in vogue during 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I thought that I would save the mention of flooring for another day.
Several sources I came across said the No. 1 flooring option among consumers would be hardwood, which makes sense, I suppose because the “hard” part is generally interpreted as “durable.”
Compared with the soft pine floors on my first floor, hardwood certainly is more durable. I am keeping my fingers crossed that someday I will find the name of the guy who sanded my front porch and have him tackle the downstairs (keeping my fingers crossed that there is still an eighth of an inch remaining to sand).
By the way, if you need to have your floors sanded, hire a professional. My wife and I did the floors in our former house before we moved in 33 years ago, and for months my chest felt as if I had inhaled a tree – even though I went through two large boxes of dust masks during the process.
What are the drawbacks of hardwood floors? Obviously, the cost, which from my research can range $3 for unfinished oak to $12 for more expensive options such as Brazilian cherry. It must be installed over a subfloor, which means that it is not a do-it-yourself option (present company included, much to my chagrin).
It is a lot harder to work with than other flooring products, so installation can involve more costly labor. In addition, there is also a sustainability issue, since, although wood is renewable, methods of harvesting are often not.
It does scratch – softer woods more than harder ones – especially in high-traffic areas, and thus will require periodic refinishing.
On the other hand, it is easy to take care of and, when you think about value, it can elicit oohs and ahs from prospective home buyers, and you do get what you pay for.
Our old house, built in 1906, had floors of thin oak strips on the first and second levels, and yellow pine on the third. Yellow pine was the cheapest and most plentiful around at the turn of the 20th century, yet scarce and highly prized today.
By the 1990s, yellow pine flooring was being harvested from abandoned factories in North Philadelphia or from swamps in Georgia and the Carolinas for reuse. It is much more expensive than many other types, but when it is sanded and you add polyurethane, it looks fabulous.
If you are considering flooring options in your remodeling projects, I would suggest sitting down with your contractor early in the planning stages to discuss them. Most contractors have seen it all, and they are intimately familiar with all the pros and cons.
Here is the question of the day. What kind of flooring is the most durable?
Well, tests at Consumer Reports found that porcelain tile is the most durable kind of flooring available. It resists scratches, dents, and moisture, and is also easy to clean.
Glazed ceramic and porcelain tile require little maintenance, although other kinds require more, Consumer Reports said.
I agree, since that is the kind of flooring that I have worked with the most over the last four decades. It does require a subfloor – I would recommend cement backer board over exterior-grade plywood, and I have used both.
Even though I have been tiling floors and walls successfully since the early 1980s, it is another job that should be left to professionals with plenty of time, expertise, and proper equipment.
The previous owners of my present house chose a quarry-tile floor in the kitchen, and it looks nice and is easy to maintain. If you drop a glass or dish, or, as I discovered last week, a light bulb for an electric candle, be prepared to keep finding stray shards of glass for weeks.
I have also worked with vinyl, laminate, engineered wood, cork, bamboo, and linoleum, and each has its pros and cons. Material and installation costs can vary widely, and this is something your contractor will be on top of.
Let us start with vinyl, which is resilient and flexible, and was a good choice for the floor of my home office (subfloor issues notwithstanding, but I will leave that story for another day).
It can come with adhesive backing, or, like my office flooring, can click into place, and can be cut and trimmed with a utility knife or vinyl tile cutter. It is highly moisture resistant, which is why I chose it for a basement office floor, and previously for a kitchen. It does have ecological issues since it is primarily oil-based and emits volatile organic compounds.
It is relatively cheap and can look it, although it is perfect for my office.
Linoleum has been around for 140 years and is usually the flooring you remove before putting in something else or lay something on top of (I have done both).
It yellows in sunlight, dents and tears easily, and is not very moisture resistant. The fact that it comes in cumbersome rolls requires professional installation.
What about laminate? It can look like stone or wood, it is relatively hard, so it can resist dents and scratches, and, according to Consumer Reports, it is easy to install yourself.
It cannot be refinished but must be replaced, and it does not hold up well to moisture, Consumer Reports said.
My issue is that the previous owners had dogs, so they carpeted the laminate floors in the master bedroom. When I removed the carpeting to expose what appeared to be nice floors, I discovered that they had stapled the carpeting to the laminate and caused annoying damage. Let us just say I am surprised there was not a worldwide staple shortage when they finished.
Then there is engineered wood, which I once watched being made in a factory outside of Houston. It is made of a thin veneer of natural laid on layers of plywood under incredible pressure.
It can look like the high-end stuff without costing an arm and a leg, and comes in a variety of types, patterns, and board widths. It can be nailed or glued to the floor and installed directly on concrete.
It can scratch and dent easily and can only be refinished once, since there is a danger of sanding the veneer and exposing the plywood.
Bamboo can look like hardwood, and of all the flooring types, it is the most renewable (just ask my neighbor, who removes it from the edge of his back yard three times a year).
It is not sturdy and can scratch easily, which suggests not using it in kitchens. It holds up to moisture but can swell and crack in high humidity.
Last, but not least, is cork, which comes in tiles that are glued down or planks that are clicked into place. With proper maintenance, it can last 40 years or more. It resists moisture, but it can dent, scratch and tear easily, and needs to be resealed periodically with wax or polyurethane.
The material is eco-friendly, since it is made with leftover material from wine cork production. Best of all, it is very easy on the feet, warm and quiet, making it easier for you to get to that bottle for another glass of port without anyone noticing.