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Flooring
Floors can be a challenge to install, maintain and change. Questions regarding the installation, maintenance and repair of carpets, tile, wood and other materials go here.
6,242 Questions
How to stop water from leaking between foundation and basement floor?
You have to get rid of the water, no sealer or coating can hold back water, eventually it always wins.
2 options
1. drill holes in the wall & let the water in & channel it away, there are people to do this & it isn't cheap
2. Get the water away from the house...
1. I once had a wet basement, went outside & discovered the downspout was draining right down the basement wall, Simple fix, was to put an elbow & about 6 feet of pipe away from the house & the basement dried up!!
2. Look at the landscaping, many times the soil settles over time & actually falls toward the house which funnels the rain & snowmelt right against the foundation.. the land must slope away about 1" per foot and out at least 10' from the home.
3. Beyond that it could be high water table or seasonal ground water and for that I have 2 words Sump Pump.
Answer
There is a professional process called 'Tanking' which offers a permanent solution.
What is the average cost of unfinished white oak flooring?
Fees & charges and freight rates change from town to town, region to region, the best ways I can suggest to find a good range is :
Run a short ad in Craigslist, that will likely get you someone hungry & sitting on some slow moving inventory so you will know the cheapest price.
Then call the local Home Depot or Lowes & ask what they charge, white oak unfinished is a very comodity product and the price is very much impacted by what quality you are getting..
Long boards are more than shorter, cabi grade is cheaper than select & 7/16" thick is a lot less than 3/4" so make sure you are comparing apples to apples...
The big box home centers will be pretty competitive, they buy a lot of that stuff!
Now you would have a good range & then its time to look for quality & references... a steal on wood or a great price on labor, can be VERY COSTLY if you give the job to a butcher..
My bet will be you will find someone on the low end under $2 per sq ft
sand & finish in place is a lot of work & the finish is better on the factory finished stuff... think twice on using the unfinished...
The Rev sez Hope this helps
"No one cares how much you know, till they know how much you care." Pastor Jim.
VCT Cleaning
Fees & charges change from town to town, region to region, the best ways I can suggest to find a good range is :
Run a short ad in Craigslist, be sure to mention how many square feet you need done & when, you will then know the cheapest price.
Then call the local ServiceMaster or Janitorial service in the yellow pages & ask what they charge if you buy your tile services from them???
That will be the highest price in the market
Now you would have a good range & then its time to look for quality & references. A steal on service, can be VERY COSTLY if you give the job to a butcher. My bet will be you will find someone on the low end at about $.30 per sq ft & that the known dealers will be $.50 or better a foot after they do all the add ins.
Get it in writing. Never pay for it all upfront
Where can I get discontinued tiles made by Daltile Corporation?
Daltile has probably a hundred or more warehouses & sales offices in this country. Each warehouse does their best to blow out dropped & discontinued inventory to local dealers.
So the painful answer is what was in 100 warehouses is now spread across maybe 1000 local dealers who have made every effort to get rid of every last piece at the best price they could get.
I sincerly doubt you would get any assistance from Dal-Tile, because you are not a dealer & are probably looking for a small quantity.
YOu dont mention how long its been discontinued but that kind of inventory has about a 60 day half life.
What is the average cost of installation of random slate per square foot?
Fees & charges change from town to town, region to region, the best ways I can suggest to find a good range is :
Run a short ad in Craigslist, that will likely get you someone hungry & maybe unlicensed so you will know the cheapest price.
Then call the local Home Depot or Lowes & ask what they charge if you buy your tile from them; that will be the highest price in the market
Now you would have a good range & then its time to look for quality & references. A steal on tile or a great price on labor, can be VERY COSTLY if you give the job to a butcher.
You will find someone on the low end at about $2 per sq ft & that the depot will be $6-8 bucks a foot after they do all the add ins.
Get it in writing...Never pay for it all upfront
porous brick is a new produce which is economical on energy and has a sensible structure
it has many excellent properties such as resisting to thermal ,resisting to erode ,resisting to corrosion,
the most it owns a longevity
How many square feet are in 26 by 26 inch tile?
- 26X26 = 676 and that's the square inches in each tile
- take the 676 divide by 144 (sq inches in a foot) and you get. 4.7 sq feet per tile.
And since each tile is just over 2X2 that makes sense that it would be over 4.
How can you get rid of the odor of cat wee from your laminate wood floor?
I found the best products can be bought from the vets - hope this helps
Does glass or ceramic tile hold up better to calcium deposits and cleaning?
the Glaze on Ceramic tile is mostly Glass, but Glass is presumably ALL glass. They should both be HIGHLY resistant to Calcium deposits and very robust in their ability to stand up to cleaning
Glass may have the slight edge due to its smoother finish over Tile Glaze
Neither tile, especially the glass ones should be cleaned with glass beads.
Your seams of vinyl flooring are coming up how can you fix this?
Do you apply glue down and roll out vinyl then apply seam sealer to melt the edges together.
Can you use floor leveler over thin set?
If the thinset is stuck good, absolutely, just make sure it's secure & as clean as possible & go to it.
Will latex backed rugs leave a mark on tile floor?
Any rug can leave a residue over time, but soft Latex backed rugs with the little dimpled backing are designed to leave as little as possible.
The harder the surface the less damage a rug will do. For example a rug over hardwood will do more damage over time than a rug over ceramic or porcelain tile.
The caveat will be dirt, sand or even dust; anything that gets under the rug will act as an abrasive.
If something costs 3.99 per sq foot how much does 11 ft x 17ft cost?
11ft * 17ft * $3.99/ft2 = $746.13
How do you measure a room for 16x16 tiles?
- Tiles are sold by the square foot not by the tile..
- Measure the room & round up to the next foot, ie.. 11' 6" just write it down as 12'
- If the room has offsets or halls, just remember to treat it like another room & do the length X width of each area. Then add them all up.
- Box will tell you how many sq feet is in a box, so you are paying by the foot, but buying by the box.
- Each 16X16 tile is 2.25 sq feet
- 16X16 tile will likely be packaged in a box with 9-11 pieces per box.
- Usually about 14- 18 sq feet per box depending on the makers preferences.
- By way of example if your room is 12X12 that's 144 sq feet,
- Divide the sq feet by how many sq feet in the box & you know how many boxes.
- Add about 7-10% to make sure you have enough.
Starting in the middle of the room and working means you may have a fair bit of cutting one all the walls but a centered look is much better and likely allows you to use the pieces up.
They are marketing, selling and making money from selling MORE shark steamers. NOT from taking care of your flooring investment...
They are not experts in flooring and May or may not know that water loves wood in all the wrong ways!
The "Wood in the commercial may be laminate or some other "Wood" look alike item, you may be assuming that its wood.
Murphy's Oil Soap has been doing the same thing for as long as I can remember. It should NEVER be used on wood but that's not the message the commercials give.
What cleaner can be used to brighten indoor pebble tech floor?
A leading website recommends that pool owners "balance" their pool water using the "Langlier Saturation Index" This system takes into account pH, alkalinity, water temperature, chlorine and calcium hardness. We recommend that for the first 30 days after the Pebble Tec (or new plaster) is applied, pH and alkalinity be monitored regularly as they can directly affect the appearance of the surface. It might help to maintain levels of pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness toward the lower end of the index. Keep in mind, based on your water source; you may need to add "muriatic acid" to your new pool 2 to 3 times per week during the first month. After 30 days, the pool should be checked 1 to 2 times per week and adjusted accordingly. If your finish is a darker color, in particular black, it is even more important that you follow these instructions. Do not chlorinate your pool until water is filtered and pH and alkalinity are acceptable. Chlorine is highly reactive and can cause metals or minerals to precipitate (cloud water, scale and/or stain.
What is the average cost of installing porcelain tile in Arizona?
Fees & charges change from town to town.
Run a short ad in Craigslist, so you will know the cheapest price.
Then call the local Home Depot or Lowes & ask what they charge if you buy your tile from them. That will be the highest price in the market
Now you would have a good range & then its time to look for quality & references, a steal on tile or a great price on labor, can be VERY COSTLY if you give the job to a butcher.
My bet will be you will find someone on the low end at about $2 per sq ft & that the depot will be $6-8 bucks a foot after they do all the add ins.
Get it in writing. Never pay for it all upfront
How many 17 x 17 tiles do you need to cover 182 square foot room?
- Tiles are sold by the square foot not by the tile..
- Measure the room & round up to the next foot, ie.. 11' 6" just write it down as 12'
- If the room has offsets or halls, just remember to treat it like another room & do the length X width of each area. Then add them all up.
- Box will tell you how many sq feet is in a box, so you are paying by the foot, but buying by the box.
- Each 17X17 tile is about 2.5 sq feet (plus you will have a grout line)
- 17X17 tile will likely be packaged in a box with 9-11 pieces per box..
- Usually about 14- 18 sq feet per box depending on the makers preferences.
- By way of example if your room is 12X12 that's 144 sq feet,
- Divide the sq feet by how many sq feet in the box & you know how many boxes.
- Add about 7-10% to make sure you have enough.
Once you know the sq feet you need, add a little for waste & breakage you will have enough.
The fact that a good tile setter starts in the middle of the room & works out also means you may have a fair bit of cutting one all the walls but a centered look is much better and likely allows you to use the pieces up.
Can you lay laminated flooring on a suspended floor?
As long as it is solid and has no high or low spots greater than 3/16". ABSOLUTELY!
How do you finish floating floor around doorways?
Remember that floating floor must NOT be secured or nailed at any point.
The easiest way to finish around all the nooks & crannys of a door facing is to undercut the casing & slide the board under, will look like a pro did it !!
Little trick of the trade is to take a scrap of laminate lay it face down & then lay a handsaw on top of the scrap, using it as a gauge for thickness and support for the saw.
If the question is about the transition from one flooring to the next, that's what all those expensive transitions are for. The home centers and many in stock dealers have them on hand.
How many 18 inch x 18inch tiles would you need for a 11 x 12 room?
Not possible because the unit of room measure is missing.
However, if one assumes (no old jokes please) that the room measurement is referring to feet, as is typically standard in America, one would calculate:
(11 ft * 12 in per ft ) * (12 ft * 12 in per ft) = 19008 in²
18 in * 18 in = 324 in²
19008 in² / 324 in² = 58.666
This means you would need at least fifty-nine (59) 18*18 in tiles to cover the 11*12 ft room.
How can you figure out the cost per square foot of a 16 x 16 tile?
16" x 16" = (4/3 ft) x (4/3 ft) = 16/9 square foot
Multiply the cost of one tile by (9/16) = 0.5625to get the cost per square foot.
Porcelain is far superior to Ceramic & one porcelain is pretty much as good as another, it's really just non clear GLASS. Ffind one that is at least .250 thick, have it installed by someone that knows their trade & the worry about the look & color you want & don't be concerned with the quality, it will be fine.
Repair a scratch in Laminate
A pro will usually just remove the board & replace..
Another option is a melt stick, Kind of a high strength wax that is blended together to match your floor & melted in place & then smoothed. Again a professional skill.
If you want a home remedy, crayons or a bit of Minwax stain can be used to darken the scratch, then a clear fingernail polish with a matching gloss level can be applied to seal the color in.
If you are wanting to do a lot of little fine scratches, you can try OLD ENGLISH touch up. Try a small out of the way area first. It might help & shouldn't hurt the laminate.
What is the need for a double shrinkage compensation in grouts?
Water is added to the dry components of the Grout to start the process & set it in place, as that water dissipates, through a chemical process & evaporation, some shrinkage will happen, causing stress fractures & voids in the grout.
Why is a hole forming in my travertine tile?
Travertine is just like Swiss cheese in its natural state. when it is cut some holes are exposed & others are still under the surface. The exposed holes fill with the slurry from the saw blade or are "Filled" with other materials. If one of those hidden holes breaks through under stress of traffic, it will be empty & exhibit as a hollow space (hole)..
To which the homeowner then asks "why is a hole forming in my Travertine.. The short irreverent answer is because that's the way you bought it... Sorry the sales person or designer never told you or that you weren't listening when they did tell you.
