Wood Floor Installation

go with wood. while it will be impossible to match perfectly with your existing wood floor, it's better than the laminate. wood adds warmth and as it wears it develops patina whereas the fake stuff just starts to look even cheaper.

 

How big are the tiles and how deep are the grout lines? You could spread on some self leveling concrete to smooth it out if the grout lines are too deep. Or just put some more grout on with a trowel.

The thinner the board, the more defects, seams, whatever in the floor underneath is going to come through.

Also, take it from me- if it's a high traffic area, you might want to get a nice high-grade laminate for durability. I put in hardwood and my dogs and kid forced me to put in rugs and runners everywhere to protect it. So now I have a sweet rug and runner floor.

 

I think the OP is talking about an engineered floor and not a laminate. Laminate has a top layer that is a plastic with basically a picture that looks like wood. Engineered is similar except the top layer is a real wood veneer.


I doubt they would ever grind down tile, that would be worse than just knocking it out.
The only problem you might have with thickness is matching the height to the other flooring you have like at a threshold. If they are meeting up with other wood, I would try to make the heights as close as possible. If that means taking out the tile, just get it done. It won't cost that much.

 

I have engineered floors. Again, not super happy with the durability although it was supposed to be 'hard' wood (timborana). I've done 8 floors between my own houses and helping others. Not an expert, but definitely an experienced DIYer in this department.

Personally, I love putting in hardwood (or laminate). Easily the quickest impact ascetically on a room.

If your flooring calls for padding, the cheapest I've found is at Ikea. Don't overlap it.

You'll also need a vapor barrier of some kind.

 

Don't do it. If you are gonna spend any money on that, just have it taken out. Your tile is as hard as granite and they would have to use some type of massive floor polisher with diamond cutters like they use for cement. A freaking hammer and chisel gets up tile pretty easily. I don't see what the advantage would be. You still have the tile there. What happens when your new floor starts to look bad? You cannot refinish and you will be right back where you started with limited options. No way would I let them do that in my house.

 

Call this guy. Found him on Angies list. Super professional and he really researched lots of products to meet my needs. He was the second highest rank guy on Angies List. Called the first place one and after leaving 2 messages 2 day apart and him never calling me back I went on to Kurt. Kurt spent 20 minutes on the phone with me when every other flooring guy said they needed to see it all. Kurt prefaced he needed to see it but would listen to my needs and answer my questions

Kurt Cradic
Southwest Flooring Direct
281-704-5994

Tell him Shervin recommended him. I may be his only Indian client so feel free to say Shervin, he is Indian. 

My problem was I had poured terrazzo floors (4 inches thick) in the living room only and wood in the rest of the house. Dropping matching solid wood on top to match the rest would create large step up. Kurt found a engineered hardwood that matched the old wood very closely and the step up was very minimal. I think this may be similar to what you are doing. He poured a couple bags of float to level out the floor and was done in a day. His guys are very nice and professional also.

 

Why nto get one of those shovels you see on tv and scrape off the tiel. I bet you can pay a guy a few bucks and he will do it for you.

 

Good move, but don't let them grind down your tile IMO. I don't see the advantage at all. If they say they can't get your existing stuff up, call someone else. Grinding will be a huge mess.

 

I would have kept the terrazzo, was it a terrible color or what?

 

Ask for prices with both options. I have put down 10-15 floors over the last dozen years. You are right, the thickness of the wood floor may be an issue, so you may have to go with bamboo or engineered wood. However, if the prices are close I strongly suggest going with a real old fashioned wood floor, better value and will last longer.

 

Can I tell my idiot story here?

I was shopping to change out some carpet for wood and was in Home Depot looking at red oak. This guy taps me on the shoulder and says I will lay and finish that for $2 a sq. ft. I liked his initiative so we arranged to do it.

Three months later the floors in both rooms began cupping, then the small bedroom bowed up like a Galveston shore break. The dude did not use a vapor barrier or vapor barrier epoxy. $4K I paid for the floors wasted.

I jacked up the floors in one room with a wrecking bar and hammer and had engineered flooring installed for another $1300. Luckily Lowe's is running a 18month no-interest offer on flooring.

I still have one sh**y bedroom.

 

That sucks. No chance of small claims court?

 

The quality level of skilled labor has dropped like a rock. I was watching a documentary on the Brooklyn Bridge where the highest paid laborers were the masons at .30 cents per hr (less than 7 bucks adj for inflation). I just picked up some pants I paid to have hemmed and I think a blind man could have done a better job.

 

I feel your pain.

My dogs are wrecking my engineered wood floors. I have rugs but have basically just given up at this point. When they absolutely destroy it (won't be too long)) I will have to pay an arm and a leg to have it removed (it is glued to the slab) and go with tile (which I wanted to do from the beginning but didn't listen to my gut).