More Floors

I hope I didn't have you believing that I was having even more work done on my floors! ::wink wink:: Nope, these floors belong to my parents, and it's about time they get updated!

Let me give you the skinny on the 'rents. They are, quite possibly, the hardest working people I know. Mom grew up the eldest of seven kids on a farm just outside of town. She was always hustling us three kids off to various activities and classes, attended university classes in the evening, all while working a full time job! She painstakingly hand stitched thousands of sequins on countless numbers of my dance costumes, noting that only lazy moms put them through the sewing machine! She taught me to read, to sew, and how to french braid. All valuable skills, right? 

In the past few years, mom has experienced a decline in her health but, always stubborn and self-sufficient, hates to accept help and would much prefer to do things on her own. Gotta respect that!

Daddio is a real character! There is no doubt that I inherited my pigheadedness and goofy sense of humour from him. He's one of those men that appear rough and tough on the outside, but is really just a big softy. My dad believes that women can and should do anything a man can, especially his daughters! From the time I was a wee one he taught me how to do everything from change a tire to build a shed. And thank goodness he did because I married a man who doesn't know how to do any of those things! He helped me buy my first car, and still comes with me when I negotiate on a vehicle...if only now to lend moral support, because he taught me well in the art of the deal! Dad is still working hard at a job he loves and takes alot of pride in, I honestly can't imagine the day he'd seriously consider retirement.

My parent's home was built in 1995. Right at the time when brass, white kitchens, and berber were all the rage. Well, now it's 2011 and the house is looking a bit dated. First thing to go? The black vinyl and blonde laminate flooring in the main floor! The floor long ago lost it's lustre and I never real did care for the laminate.

The main floor is open concept so the idea is to lay one floor throughout. Given that my parents have debated selling the house so weren't keen on spening money that they wouldn't get a healthy return on, we elected to go with another laminate, only a much higher end one than is there right now! Enter Vienna Laminate from Beaulieu Canada in Acacia.

I love that this laminate comes in a variety of widths. The 'rents chose to go with 5 1/2" wide planks, and the colour they chose is my absolute fave! I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the finished product, it looks amazing! Wowie wow, I cannot say enough about how far laminate products have come! Take a look for yourself...

The powder room still needs a new toilet, and the furniture needs to be put back, but it looks so awesome!

Mom and dad want to make some other improvements to the house, starting with paint. I can't wait to show you their projects!

Bath and Laundry Floors

I am starting to think that this flooring saga will never be done. Ever. Ever. Good news, though, is that the laundry room and all the bathrooms now have shiny new DuraCeramic laid!

Gone is the pesky Artica that failed to live up to it's high price tag! I am really loving the change of flooring (I wasn't sure that I'd like it at all). It's a big change since, in the upstairs baths, it replaced WHITE flooring. And I have a major case of the saddies that my sparkly flooring is no more - it was so much fun to look at! I think it's a good choice for resale, though. Appealing to the masses, yeh, that's the stuff!

Due to the pesky liability rules of the flooring company, I was responsible for replacing the toilets. No biggie, it only takes a few minutes. Buuuuut, dude put the downstairs toilet (which *still* had water in it) in the garage while he worked. So, yeh, the water froze, the toilet cracked, and now I need to go shop for a replacement. Geez, duh! Who does something that dumb?! Man alive...

Here are some before and afters of the rooms:

Now that I have the opportunity to pick a new toilet, I am looking for suggestions. Right now we have the Gerber Viper (is that not a hilarious name for a toilet?!) in all of the bathrooms because the contractor gave me a great price on them, but we don't love them. Any suggestions for a must-have toilet? 

108 Felt Feet

Hello chickens! At long last, my floors are done. The flooring nightmare is near an end (only the bathrooms are left).  All of the hardwoods are done. DONE, I say! I love 'em. Mr. Mel is getting there. I definitely think that having one type of flooring throughout the main floor makes the space look more spacious and less chopped up.

It took all evening, and 108 felt feeties for the furniture, but all is back where it belongs.

Photos of the old flooring can be seen here.

oooooops, Jonesy busted sitting up where he doesn't belong!

On the recommendation of the flooring company, I bought this Bona hardwood flooor cleaner. It comes in a kit with a micro fibre mop...works like a charm! It usually runs around $50, but you can save the spray bottle and buy refills of the cleaner in 1 gallon jugs and save a bundle.

So do tell, how do you like my new floors?

Hardwood Sneak Peek

As usual, we plan and God laughs. Four days. It was supposed to be four days to finished hardwoods.

Day one: Huge progress...the dining room and half of the living room are done. I was so pumped.

Day two: Flooring guy tripped and broke his ankle...work came to a screeching halt. Now, I am as compassionate as the next person and, as unfortunate as it is that this fellow injured himself, it's even more unfortunate that they only got in a solid hour of work before it happened. Day two is a loss.

Day three: Lots of fiddly and pesky cuts to make, which obviously slowed them down but their work is amazing and they get the rest of the living room and are a few rows into the eating area.

Day four: They worked like gangbusters today and got the eating area, pantry, broom closet and back entry done.

Buuuuuut, they didn't finish. They still have to do the kitchen and all the finishing touches.They'll be back on Monday.

So, for now, this is all I can show you of my floors....but I assure you, they are lookin' good!



They're Heeeee-eeeeere!

See that blurry truck outside my window?

That is no ordinary truck. That's the chariot on which my new hardwood flooring arrived today.

Installers come Monday and the job will take about four days. I am so excited!



Flooring Update

Sooooo, after many, many visits from flooring company representatives, tests, photos, and phone calls; Amtico, the manufacturer of my Artica flooring, has DENIED my flooring claim for the main floor of the house and refuses to warranty their product! This is especially unfortunate because their 25 year warranty was one of the major deciding factors when we selected the flooring.

The reasons for their denial are mute. A company should stand by their product…period. If there are no concerns of workmanship or installation then it’s time for the big, bad corporation to suck it up and repair or replace their defective product!

I am the kind of person who gives people (and companies) the benefit of the doubt and I always, co-operate to ensure that they have every opportunity to make things right. In this case, the company saw no value in making sure that they had a happy customer.

The bottom line is that Artica flooring fails at nearly every turn. Based on my experience with the product, I would absolutely NOT recommend it. They tout that their product is nearly indestructible, yet even the smallest fleck of material on the floor can and has caused deep scratches that cannot be repaired. The only option is replace the plank or tile. They claim that there is no telegraphing (when lines or nail pops are visible through the flooring material), yet telegraphing is the main issue with our flooring, despite our sub floor being glued and screwed down!

I made a good faith effort to use environmentally responsible flooring throughout the house but at this point, there do not seem to be the kinds of products that can realistically compete with traditional flooring materials. They are slowly coming along, but they are not there yet.

Thankfully, I have been working with a flooring company, United Carpet, that has been a strong advocate on my behalf the entire process and has, despite not being financially compensated by Amtico to do so, agreed to replace the flooring at their cost. They have stepped up to make things right! THAT is what a company *should* do!

We have decided to go with hardwood throughout the main floor, including the kitchen. Here are the options I narrowed it down to (all are engineered Vintage Hardwood Flooring from their Pioneered line):

Ash Carriage House

Red Oak Chariot 

Hickory Old Mission

Red Oak Mocha

I ended up picking the Hickory Old Mission. It was very close in colour to our current flooring (which we really like), and a nice change from the natural oak tones in the cabinets and trim.

They are also going to replace all of the bathrooms and laundry room flooring. I chose to go with DuraCeramic in Black Earth (from their Rustic Stone line) by Congoleum. The only down side is that I have to say "bye bye" to my sparkly floor. It was fun while it lasted (picture a sad face here). Here's what I chose:

The owner is trying everything in his power to ensure that the floor is done for Christmas. He’s not making any promises, but I have my fingers crossed!

Flooring Update

I had hoped that by now I would be posting photos of our fresh, new replacement carpet. Looks like the universe is trying to make a point because, only a few days into the installation of the carpet, I received a phone call from the owner of the flooring company telling me that they were going to stop work...because the replacement carpet appeared to have the same defect as the first batch of carpet! Honestly?! Seriously?!

So, while we wait for tests to be done on the new carpet, our house remains in a state of complete chaos and disarray. Add to that the reality that, once the upstairs is done, they will have to also rip out the Artica on the main floor, and I am nearing the end of my rope!

I have a meeting with the flooring company on Wednesday morning to figure out what the next step is...wish me luck!

Floor Begone

I am sure I have never addressed this before now...which is odd because it's been a thorn in my side for the last year. This post is sure to border on a rant, so please bear with me.

Our home is 2300 sq ft. 2300 sq ft of finished living space. 2300 sq ft of flooring…every square inch of which must be ripped out and replaced! Night. Mare.

We made our flooring selections early on in the construction process but, when our builder came to us with a new product,we instantly fell in love. Our flooring budget was promptly *doubled* and we decided to go with Arteca for all of the hard flooring in the house; a vinyl product that met all of our desires for environmental responsibility, durability, and looks. While we were at it, we upgraded the carpet to a soft backed wool/poly blend.

**Boring Technicalities Ahead** Just so you understand how Arteca works, I need to explain its installation. Arteca comes in planks or tiles (depending on the flooring finish you select). Our wood-look floors came in 6” x 48” planks, while our kitchen and bath flooring came in 12” x 12” tiles. Over the OSB subfloor, installers lay a 48” x 48” ¾” thick plywood subfloor that is stapled every 2” around each edge. The seams are then patched with a flexible concrete patch and sanded to a smooth finish. The Arteca is glued down on top. The stuff, I was told, was nearly indestructible.

About a month after we moved in we started to notice marks on the floor. At first we thought they were just shadows, but we quickly realized that what we seeing were the lines of the subfloor. Then we started to notice what looked like nail pops. Within a few months, we could literally trace the lines of the subfloor as they started to leave imprints on the underside of the flooring.

I wish I could take photos that actually showed the damage to the Arteca...but, darn it, it's super hard to photograph!

Right about this same time, I was upstairs and tripped while walking into my bonus room. “Man, am I a klutz”, I thought. Until I tripped again the next day, in the exact same spot. Down on all fours I went, and realized that the carpet had a small bubble in it that had risen just enough for me to trip on it. Within a few weeks, the carpet had stretched so much that it was bubbling up at all the edges of furniture and walls! Seriously, my upstairs flooring looked like it was friggin’ mountain ranges and became a total hazard! I guarantee that you have never seen anything like it.

Here it is snaking its way around a closet organizer

The door between the closet and master bedroom

Even on the stairs! That's safe...not!

 

The master bedroom closet. It's even bubbling up around the floor register.

The bonus room. It's hard to see in this photo but there are actually three large ridges that run through this space, in addition to the bubbling around the edges of the room.

We called the flooring company who sent a couple of long time installers to check it out. They were so concerned when they saw what was happening that they called the owners and waited for them to arrive to look for themselves. To the credit of the flooring company, they took immediate action. Attempting twice to re-stretch the carpet only to have it stretch again, took samples of the Arteca and the carpet to be sent away for testing, and did extensive testing of all of the flooring trusses and even took air samples!

Well, 5 long months later, I am told that results of the carpet testing was that there was a defect in the soft backing that allowed it to stretch so dramatically. The manufacturer has agreed to pay for new carpet, and all labour to remove and replace it. They start this week, and it should take 4 days. Which means that Mr. Mel and I spent the entire weekend moving furniture and removing closet organizers. Yuck! I know I could have had the flooring company do this but, in the spirit of co-operation,. I volunteered to take care of it for them. Big mistake. T.V.s in the laundry room...clothes in the dining room...*everything* else in the living room and kitchen...someone please put me outta my misery!

 

 

Now comes a decision regarding the main floor and bathrooms. The flooring company no longer sells Arteca (for a variety of reasons that I won’t bore you with here). If we want them to, they have agreed to replace the flooring with more Arteca and a new subfloor. But, being that I believe the issues with the flooring were a result of mistakes during installation of the original subfloor, I am not keen on this idea. Plus, it would mean ripping up all of the flooring and subfloor and replacing it…a two week job! In the end, this product wasn’t what it was touted to be so I am happy to see it go.

Another option is to remove all of the flooring and start new, with hardwood (we are leaning towards bamboo). The main problem with this is that, even with removal of the existing floor, it would raise the floor about ¼” which will mean that all of the casings and doors will have to be removed and cut down, and the baseboards will have to be reinstalled higher on the wall.

The third, and most attractive option, is to lay new flooring directly over the Arteca. We’re leaning towards Armstrong Luxe. It’s a vinyl product, guaranteed not to show indentations from the underside (praise jeebus), is fully recyclable, has limited off-gassing, doesn’t use any glue, and is only 1/8” thick. It doesn’t have the same temperature regulating properties as the Arteca but that’s ok because the Arteca would still be underneath and would help to insulate the floor from temperature variations (something I will give kudos to Arteca for doing quite well). This is the finish we’re leaning towards:

This whole thing has been an absolute disaster. I cannot wait til it's all over!