<p>Closing date is set for 9/23. Carpet on stairs and second floor must go. New carpet would be laid by professionals. Hardwood/bamboo might be something Happykid and the theater techies could do for pizza, soda, and the opportunity to play with power tools. If the subfloor isn’t hideous when the old carpets come up, painting/sealing the subfloor has not been ruled out.</p>
<p>1) What is your advice about wooden stair treads? I’ve slipped on every kind of stair tread made at least once in my life, but I am wondering if there is an OSHA standard or standard home-owner ruling on the relative safety of wooden stair treads compared to carpeted treads.</p>
<p>2) Any advice about wood flooring? Snap-together vs. nail-down? Solid vs. engineered? Hardwood vs. bamboo?</p>
<p>3) Any carpets we should avoid entirely? No pets, Happykid is only at home for one more year, and food is not allowed upstairs unless you are sick in bed.</p>
<p>4) What about painting floors? Has anyone done this in recent years? When I was a kid, it wasn’t unheard of, but then again those floors weren’t plywood, and a home is not a stage set.</p>
<p>Over the years we have removed all of the carpet in our house and replaced it with laminate flooring. It has been the best decision we ever made. </p>
<p>We went with laminate because it had an easier upkeep than hardwood, but we also looked at engineered hardwood and were quite impressed.</p>
<p>I love the fact that we rarely have to use a vacuum cleaner, except on the area rugs, and we aren’t contributing to the landfill with used carpet, etc. It seemed to me that hardwood/laminate is so much more environmentally friendly and less expensive over the long run.</p>
<p>And, for my daughter who had allergies, it made a huge difference to get rid of the carpet in her bedroom.</p>
<p>One thing I won’t do is the bamboo. I have had it for over 12 years, granted, 12 years ago, it was just started and the technology was not that good. But over the 12 years owning that was not a happy camper.
However you look at it, the bamboo joints are not flat, there is a ridge between the joints.
You cannot resurface the bamboo floor, there is no option, I have deep scratches on them and it looks ugly afterwords. The dirt trapped in that is VERY hard to remove.</p>
<p>I would not paint the subfloor, unless it is old hardwood which was covered by the existing WTW carpet. On the one hand, painted particle board/plywood would look strange and not very appealing (you will have to do something about nails and seams, too). The other thing to consider is the difference in flooring height: if your current carpet comes in contact with, let’s say, laminate or tile at the entrance to a bathroom, there is a chance that an extra sheet of thin plywood was added under the thin laminate/tile layer to make the floor heights even (carpets/padding are usually very thick). Ditto for laying hardwood on the stairs.</p>
<p>I’m a big fan of regular old wood flooring…the kind you can sand in the future and refinish. Our whole first floor has this and it’s the second house where this has been the case.</p>
<p>Re: stairs…wood treads are fine but we have a runner on the stairs for two reasons…safety and noise. If someone slipped on the stairs…wouldnt’ be much fun…and this is less likely (and a softer landing) with carpet. Also we had no runner for a while and whenever someone went up/down the stairs, it sounded like a herd of elephants. We got the runner.</p>
<p>We have real site-built wood floor finished with the Swedish finish (uber-toxic) and it looks brand new after 10 years. Of course, it helps that we never wear shoes inside the house. </p>
<p>Wood surfaces in staircases are a recipe for disaster.</p>
<p>If you don’t like the subfloor it’s fairly easy (and very inexpensive) to skin it with 1/4" plywood and paint that. I happen to like painted floors, but I’m weird. </p>
<p>I don’t think any stairs are safe unless you hold the hand rail and pay attention. I’ve had wood, carpet, concrete… You can always add those sticky sand-paper things (ugly ugly ugly).</p>
<p>Is the floor beneath the stairs carpeting a nice wood or is it plywood? If it is plywood or composite, it will be much more expensive to make it a wood staircase. That is why my stairs (and hallway) are carpeted. I am still trying to decide what to do with the bedrooms.</p>
<p>I never slip on wood stairs, but then, I am often barefoot or in birkinstocks. I vote for laminate. We put some Quickstep upstairs, and it is lovely stuff…</p>
<p>We like the old fashioned wood floors that you buy, cut and nail (and can sand and refinish). The basketball court guys work “cheap” in mid-winter Our steps with wood are less slippery than a set in the house with carpet.</p>
<p>Not sure I’d want the mess of site finished hardwood floors in an existing house. Have you looked at good quality prefinished hardwoods? (not wood-look laminate but real wood) Depending on the use of the rooms, I’d also consider cork and Marmoleum.</p>
<p>Today’s pre-finished hardwoods are much better than what was available 10+ years ago when we built. A lot cheaper, too. That may be the best option actually.</p>
When I put bamboo in my kitchen I was told it could be sanded and refinished. It is over 1/2" thick, and has three layers of bamboo laminated together.</p>
<p>Mine has held up well, except for one or two pieces where apparently the finish wasn’t quite as thick. But you don’t really notice unless you look for it.</p>
<p>There are many manufacturers, and 12 years ago was when I first heard about it. Perhaps it had been improved by the time I got it.</p>
<p>I put in pre-finished in my new kitchen and new addition. The rest of the house has the old fashioned hardwood. Pre-finished is different than engineered, something that people often confuse. I didn’t even consider engineered as I heard they don’t hold up. </p>
<p>My new floors have been in for 4 years and so far so good. They are in high traffic areas and subject to two dogs nails and the dirt and grit they bring into the house.</p>
<p>We’re putting bamboo on our first floor, including the kitchen. There is a different type of bamboo called “stranded” - it’s engineered of multiple strands of bamboo twisted together (or something like that!) - that holds up just as well as traditional hardwoods and can be refinished. We have cats with claws, so we made sure!</p>
<p>We’re also putting it on the stairs, and will have either a runner or carpet treads in the middle of each step. You can get some nice ones now.</p>
<p>But I do prefer carpeting for bedrooms - I think it’s warmer, both physically and psychologically. I like climbing out of bed and not necessarily having to put my slippers on immediately.</p>
<p>Your options of wood or bamboo flooring (or laminate, which I think is an okay choice up to a certain house price and then it’s a big mistake) may depend upon the type of subfloor you have. You cannot nail or glue down onto particle board, which is typically used under carpet. If there is any moisture at all, the floors will buckle and you will be dealing with a nightmare. If this is the case, you can only do a floating floor. </p>
<p>Strand bamboo can be sanded, as it is solid bamboo, through and through, just like the solid hardwoods. Engineered floors have different “wear layers” so some can be sanded maybe once if you’re lucky and some two or three times. Do lots of googling and you will learn more than you can imagine. </p>
<p>Solid 3/4" hardwood is never a bad choice, be it site finished or prefinished, but it can’t be laid on all sub-floors. Also, with pre-finished, you need to decide if you want the edges beveled or not (kind of a groove running between the planks), handscraped, narrow or wide width, or random, etc. All of this will affect the cost and look. And if you go with a laminate or floating floor, the underlayment is as important, if not more so, than the actual flooring quality. Hollow sounding floors is not a good thing!</p>
<p>None of it is really that tough to install, but it is physical and you will be sore. But it can save you a ton of money and leave you with a great sense of accomplishment! Good luck!</p>
<p>Re: solid hardwood installation (prefinished or not)</p>
<p>Before deciding to use solid wood, check your floors to be sure they are fairly flat. In the bad old days (ie, circa 1970 around here), carpets were installed to disguise poor construction. Shiny uneven floors are not attractive. </p>
<p>We replaced all carpet (except one bedroom) with prefinished solid hardwood. Ten years later it still looks great, despite hard use by kids and dogs. D’s asthma is MUCH improved with the hardwood.</p>
<p>The sub-flooring upstairs is OSB. The stairs are solid builder’s standard pine. Both stairs will require some TLC to get rid of the squeaks. There are stringers along the sides, but none in the center of the stair. Living room has 3 inch wide 3/8 inch engineered red oak staple-down that has been refinished at some point in the past.</p>
<p>Floor guy #1 recommends sanding down the uneven parts of the OSB, and laying a floating engineered floor. Underlayment and flooring up to me, but he thinks oak because the first floor is oak. He can fix the stairs so they don’t squeak. He says the stairs would have to be resurfaced with nail-down solid wood because they are stairs. His labor bid is less than what Home Depot or Lowes would charge for equivalent work. He says that sanding the living room floor for refinishing would be tricky and recommends that I clean it up with the floor-cleaning and shining stuff they sell at Home Depot instead.</p>
<p>Floor guy #2 wants to sand and refinish the living room. He wants to nail down 3/4 inch solid wood upstairs. He says he can put it down over the OSB with just a layer of roofing felt between the OSB and the floorboards as a moisture barrier. I should have his bid later today. His team can’t deal with the noisy stairs, so he gave me the name of a stair guy who hasn’t called me back yet. He wants to put new treads on the stairs, and cover the risers with luan so that they can be painted white.</p>
<p>Today I am researching sources for “green” flooring instead of putting more stuff in boxes. Tomorrow I hope to get to Lumber Liquidators so I can look at what they have to offer. I can’t face another trip to Home Depot or Lowes just yet.</p>
Our steps with wood are less slippery than a set in the house with carpet.</p>