The floor has a huge impact on the overall style of a room. If you change it, the look and feel will change significantly. If you make it yourself, you can get the floor you love for less money.
Floating floors
Better homes and gardens
This is the most DIY friendly way to change your flooring as they just go right over the floor you have. There’s no nailing or gluing as the planks simply click together to join. Once it’s down, you don’t have to coat them with a surface coating either. Just clean up your mess and you’re done. Laminate floors have surfaces that mimic a variety of natural and stained woods, so you’re sure to find one that will suit your home.
DIY TIP: When laying a hallway in a room, put the flooring in the center of the hallway so it looks straight and work from there. If you start against a wall in the room, it may look crooked as you walk down the hallway. Use a line of string to make sure the first row is straight.
Vinyl floors
Vinyl has come a long way since the black and white checkers! Nowadays there are vinyl floors that mimic a wide range of woods, stones and tiles. Since the leaves are large, it is easy to cover a large area in a short period of time.
DIY TIP: You need to thoroughly prepare the floor before installing the vinyl as any imperfections will show up. Cover old hardwood floors with masonite sheets first to create a level surface. Uneven concrete must be covered with a leveling compound and allowed to dry before laying vinyl.
Tiles
Tiles give your home a stylish, contemporary feel. On the practical side, they are very hard-wearing and insensitive to water and stains. Large unidirectional tiles have very straight, sharp edges so you have minimal grout lines and get the look of a solid stone or concrete floor.
DIY TIP: To lay tiles over a wooden floor, you must first lay down the fiber cement tiles attached to the floor according to the instructions. This creates a stable surface for the tiles that will not be affected by movements in the wood that would otherwise tear the tiles.
Comments are closed.