Flooring Question - Hardwoord, Bamboo, Laminate, Carpet???

Ruth · #1 05-08-2007, 04:18 PM

I went with Mirage hardwood in my house - I did everwhere except the bathroom, kitchen and hallways - so I did the bedrooms and living room. I love it! I live in a log home so I decided to go with a lighter wood and went with the White Ash.
Here is a linkhttp://www.miragefloors.com/

andsoitgoes · #2 05-08-2007, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruth

I went with Mirage hardwood in my house - I did everwhere except the bathroom, kitchen and hallways - so I did the bedrooms and living room. I love it! I live in a log home so I decided to go with a lighter wood and went with the White Ash.
Here is a linkhttp://www.miragefloors.com/

ruth - how much did that end up costing you? Per sq foot, if you don't mind me asking of course!

Also - what sort of maintenance do you need to do on the wood?

It looks great, and I'm really excited about it now!!

Ruth · #3 05-08-2007, 05:29 PM

I can't remember the exact cost per sq. ft. but I think it was somewhere around $9-$10 installed but that included everything from ripping out the carpet to putting down a sub floor and install. I also live out of town so had to pay travel time.
I am sure it would be cheaper down there with a lot more dealers and installers etc.
I don't do anything special. I just sweep and use a hardwood spray cleaner a couple of times a week.
I really like the Mirage line of flooring and I shopped around quite a bit before I decided. It was more $ but the quality was definately there.

woodcarver · #4 05-08-2007, 05:57 PM

Hey Nick, It may not be your bag but have you given any thought to tiling in the main traffic areas ? You could even do under floor heating.
It is not too difficult to lay tiles correctly and price per sq ft is very competitive. Completely resistant to scratches and water!!

Just a thought.......

.......................................Dave

Ruth · #5 05-08-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodcarver

Hey Nick, It may not be your bag but have you given any thought to tiling in the main traffic areas ? You could even do under floor heating.
It is not too difficult to lay tiles correctly and price per sq ft is very competitive. Completely resistant to scratches and water!!

Just a thought.......

.......................................Dave

That is what I did - hardwood in living room and bed rooms and tile everywhere else including hallways.

andsoitgoes · #6 05-08-2007, 06:26 PM

I'm thinking of tile in the entry way and bathrooms - do you think Tile would be appropriate for the hallways to the bedrooms then?

As for heating under, isn't that getting into a whole other ball of worms?

My oh my, oy!!

***actually, I think our concern with tile was due to it being SO hard, and our poor lil girls being so clumsy. Having hardwood/laminate is bad enough, but tile just seems SO painful!

fkshiu · #7 05-08-2007, 08:21 PM

After my recent reno I discovered that you've got a lot of options now flooring-wise.

The cheapest would be the cheapo laminate that you can get a under a buck/sq. foot. There's actually some very good higher quality laminate that you can install yourself and can hardly tell the difference from real wood. Expect to pay $2-$4/sq. foot for this stuff.

Engineered hardwood is next up the chain of expense. This is nice since you can put it in places such as basements and kitchens where the solid wood flooring would warp.

Of course real hardwood is the most expensive. I'm not sure it's worth it except in your living room perhaps given how good laminate and engineered hardwood floors have become.

Tile is wonderful and will last forever. Even the cheapest ceramic tile will look great if carefully chosen and it's the best type of flooring for your reef tank.

Adding electric underfloor heating beneath laminate, engineered hardwood or tile is as simple as unrolling the heating mat and getting an electrician to hook it up. I added a Nuheat mat to the basement bathroom. This investment paid off the first time I stepped out of the shower and onto a warmth rather than ice-cold ceramic.

Justusfish · #8 05-09-2007, 12:10 AM

I would HIGHLY advise against laminate. It is okay unless water seeps through the cracks and the backing for that stuff will instantly dissolve, warp, crack, or otherwise become ruined. You might want to check out a company on terminal that sells great prices stuff called end of the roll. There are a few places right beside it as well that offer very very competitive prices. I love bamboo and I think they have a pretty good price on that and it's a workhorse of flooring

hawk · #9 05-09-2007, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruth

I went with Mirage hardwood in my house - I did everwhere except the bathroom, kitchen and hallways - so I did the bedrooms and living room. I love it! I live in a log home so I decided to go with a lighter wood and went with the White Ash.
Here is a linkhttp://www.miragefloors.com/

I used Mirage too and really like it. I installed it myself about 7 years ago, around $4 sq/ft at that time. To have it installed was easily double that. I had my 77g on it for 4 years with no damage to the floor with the inevitable small floods. Easy to care for, maybe I'm biased but I have yet to see any laminate that looks as good.