FLOORING - Anyone do-it-yourself?

[browniemiss]

We have needed to replace our carpet thoughout our home (living room, dining room, hallway) for some time now. I get irritated every day I look at it. New carpet is definitely not an option. We are considering hardwood or ceramic tile . I am leaning toward ceramic; hubby wants hardwood.

I wanted to know if any of you have installed either hardwood or ceramic tile yourself? If so, do you have any links with good instructions. I know it's going to be a pretty penny if we hire a professional. That's what's kept me from even getting quotes just yet. At the same time, I dont want to cut costs by doing it myself and regret it in the end. Either way, this carpet has got to go!!

Any advice, suggestions, tips, etc. would be appreciated.

[red98vett]

Hi !! I just pm'd you. It CAN be installed by you - but it's messy and sometimes cutting is involved - It depends on how handy you are. I LOVE tile and have it thru out my house except for the living room, & bdrms

I had hardwood - it will fade eventually and can stain ...but the Laminate flooring is VERY durable and has come a long way from the old woods.

Tile is very easy to clean but can be cold and it IS a hard surface....slippery too. I have Area Rugs on mine. But both are good with pets.

[Tophersmom]

I'll try to find some of the websites I used to refer to. Hubby and I are avid DIY'ers and have installed ceramic and laminate. If you're handy, it's not that difficult. The main key is preparation, preparation, preparation! If you're doing tile, it's crucial to have a good solid sub-floor or otherwise your grout will crack eventually. So depending on your floor...how level it is, etc., you might be better off with something like a laminate. Let me have a look to see if I can find some of my sites for you.

[TatumsMom]

I never thought I was much of a "do-it-yourselfer" but when we built our new house last year, we had to find a way to lower costs so that we could have all the things we really wanted. Long story short.... we did ALL of the painting - inside (including all painted cabinets) and out (hardi-plank on the entire outside), built the fireplace hearth (tile), all the landscaping including sprinkler system, tiled the bathrooms and utility room and best of all, laid the entire rest of the house with laminate. I love ours - it's big planks (alternating 6" and 4" widths) with a groove between them to make it look like the old-style wood plank flooring. I won't lie to you and say it was a breeze but we had someone much more experienced show us exactly how and get us started. First of all, the tiling wasn't all that hard but we borrowed all the equipment (wet saw being the most important). The laminate was tedious but we had fun doing it. Again, it would really help if you had someone more experienced to walk you through it. Most of all, if your husband (or you) are not all all handy, you may be in for a surprise but my husband is pretty handy all around. I believe anyone can learn though. It's definitely an experience!

The only pictures I have here at work are of the kitchen and breakfast room because we had a discussion here once about laminate in the kitchen but you can see what type of laminate we have (it's Armstrong brand).....

[hle_625]

Me and my husband installed laminate hardwood floors in our living room right after Christmas. It was very easy and it is something that you and your husband could do yourself. We did tile in our bathroom and entry way of our house and it was a huge pain in the rear for us! So I have done both and there are my opinions on them! I really like my hardwoods but my dogs had a very hard time walking on it at first! They have gotten used to it and can walk on it fine!

[Smudgers_mum]

My boyfriend has done the floors thorught out our whole house and he is terrible at DIY. He did mine in my bedroom when I was still liing at home, but it's easier to do now. It also depends on the quality of the laminate you buy. The downstairs of our house looks great, he did a top job.

Just don't tell him I said so

[deb4air]

Originally Posted by browniemiss

We have needed to replace our carpet thoughout our home (living room, dining room, hallway) for some time now. I get irritated every day I look at it. New carpet is definitely not an option. We are considering hardwood or ceramic tile . I am leaning toward ceramic; hubby wants hardwood.

I wanted to know if any of you have installed either hardwood or ceramic tile yourself? If so, do you have any links with good instructions. I know it's going to be a pretty penny if we hire a professional. That's what's kept me from even getting quotes just yet. At the same time, I dont want to cut costs by doing it myself and regret it in the end. Either way, this carpet has got to go!!

Any advice, suggestions, tips, etc. would be appreciated.

Hey my boyfriend and I use to install both ceramic and wood floors you can do this ,ceramic tiles are harder to do because its so physical , your wrists will kill ya and your knees ,with either one you need the right tools ..you can rent them if you dont have them ,where in jersey are you? we live in rockland .just a little ways from jersey.I ask because i was thinking maybe we could help you out ..let me know ok ..and Good luck if you do it yourself which you can do >smiles<

[browniemiss]

I stopped by Lowe's today. I was woohed by the selection of flooring (i.e. ceramic tiles and hardwood). I saw a few styles in ceramic that I liked. I was so gung ho that I ran over to the instructional books just to see how to do-it-yourself. Is it just me or does anyone else feel overwhelmed or get a headache when reading those instructional manuals!!

I really, really want to try to do this ourselves. Hubby isnt so confident. I know the costs of hiring a pro is going to be outrageous. .I was thinking that maybe I could start with a small area like the kitchen and go from there.

I am going to start by getting quotes from a few small companies and go from there. If the prices are more than what we can afford, me may just try it on our own!

Thanks for the information!!

Originally Posted by deb4air

Hey my boyfriend and I use to install both ceramic and wood floors you can do this ,ceramic tiles are harder to do because its so physical , your wrists will kill ya and your knees ,with either one you need the right tools ..you can rent them if you dont have them ,where in jersey are you? we live in rockland .just a little ways from jersey.I ask because i was thinking maybe we could help you out ..let me know ok ..and Good luck if you do it yourself which you can do >smiles<

Thanks for the encouragement!! I need it!

I am in South Jersey. I know that Lowes/Home Depot will allow you to rent tools as well.

Tatum's Mom Wow! Lovely, lovely kitchen!!

[TatumsMom]

Originally Posted by browniemiss

Tatum's Mom Wow! Lovely, lovely kitchen!!

Thank you! We're quite proud of the whole house. It really has even more special meaning since we put so much sweat equity into it. You can do this! It really does seem daunting at first but it's not rocket science! It's just a whole lot easier when someone can actually show you how to get started but even if you don't have someone like that, I know you can figure it out. Good luck!

[Claire]

We have ceramic tile throughout the entire house (except for the bedrooms). It looks great and is easy to clean but it has not been baby friendly. The tile does cool the house a bit during the long hot summers here but the winters are murder on the feet! Since you live up north you may want to look into installing heating coils under the floor so that you don't freeze your feet off during the winter! And seal the grout! Gracie (yorkie) peed on the grout line and it soaked it up! I ended up having to use a bleach pen on the grout line and then seal it to prevent further accidents!!!
If you install the tile yourself, WEAR KNEE PADS!!! My dad had to have knee surgery after installing ceramic tile in his kitchen last year because he injured his knee from not wearing them!
Also, if you lay the tile out, kinda like a rough draft on the floor, and you find that you will not have to make alot of cuts then you may want to look into bringing the tiles to be cut at your local hardware store instead of renting the equipment. Sometimes it is cheaper to have them cut then it is to rent the equipment!
Good luck to you!!!!

[Bizzymammabee]

Laying any sort of floor is hard work. Hubby and I put down wooden floors that come in squares. It was serious back breaking and knee damaging work. You definitely can learn and if you dont' have the tools to cut you can rent them for fairly cheap. The biggest thing you have to make sure is that the floor is level or it will mess up any work that you put down. My dad just put in ceramic tiles in his small kitchen. He did a great job and it's not that hard. Just like others have said you need patience and maybe someone to show you the initial steps. My husband is not handy and we did the job. I am the handy person in our house

This is a good site to look up any home repairs:

http://doityourself.com/

If you have lots of dogs then I would go for ceramic if they are not house broken. Lots of factors to weigh in. It's really hard when you own a house and want nice things...some of these contractors really want to rip a hole in your pocket.

Good luck.