Does anyone have engineered wood flooring; how does it hold up? The new townhome we are buying has this and it is the kind that can not be refinished; it is my understanding that some engineered flooring can be refinished only once.
We have a dog, so I worried that it will look bad after a few years and the only option I will have it to replace it. Hopefully this is not the case.
Calibamboo is supposed to be dog nail proof.
We just decided, well I actually finally convinced my H, to replace the upstairs carpeting with laminate flooring. We are about to go the the store to look at flooring samples. My husband is extremely handy and plans on DIY. Saving money will be great due to not having to hire a company. However, it will take way longer than I have the patience for.
If anyone has any thoughts or experiences with which types are best throw them my way. I have no clue.
I would also love to redo our kitchen but that will have to wait another 5 years or so. Sigh.
I just did a gut renovation on a small pieds-Ć -terre we bought close to our kids and grandkids on the opposite coast. I bought almost all the materials online and purchased caesarstone counter top Symphony Grey through Ikea.They were the most reasonable after a 15% sale on kitchen products. My contractor did all the cabinets in white and I used 3D tiles for backsplash.https://www.atlasconcorde.com/en-us/collections/ac/3d-wall-design/wall/wave-white-glossy-80/shinyrettificato/
Can someone please suggest a window treatment (roller shades) that will filter light during the day but will also double as blackout shades during the night? I will have to hang them on the wall on top of the windows.
What about something like this? I saw them at HD yesterday.
Butā¦I just saw your comment about hanging on top of the window so maybe not.
To those who buy a dozen pints of sample colors, BM has paint sheets that are 8" x 8" or 5" x 9" for free. I have been able to narrow down my color choices to 2 or 3 before buying sample pints.
I love the sleek look of my Hansgrohe faucets. When they were installed the plumber said that parts are difficult to find but I havenāt found that to be true.
Thanks! I love the no thrills look of them, too. The faucets were under $200 at Costco. If something breaks, I will have Mr. replace them.
I have a Grohe kitchen faucet and when the sprayer stopped working, I just called Grohe and they sent a whole new nozzle part (sprayer isnāt separate.) Their faucets have a lifetime guarantee.
Regarding laminate floorsā¦there is a big difference between flimsy cheap laminate (think 99 cents Lumber Liquidator) and newer styles. I would recommend 12mm thick laminate. It wears a lot longer and is really solid feeling when you walk on it. Itās easy to lay down.
@MaterS ā our local shop did not carry those free BM sheets so I drove up to the distant one that did, but they stopped also. Perhaps the paint store realized they were missing out on the sale of all the sample pints, and sets of boards & mini-rollers they sold along with them.
Re: Grohe. I have had no trouble with the Grohe Bridgeford single handle pull down faucet, but the Grohe soap dispenser is a terrible design. First one failed within months. Grohe shipped out a free replacement, which also failed within months, even after watering down the dishwashing liquid. Prior less expensive soap dispenser worked perfectly for 20 years. I should have kept it when replacing countertop, sink and faucet.
Moen shower heads have a lifetime warranty also. Not knowing this, I trudged to Home Depot, looking to replace the head of the 20 year old shower. Couldnāt find anything so called Moen. They shipped one out for free. I would never have imagined they provided such a warranty, and the new one is much more attractive than the old one.
I hate soap dispenser so didnāt put one in and I didnāt want another hole in my granite for something I donāt like the looks of. I use a very decorative one, that originally had hand soap in it, that I bought at Marshallās for about $5.
Can you really tell with the paint sheets how they are going to really look once the paint is on the wall? Plus, I like to do samples on different parts of the walls to see how they look in different lighting situations.
I save the samples of paint I decide on for touching up. Easier than schlepping out big paint can from basement.
So as not to confuse anyone reading this thread thought Iād mention Hansgrohe and Grohe are two different companies. I wouid assume Hansgrohe also have lifetime warrenties.
@emilybee --I love the look of the soap dispenser; the new one is much more interesting looking than the one it replaced. I just wish it functioned! Since the old faucet set had three holes, I am down to only one with the new single handle pull down faucet. Still not convinced it will hold up 20 years as the simple lever handles did, but time will tell.
Good point about Hansgrohe vs Grohe.
I painted some samples on full-sized poster board, the types the children used for school projects, and then moved them around the room to see how the color looked in different light.
What kind of companies should I contact about doing the following types of work? 1) Fixing a bathroom ceiling with major damage from water leakage (from the roof, before the roof was redone a few years ago). 2) Replacing the driveway and the garage floor; the latter is cracking. (Sorry, Iām probably using the wrong terms here; Iām close to clueless on home construction and repair issues.)
@rosered55
ask your neighbors for some recommended painters. Most painters can repair drywall and then repaint the bathroom.
Replacing driveway and garage concrete floor is very expensive. The cracks can probably be repaired instead of removing all the concrete and repouring new concrete. Look for āconcrete repairā companies on Craigslist or google on Internet to find these types of companies.
We have hired just this last few weeks:
company for a major drainage issue and landscaping.
A man and son who pressure washed and stained our fence.
A guy who will put in new stairs coming up our lot.
A company to fix a small drainage issue under the house.
And calling tomorrow a guy to reupholster our dining chairsā
ALL from NextDoor. I check the reports and then BBB and then yelp.
So far So GOOD! And after I am pleased I report on NextDoor and have positive thank youās.
Some may remember my confusion about what cream to paint the foyer (a creamy cream thatās not too pink, blue, green, grey, peach or yellow- huh?.) Iām closer, down to 3 or 4 choices. Problem is, the light is so different on each wall. So a color thatās perfect on one side of the entry is yellower on the other and much darker on the landing, when the afternoon sun hits it. Conversely, what works there is too pale by the entry. And yes, you see up the stairs from the front door. Yup, I have an obsessive streak about this. But if I can get it right, Iāll be happy for a long time.
So, Iāve got large swatches painted all over. (Lol, dang that Laurel Bern.) The former color (until I primed, last week,) was a beautiful, elegant brown (sorta cappuccino, maybe) but too much dark for that space. For the record, Iām down to BM Steam (itās pretty light) or C2 Coconut (sigh, a yellow tinge on the west walls.) Iām headed to the tax guy on Weds and may have to stop in at BM, on the way back, see if thereās a color between the two.
We are getting the house painted this summer, but plain old whatever white. Then I may let the house painters redo the first floor ceilings. All this still leaves the kitchen.
The question about the garage floor, rosered, is how bad are the cracks? Some sort of crack repair and then maybe painting the floor may be an option. The This Old House sites probably have ideas.
And if your bathroom ceiling is high enough- and the water issue is definitely resolved- they can lay new ceiling board, skim coat it, and prime and paint. Not that expensive. We had calcimine ceilings and had to just replace them this way.
lookingfoward, My crazy story is that as we were building our house I woke up on a Tuesday morning and realized that
all of the colors were to be picked by Friday. I had ideas but as this was a custom home there was a lot going on.
I called Gretchen Devine who had a line at a local store. A mom of 7 who had colors developed just for the PNW.
She has since sold her company as well as has developed colors for other parts of the country.
She had an ER number and I called. She came out that day and walked through my framed in house and told
me what colors to pick. I still, 14 years later have nearly all of the house as she said. Her main mistake was
saying that the kids should pick their bedroom colors (those have been repainted).
I paid $125 but what I learned is, although I am really super good at colors, I will absolutely consult
with someone in the future.
After all, we mostly live with whatever we decide forever and ever and everā¦