Oak and Maple are the strongest deomstic hardwoods, but decent Bamboo has better re-sale value, looks WAY cool and can also be put in most basements (only ENGINEERED hardwood is a natural that can go below the frost line in a house or below ground level. Others will warp and do horrible shit). Most bamboos you can also FLOAT instead of nailing or stapling provided you use a laminate underlay. That way, you could probably install it yourself. Anybody can install laminate. All you need is an "installation kit" which consists of a pull/pry bar, tapping block and spacers used to give you the mandatory 1/4 inch expansion gap you leave along all walls. You have to run both hardwood AND laminate planks across the floor joists. If you want to run them with the joists instead, you'll have to beef up the subfloor. Remember: the higher you raise your floor, the more likely you'll have to saw off door jambs and plane the bottom of all the doors, which is an ENORMOUS pain in the ass. RE-SALE VALUE RANKING FOR FLOORING: 1) Hardwood, Bamboo and Natural Cork 2) Cermamic/Porcelain/Stone Tile 3) Carpet 4) Laminate 5) Sheet Vinyl/Vinyl Tile DUARABILITY RANK: 1) Tile (but FUCKING cold) 2) Laminate 3) Vinyl 4) Carpet 5) HArdwoods & Naturals COMFORT RANK: 1) Carpet 2) Laminate 3) Woods & NAturals 4) Vinyl (though the cusion floor shit is REALLY comfy) 5) Tile Exotic hardwoods are incredibly strong and beautiful (some even change colours slowly over time) but are expensive as fuck. Look up Tiger Wood (not the asshole golfer) if you want to see a brilliant looking floor. Remember: All types of flooring except natural stones come with SOME sort of protectant on them before they hit the shelf. If you can clean up the messes in time and the dog's claws aren't destrcutive, you should get hardwood. It's a great investment as well as it is classy to look at.
Laminate flooring is easy to install, looks pretty good, is fairly easy to clean, and very durable, with one BIG exception: standing moisture over a seam will seep in and cause the laminate to swell. I warn you specifically because you have a dog. Our dogs like to pee in strange corners at random times when we're asleep or out of the house. Usually we don't find it until it's mostly dried up, but if the puddle happens to be over a seam, the damage is done. Same thing will happen if they barf over a seam while you're gone. If I had to do it over again, I'd have gone with a bamboo floor, or an engineered hardwood. Any kind of "floating" floor is ridiculously easy to put in, with minimal tools as posted above.
I have had both. The laminate floors we did ourselves. And while not difficult, the finish work was a little tedious (similar to what Crown Royal said, sawing off anything is a pain in the ass). We had no problems with our dogs peeing on the floors, and they looked pretty nice and maintenance was minimal. Now we have hardwood floors that we had installed this year, and the one thing to keep in mind is that they are pretty easy to scratch. I have 2 25lb dogs and even they are capable of doing some damage. I can't even imagine what an excitable 90lb lab would do. We also had to move out of the house for many days during installation which was a nuisance, and we will have to do the same if we want to have them refinished. But boy do the look pretty when they are all clean and shiny. Like the others here, if I was doing it over again, I may look into bamboo, it is a much "greener" product. We were trying to match existing wood floors, so that wasn't really an option, but it sounds like you are starting from scratch.
Bamboo is "Green" and most can be used on any level of a house, but BE WARNED. Some cheaper Bamboo (known sometimes as "Steamed" bamboo) like the off-the-shelf shit at Home Depot sucks, and is about as durable as birch (soft). REAL imported bamboo usually runs over $4 per sq. ft. and ison of the top 5 hardest wood floors in the world (Brazilian Walnut being the hardest of them all) If you're going to float bamboo, use a cork laminate underlay. It has 5 times the sound protection, a vapour barrier and is ALSO environmentally freindly (though you'll be paying upwards of $0.50-0.75 per square foot for it). Also remember: No wood or laminate floor (and I mean NONE) are waterproof. Standing water WILL damage it. Faus laminate probably has the best topical water seal in the market today (as well as beautiful looking product), and Mannington Revolutions laminate also fights off water extremely well. Most importantly: Let your wood or laminate flooring climatize INSIDE IT'S BOXES in the room you're installing it in for at least 48 hours to be safe so it can get used to the temperature of its new environment, especially in the winter whre you're driving it home in sub-zero temperatures (unless your a lucky asshole that lives down south). Without doing this, your floor could ed up looking like a fucking Dali painting, and not in a good way.
I'd actually suggest a week, if you can. Particularly if the boxes were outside before, or if you have a great deal of them. It could take longer than two days for their temperatuer to come up and the moisture content to adjust.
I think what I know may be helpful in this if not feel free to delete this I work for a janitorial supply company. Pretty much any questions pertaining to cleaning your house I should be able to answer (bathroom cleaning, finishing tile floor ect)
Hopefully someone more familiar than I with electric might be able to help out. I've got this odd clicking sound coming from what I think is the circuit breaker panel, and I don't have a clue what it is or why it's doing it, but I've never heard it before.
I just bought a house so this is going to be an awesome thread. Here is a room I'm currently working on. Before: Spoiler During: Spoiler Almost done: Spoiler Sorry for pic quality. All I have is my crackberry.
The culprit was the meter lock. The wind was blowing it around and causing it to knock against the meter box. Weird.
So, I have an older chain drive garage door opener. When ever it gets below freezing, the door will open about 6-8 inches then stop. Sometimes after the 2nd or 3rd time it will go up. Other times, I'm fucking pissed and help it up, giving it a little pull past the 6-8 inch stuck spot. I've sprayed PB Blaster on every moving part, but it still sticks. Should I; burn it down, be it's bitch when it's cold, make the wife get out and open it, or replace the chain. Ideas? Thanks
Most openers have two adjustment knobs/screws, one for setting the closed position, and one for setting the sensitivity for the auto reverse. You could try adjusting it so that it pulls right through the sticky spot, but that means that you risk it suffocating a child if they get caught underneath the door. Check the actual tracks that the wheels ride in, one or both may be bent, dinged, or out of alignment. It would be more noticeable as a sticky spot during cold weather because the metal track contracts. Just disconnect the opener with the emergency cord, and move the door until you feel it stick. Then check the track in each spot a wheel is sitting.
Your first problem is that you think PB Blaster is a lubricant, when in reality it's used to penetrate and help loosen stuck bolts/etc. Totally different application than what you need. Put some lithium grease on the tracks and moving parts, and cycle it a few times, and it will make things a LOT easier to move. Follow the knob adjustment advice after that, and you should be good to go. Mind you, you could also have a busted/warped hinge or spring plate or something that is fucking up the alignment of something and introducing a strain into the system. Cycle it by hand a few times, see if there's a specific hard spot in the process, and see if you have to adjust or reattach something to the door, or replace missing bolts, or tighten some screws, etc. In other words, try and determine WHY it's hard to cycle, and resolve that problem... don't just try shit to see if it works.
You should probably get some real chain lubricant or at least some lithium grease. If the chain is pretty worn it might be time to replace. Edit: Did not see the next page, I'm an idiot.
No, sir, I am the idiot. Why I never thought of this is beyond me. Found that the door rubs against the frame. Both are wood and the door is carving itself thru the frame as it opens. For some reason there's a hinge conecting the bottom and 2nd part of the door that pushes it over tight to the frame, making it stick. It never sticks on the way down because it "slams" shut, but will reopen when it's really cold. Thanks of all the imput. Now I won't have to call Holmes on Homes to fix all my door problems. And by all, I mean all minus front and back and shitter door.
I am looking at replacing the carpet in my home with hardwood. Since it is a log home, I want something rustic looking. I have decided that I want solid hardwood, not engineered. I like the hand scraped hickory look, but it is not cheap. Anyone know a good place to check out where I wont get robbed?
I don't know if you fixed this yet, but I'll share anyway... Whenever it got below freezing, the rubber seal on the bottom of the door would freeze to the concrete and prevent it from going up. This did not stop my wife, however, from repeatedly hitting the button until it unstuck itself and went up. In turn, the little sprocket (most are plastic) on top of the motor slowly stripped away and started slipping, then totally stopped working all together. So check that little sprocket... it might require you to drop the guide rail and pull the motor down. Good news is most of those parts can be ordered from the manufacturer, so you won't have to buy another opener.
Just moved into a 2-story townhouse, and the downstairs toilet requires you to hold the handle down until almost all the water is out in order for it to flush properly. It looks like the same hardware as the upstairs toilet, which flushes easily. Is this problem cured by replacing the hardware, or is it because it's downstairs and doesn't have the gravity like the upstairs? Thanks in advance!
Most of the time a problem like that is caused by poor/improper vent lines when they plumbed the system. Basically what happens is that the water enters the pipes, and gets stuck like when you put your finger over the end of a straw. Or, the water has a hard time pushing itself into the pipes because there's a plug of air stuck in the pipes. The second most common reason is some kind of buildup in the drain pipe. If you're confident the drain pipes are clear, check your vent pipes. They're the skinny pipes that stick up through your roof. Make sure there aren't any nests/dead animals stuck in them. If your drains and vents are both clear, the only way to fix it is to tear into the walls and figure out how the plumbing is screwed up, and try to un-screw it. Good luck... Edit: Oh, I guess one more thing you could check, make sure the valve in the downstairs toilet tank is set to fill to the same level as the upstairs toilet. Sometimes people go overboard trying to save water, and set the valves way too low.
...Or you can try the easiest fix and make sure the flapper chain/plastic rope is taught when the flapper is down (closed). Replacing the flapper (I recommend the Fluidmaster Adjustable ~$6) is your next easy fix.
If it is a log home, you will want to make ABSOLUTELY SURE it is sealed and has no moisture problems WHATSOEVER. If it has the slightest, kiss your entire floor good-bye and your warantee along with it. If you're confident, look for hand-scraped at hardwood specialty "mom & pop" stores. Big-boxed store like Home Dickhead sells shitty hand-scraped bullshit that reacts to water like cardboard. If you want this floor to last, be prepared to pay top dollar ($6-$12 per sq. ft.) no matter what. You may have to go with engineered or bamboo because of its climate durability, but if you're confident that the weather won't effect the insides (and you use the home ALL YEAR) go ahead. I would reccommend putting a poly vapour barrier on the subfloor just for shits and giggles, and craft (wax)paper to reduce the squeaking (and for easier installation) because hand-scraped boards tend to squeak more thena the mill-cut ones.