Improve your home by upgrading your garage floor.
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If you’re like most of us, your garage floor is less clean and attractive than the rest of your home. It probably has dark marks from the tires, and may even have oil, coolant, or other chemicals that are not just ugly, but hazardous too.
The typical garage is several hundred square feet, and most people use the extra storage around the perimeter for storage. But if your garage floor is unfinished concrete, whatever you’re storing is subject to moisture, spills, and debris from your cars.
A few garage floor options
Upgrading your garage floor will make your garage cleaner, healthier, and a more pleasant place to do laundry or other chores. And the right floor will also be a lot easier on your feet and back.
Garage flooring can help to deaden noise, and reduce accidents by provided a non-slip surface.
Several different kinds of garage flooring are available. And most are inexpensive and easy to do yourself.
Rubber garage floor mats provide some limited protection underneath your cars, but since they don’t cover the entire floor, they don’t improve the appearance of your garage as much as a wall-to-wall solution will. The best ones are leak proof and have a raised lip to contain spills.
Rolled garage floors are an affordable option. They come in a variety of colors and patterns, and all you have to do is roll them out. They protect the garage floor from grease and oil, and resist condensation. Ribbed floors also reduce the risk of accidents by channeling away liquids that may have spilled or dripped from your car.
In most cases, little preparation is required, as the flooring is installed over the existing floor. And with a few basic tools, you can have a new floor – and a dramatically improved room – in just a few hours.
Garage floor tiles are almost as easy to install and they can be mixed and matched to create a truly custom look. Checkerboards, stripes, and borders can really jazz up a room.
Tiles with a peel-and-stick back are extremely easy to install, and once the floor is down, it can be kept cleaned with an occasional mopping.
Epoxy garage floor paint doesn’t take long to apply, but it requires some preparation in advance. The entire floor must be thoroughly cleaned and any cracks should be filled. One it’s dry, epoxy does look good and any spills will wipe right up.
In most cases, your garage floor is the first thing you see when you come home, so don’t settle for an ugly, dirty one. With a little time and money, your garage floor can be as inviting as the rest of your home.
A few garage floor options Image Flickr: stevendamron
When and where to use laminate wood flooring.
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Laminate Wood Flooring Offers Variety and Value
There are a number of very good reasons to consider laminate wood flooringAlthough nothing beats the appearance of natural wood flooring, there are some drawbacks. Wood floors are expensive. Depending on the size of your home, it could cost $20,000 or more to upgrade to wood flooring. And even the hardest wood scratches. If you have big dogs, lots of children, or heavy traffic, you may be surprised how quickly wood flooring shows some wear and tear.
Nowadays, there’s a huge selection of laminate wood flooring to choose from. Virtually every color, finish, and wood grain is available. You can even buy wide planks, if that’s the look you want. In addition to wood, laminates also duplicate tile, slate, and stone flooring.
Laminate wood flooring looks like wood flooring, but it’s less expensive, more durable, easier to install, and better suited to high-traffic areas.
In situations where you have a high traffic and heavy use, laminate floors may offer you a better choice for your money. If you choose carefully, you will probably see little difference between this kind of floor and a solid hardwood floor.
Laying laminate wood flooring
How Laminate Wood Flooring is Made
Laminate wood flooring consists of a top layer made of melamine resin, which is extremely durable. This is the material that goes into those nearly indestructible plastic dishes cafeterias use. It resists scratches, stains, fading, and water damage better than natural wood. The core can be anywhere from 6mm to 12mm thick. The thicker the core, the better the floor. Look for one that’s been treated to make it water repellant. And make sure the joints have a coating of wax to keep moisture from ever reaching the core.
Laminate wood flooring resists moisture
Two kinds of laminate wood flooring are available – High Pressure Laminates (HPL) and Direct Pressure Laminates (DPL). Because HPL takes two steps to glue and fuse the layers together, it costs more to produce than DPL, which is manufactured in a single step. As a rule, HPL costs more, wears better, and lasts longer than DPL.
HPL also has greater moisture protection in the tongue-and-groove system that joins the boards together. This will help prevent the seams from swelling when humidity is high.
Installing Laminate Wood Flooring
Laminate wood flooring is designed to be floated over an existing floor, which means that you can use it over almost anything – vinyl, concrete, or plywood. Because it’s not glued down or nailed to the subfloor, it’s easy to install. In fact, most do it yourselfers can achieve good results on their own. You just need to make sure that the floor you’re going on top of is level and smooth.
A thin padding is laid over the existing floor and then the laminate boards lock together with a tongue and groove system. Molding in a matching finish is easy to cut and install.
Once they’re installed, these floors are very easy to take care of. They never need to be waxed or polished and a dust mop is usually all that’s needed to clean laminate wood flooring.
Read more about engineered wood flooring here.
Laying laminate wood flooring Image Flickr: Hendricks Photos
Laminate wood flooring resists moisture Image Flickr: John Loo
What you should know before buying cherry wood flooring.
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When it comes to wood flooring, the term cherry wood is used interchangeably to describe two distinctly different hardwoods — American cherry and Brazilian cherry. Although the two are similar in some ways, it’s important to know the difference if you are planning to use cherry for your wood floors.
American cherry is sought after for its warm, rich color, which ranges from pinkish brown to deep red. As a fruit tree, it’s a member of the rose family, and it grows all over the United States and Canada. In colonial America, cherry was used for fine furniture, inlays, and paneling. Today, it’s a very popular choice for kitchen cabinets, and Shaker-style furniture.
One of the best things about American cherry is the way the color deepens with age. Over the years, it develops a gorgeous patina that polishes beautifully. It has a fine, straight grain.
With a hardness of 950 on the Janka hardness scale, American cherry is softer than many of the most popular woods used for flooring. Red oak, for example, has a hardness of 1290. Consequently, it’s a poor choice for high-traffic areas, commercial settings, or homes with dogs. It’s often used as an accent wood around the edges of a floor where there’s less wear and tear.
It’s also more expensive than other wood flooring options, so before you buy American cherry, make sure it’s an appropriate choice for your room.
Due to its reddish color, Jatoba is often called Brazilian cherry. It grows mostly in Brazil, Chile, the West Indies, and parts of Mexico. The principle difference between Jatoba and American cherry is the hardness. Jatoba measures 2350 on the Janka scale — more than 80% harder than red oak.
This makes Jatoba a better choice for wood flooring in rooms that will receive an average amount of traffic. Like American cherry, it will darken over time, especially if it’s exposed to direct sunlight. The finish that’s used will also affect this process.
Because of it extraordinary hardness, Jatoba is difficult to work with, so it’s a poor choice for do-it-yourselfers. Unless you’re a seasoned woodworker, you’ll likely get better results if you hire a professional to install jatoba wood flooring.
If you can afford it and plan to use it in a room that receives little traffic, real cherry wood will produce a look that’s unsurpassed in its elegance and sophistication. If you want the appearance of cherry with greater durability and affordability, choose jatoba.
Read about walnut wood flooring here.
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