I got real quiet here because I appear to have fucked up. I can't get the stupid cheap fragile delicate laminate back in. I pulled up about 7 pieces (broke some of them) to get to the two really chipped pieces. Now I can't get the damn stuff to line back up. It's horrible. I feel like an epic DIY failure.
However! The most boring blogs are the ones where projects magically happen without mishap, where horses never buck or bolt, where children are always well-behaved and get straight A's. And there's always something to be learned from mistakes, either your own or some internet stranger's.
Now that I've confessed my problems I might get it together to write up what I suspect has gone wrong. And real soon now I'll figure out a solution better than "put a throw rug over the subfloor in front of the bedroom door." I'll fill you in on that, too. In the meantime, another maxim to live by: Do not meddle with laminate flooring. It looks fine just like it is.
Sorry about the laminate. Sounds like it's really cheap stuff--I'd like to think the Pergo quality is better. But I have thought about engineered hardwood. Just seems like the dog would scratch it up.
ReplyDeleteConfession is good for the soul. =) How boring it would be if things were perfect (tho a little boring once in a while would be okay by me).
Of course it's really cheap stuff. Deep sigh.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, the engineered hardwood can be refinished a couple of times. Laminate can't. My laminate is all scratched up - our "dirt" is actually sand, and between me and the dog we track in tons of it every day. I'd really like "distressed" flooring so I can pretend it's supposed to look that way ;)
I think the thing I dislike about laminate is that it's floating. Engineered and plank hardwood can be nailed to the subfloor, but laminate almost always floats. It feels kind of springy or not sturdy or something. It bugs me - but that's a personal thing.
The "float" is what I like! Working with old folks, as Al does, and both becoming old folks, as we are, I appreciate a bit of cushion and give. I've actually thought about cork flooring for the same reason. And I would like the option of someday pulling it up to add hydronic heat (if we stay here).
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I would advise against (that is all the rage) is tile--a good friend HATES her tile: anything that hits that floor breaks!
Oh, cool - glad to hear some people like the way a floating floor feels! More power to you, then. You can float engineered hardwood, too - just FYI from my research.
ReplyDeleteOh man, one of the houses we looked at had tile countertops. G was like "ooooh it had such a cute kitchen let's bid on it" and I was like "nooooo I'll break every plate we own in a month!" A matching tile backsplash looks really sharp, but I'll stick with that nice solid-color Corian stuff for the counters, thanks.
We're thinking about tiling the den one day. The carpet in front of the stove is uber scorched from tiny sparks exploding out of the stove when we load it. Could tile the whole room and put down a big rug under the couch and coffee table. Cool in the summer! And add more throw rugs in the winter.
I put in a pretty nice tile floor and bathtub surround in our old house, before we sold it. It did look very nice, but we grew to despise the cleaning of the grout.
ReplyDeleteNow we have a fairly cheap one-piece fiberglass tub/shower, and love it. No joints, no mortar. But then, aesthetics are very low on our list.
It sure can be tricky to salvage pre-existing stuff. I don't suppose paint is a temporary option? It probably wouldn't stick well to laminate no matter what you did...
Ron
Well, as you know I post my mistakes and doing so seems to make my numbers climb so I wouldn't worry about posting goof-ups at all. You're probably right that the perfect be all to everyone stuff is boring not that I could ever accomplish that anyway.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about laminate flooring so I'll be interested to see your solution.