New home- a hundred new projects.

[Doc]

Ok, so I'll be moving into my new home in a couple of weeks. I've got a list as long as my arm of projects I want to do.

However, since I can't financially tackle all of them- I'm prioritizing.

First on the list- coat the garage floor w/ that epoxy coating stuff. I've always wanted a nice garage- I'm hoping to get this done in the time between when I actually take posession of the home and before the movers arrive with my stuff. That will probobly be the only time the garage will ever be empty.

Next up- the Kitchen.
A) Solid bamboo flooring in the kitchen and dining area.
B) Granite or Silestone countertops.
C) Run a gas line to the kitchen and install my gas range.
D) Install a proper over the range hood with outside venting. (picked up the commercial hood at Home Despot over the weekend- marked down from $475 to $90)
E) New Faucet (purchased at Costco- high arc style $120)
F) New Backsplash.

My question for you guys is this- The kitchen has linoleum in it now, that extends to the dining area. I've read opinions on both sides of this issue, and would like input here as well.

Can I install my solid bamboo flooring over the linoleum? Many pro's say yes, the linoleum acts as a vapor barrier and slight cushion to the floor and is actually a great underlayment as long as it's only one layer thick and you nail to the subfloor.

There are those that say NO as well. They sight Linoleum's potential to crack, etc and say to pull it up and scrape away the adhesive.

The home/ flooring is 2 yrs old, so the linoleum is in great condition. What I'm worried about is if I pull up the linoleum, the entire floor may be covered with adhesive and not just perimiter glued. If it is, what if I can't get all the adjesive up? I don't know if the subfloor is particle or ply either, so that's another issue. I don't want adhesive to prevent me from laying the floor properly...

A big part of me just wants to lay the bamboo right over the linoleum for labor savings/ less headaches.

Here's the home:

CirclePix.com: Real Estate Marketing Solutions

'tour' number WDYRQT

If you're at work, turn your volume down- it has annoying music.

 

[D'Animal]

I would pull up the linoleum before putting down the hardwood flooring.

 

[-Spike-]

Leave the linoleum. Talk to more pros if you aren't sure.

 

[e rock]

I don't see a problem with going over the top of the linoleum except for the fact that the floor will get 3/4" taller. If there is already a vertical transition to the kitchen floor (step up or down), it's not a big deal. If the transition is flat, you'll hate yourself for being lazy every time you stub your toe or trip on the transition strip in the middle of the night. There is likely 1/2" MDF undelayment that's stapled to the subfloor. The good part is that you don't have to worry about scraping the adhesive, but it's still a pain since the underlayment will crumble and you'll be taking it out in bucket loads of little pieces.

I have seen and done a few bamboo floors in friends' houses. It seemed like a great idea, but in practice I'm not impressed. The very top layer is very hard, but it's brittle and the middle (at least of the flooring I was using) is very soft. So it wears well to foot traffic, but if you drop anything on it, it dents. And not like a little dent in hardwood - more like 'denting' a hardboiled egg. I also had to turn the regulator way down on my compressor to keep the nailer from blowing right through the tongue and cracking it off. IMO, not the best application for a kitchen.

 

[fsusteve]

I left it down in my kitchen when I put the laminate down.....however, I didn't use a pad thinking I wouldn't need it, I was wrong, put pad down.

 

[Doc]

Why Steve? What was your experience?

 

[titanpat57]

I think Steve is talking about a Pergo type product?

Anyhow..

A. Never saw it in person but I hear it's the rage..I'd stick with a nice prefinished North american wood species. As far as the underlayment I would staple a minimum 1/4 " UNDERLAYMENT grade plywood..not luan! Staple it as per installation instructions. Pergo type floors can be "clacky" i.e. noisy in a kitchen..reflects a lot of noise

B. Granite Both products are about the same $ a sq. ft..why buy something trying to look like something it's not?? Buy the stone

C. Good answer!

D. Make sure it comes with a removable filter and clean more than once over the next 30 years.

E. High Arc..ok....what a removeable spray and stream/ spray button....now your talking jack!

F. Ok..let's talk backsplash. Go pick out your stone than match your backsplash material to the cabinets and counter..um, maybe a nice 4' x 4" tumbled marble on the diaginal? Chuck in a few accents. Oh..and by the way..your doing all that work behind the stove venting anyway.....open up the wall and put a nice pot-filling faucet in so the Mrs. doesn't have to struggle with those large pots of water to the stove .

Just my 2cents....Congratz on the new home and good luck!

 

[fsusteve]

yes it was Pergo. The issue I had was how loud the flooring is compared to the living area where I did use padding. It's not a huge issue but it wouldn't have cost much more or made for anymore work.

 

[Doc]

The issue I had was how loud the flooring is compared to the living area where I did use padding. .

Loud? Like when you walked on it you could here it rubbing the underlayment? Or, loud like an echo kind of loud?

 

[Doc]

open up the wall and put a nice pot-filling faucet in so the Mrs. doesn't have to struggle with those large pots of water to the stove .

My mom has one of those- never uses it. I actually think she hates it. Something about it getting in the way.

 

[fsusteve]

echo, not like crazy loud, just a different tone than the living room which is quiet. There's been no issues with the vinyl underneath, but I really thought it would have deadened the sound more.

 

[archie]

I think the underlayment helps to even out the dips and changes in floor levels( All floors have imperfections). I could see it squeaking in places where people are walking if there was no underlayment.

 

[archie]

My mom has one of those- never uses it. I actually think she hates it. Something about it getting in the way.

I could see how it one more thing to clean and how many times do you need to fill up a big pot unless you own a resturant or throw lots of parties. It would be easier to have a pitcher of water. Anyway I wouldn't put anything but filtered water into cooking food and stagnant water that's been sitting in a pipe for days (or until the spigot is opened) might throw the flavors of the food off.

 

[AATLAS1X]

I just did the Rustolium two part epoxy from Home Depot.

1. But 5 extra bags of the flecks as most will flake away.
2. Follow the directions and do the edges and stem walls first, that you can do by yourself, but the floor will take two people as one will need to be rolling and the other tossing flake. I put a crazy amount down as you can't see imperfections.
3. Use self leveling concrete crack filler for all the edges, holes, gaps and imperfections. Use a steel bondo scraper as it works great!

I also painted my man door into the house red, it looks great!

Shane

 

[Blue 60]

The joys of home ownership

Hey Doc, If you haven't already made up your mind, here's what I would do. Pick up Leif (extra weight) and walk over every square inch of the floor to check for squeaks and then screw the flooring back down to the joists. In a perfect world I wouldn't want the linoleum, but removing it leaves clumps that you can't ever get up, which in turn makes the floor more uneven than before. So I would just leave it. It won't give much padding, but in the end it will be nice. We have a project back up here in Iowa that has a lot of bamboo flooring and bamboo stair treads (solid 4" thick bamboo treads) and it looks great. In the end I think that having a solid, level/smooth, squeak free floor to attach it to is more important than worrying about the linoleum.

Blue 60

P.S. - Enjoy Utah and all the wheeling down there while we all suffer back up here.

 

[Doc]

Hey Jim- where are you getting the 4" thick bamboo planks? I could use some of those for a butcher block top I'm thinking about making.

Say hi to the bugs/ humidity/ corn for me, will 'ya?

 

[Blue 60]

Bamboo planks

I'll check on the bamboo planks. Oddly enough, the farmer's almanac predicted that we would have an unusually cool and wet summer and we are having that. It is supposed to be in the low 50's tonight.

Update: Go to www.teragren.com. The owner of the building we are designing is also the owner of this company. I'm sure that there are more companies out there that make/supply the same thing....

Jim

 

[poohsfj]

Congrats on the new home

Granite or Silestone countertops?

Granite is unique from slab to slab and a wonderful natural surface.

Silestone can be just as good looking but offer you less maintenance.

I have but both in my spec homes and have loved them both so to me take your pick.

As far as the floor goes I would pull the old floor up before I put my wood floor down. It would most likely be fine but if it were my home I would just prefer to have the old crap up and out before I do anything new.

 

[FJ40_owner]

I would pull up the linoleum before putting down the hardwood flooring.

Watch out for potentially there being Asbestos in the Linoleum.

 

[koop]

I put bamboo in the kitchen, it came out nice but it is soft and we have a couple dents in front of the fridge. O well.

I pulled up my linolium because a) it was cracked b) there were about three other layers below it. It was a complete pain in the ass job made worse by the psycho prior owner who put down the subfloor with any screw, nail or staple he could find every 8 inches.

That being said, if your linolium is only 2 years old I'd go over the top of it.

I just put up my home depot hood this last weekend. Still futsing with the chimney. Wish my wife would have gone with the microwave over stove like you have now.