Floors & Ceilings

Granite is a holo-crystalline, quartz-bearing (10 to 15 percent quartz) plutonic rock (solidified deep within the Earth). A mainstay of building material for thousands of years, granite continues...

Installing very large tiles---18 inches or wider---is the same as installing any other size of tile, except you need to lay an extra-strong, flat underlayment. The most vulnerable position for a...

Wood floors eventually show their age, especially on areas that are as heavily trafficked as a stairway. You can revitalize aging oak stairs with a coat of new stain, but first you'll have to...

Cork is gaining visibility as a flooring alternative to traditional hardwoods. Its natural tolerance for moisture has even made it a more favorable option for kitchens and bathrooms. Ultimately,...

A pool table can provide hours of enjoyment for your friends and family, but if you are not careful, it can also leave carpet dents that may never fully disappear. For this reason, it is best to...

Painting a tiled floor is a great alternative to ripping out old, faded tile. Provided the tile is in good shape, you can paint just about any floor, with the proper materials. Polyurethane is a...

Slanted walls are walls that come to an angle rather than stand straight up. Rooms with slanted walls are commonly found in homes with attics or the Cape Cod style. Properly decorated slanted...

Your wooden stairs are usually the first thing you see when walking in the front door. With a little paint, you can make your stairs a showcase. Using two contrasting colors, you can warm the...

Engineered hardwood floors are similar to regular hardwood in that they are planks that clip together on the sides via tongue-and-groove connectors to form the floor. The difference is that...

We usually think of hardwood floors as being stained, varnished and displaying the natural look of the wood. But if the wood is old, discolored and not attractive, you have another option....

Coving makes a nice addition to a room when you want to add interesting shapes and angles. You can also remove coving once it has been placed on the wall, which gives you the opportunity to try...

If the carpet on your stairs is worn, stained or outdated, perhaps you're ready to get rid of it all together. If you're lucky, there's already hardwood under the carpet. If not, hardwood or...

Reclaimed barn wood is a beautiful structural or aesthetic feature of any home. It can be used for paneling, furniture or flooring. Most barn wood is from old growth forests not available today....

Linoleum has been a popular flooring material for the past 50 years and continues to prove its worth. This is a material that is durable, offered in an endless array of styles, patterns and...

Tackless strip is the most commonly used method of securing carpet. It will hold carpet in place without the use of carpet tacks and provide a recessed edge. Secure carpet tackless strip to the...

Laminate flooring is a flooring option with the look and feel of hardwood but with a lower cost and less maintenance. Laminate is easy to take care of and difficult to damage. Following a few...

To lay a tile floor, start at the middle of the room and work toward the edges. This will ensure that the final tiles on opposite sides of the room will lie the same size, although they could...

If you have a room in your home with a concrete floor and you want to change the look of it, painting it is one of the easiest and most cost-effective approaches. It will require some elbow grease...

Wooden floors can be finished in many ways--they can be varnished, stained, lacquered, polyurethaned or painted. Painting a wooden floor is a great way to add color to any room without installing...

In new porcelain tile installations or when new grout is being applied, it is recommended that you apply a penetrating sealer that impregnates the grout with polymers in order to prevent staining...

In the days before modern polyurethane glosses, many floors were finished with shellac, a natural gloss product produced from insect secretions. Some purists still prefer the relatively soft,...

Add stucco to a ceiling for additional texture, dimension and design. Decorate the fifth wall, the ceiling, by applying plaster using a trowel. Decorated ceilings are eye catching and can be...

Whether you have a budding dance student at home who needs adequate practice space or you own a dance company seeking to create a new rehearsal space on a concrete floor, it is possible to...

Installing carpet on a parquet floor is a way to make the room quieter and feel warmer. An important consideration is the method of carpet installation to avoid damaging the parquet. Having...

You can paint drop ceiling panels to enhance the decor of any room. Choose a solid color, select two or more shades to create a pattern or apply a faux finish to produce a metallic look that...

Bamboo flooring has been around for centuries in Asia but it is only over the past few years that it has become a popular choice for homeowners in the west. With all the current talk about going...

Hardwood floors can add a polished look to any home, new or old. While hardwood floors are usually installed as part of a new construction, they can be retrofitted as a floating floor to existing...

Buying and selling bear skin rugs is legal in the United States; however, the rug must be made from a bear that was killed according to federal and state laws. The seller must prove the process by...

Konecto flooring is modular flooring that mimics the look and feel of real wood or tile. It's similar to laminate flooring, in that it comes in modular planks, but it's flexible. It can be...

Paintings and priceless pieces of art can not only be an investment financially but can take up a lot of space as well. What happens if your favorite painting doesn't fit correctly with any of the...

A wide variety of different pattern options are available for tile floors, and it can be overwhelming to choose just one. If you are using tiles that are all the same size and color, you can lay...

Recycled laminate is promoted as an eco-friendly option for your floors. But is it actually good for the environment?

Wood ceilings add a richness and depth of color to the overall décor of the home. Finished and installed correctly, a knotty pine ceiling will last the lifetime of a home. Stained or...

Rustic architecture has long been an American favorite. Exposed beams and rough-hewn woodwork lend a relaxed air to your interior. Adding faux beams isn't as difficult as it sounds. If you can...

A square area is a measurement of how large an area is. Houses, land, rooms and walls are all examples of things measured in square area. The basic method of calculating square area is to multiply...

Refinishing is an inexpensive way to restore the appearance of your wood floors. Years of use can cause scratches, gouges and dulling of the finish of hardwood floors. Restoring your wood floors...

We usually think of traditional wood floors as stained or having a natural finish, but painted wood floors are also a great old style. Whether you have a finished floor that you want to paint, or...

Tile is a material that has been used for thousands of years and remains a popular feature in building today. Tile comes in a seemingly endless number of sizes, shapes and colors. Calculating the...

If your ceiling is looking dull, cracked or otherwise in need of refinishing, you have other options than simply painting. A more interesting and decorative choice is to use mud to give the...

Choosing the right tile is fundamental to success with tiling projects. There are multiple types of ceramic tile with quarry and porcelain tile being predominate types with distinct functions.

Installing quality hardwood floors is a great way to beautify your home, and can even enhance your home's resale value. One of the advantages of hardwood floors is that they are much more durable...

If you are designing your home you are bound to have some narrow spaces around the house due to limited building space, small house design or for a variety of other reasons. Sometimes this can be...

A porch with an aluminum roof is the best bet for maintenance in many ways, as it resists rust and is fairly lightweight. To paint an aluminum porch, you must first strip off any remaining paint...

Installing a hardwood floor is a wonderful way to improve the beauty and even the value of your home, but it is important to care for that wood floor the right way. With the right care a hardwood...

Sheetrock almost always involves a messy installation, and despite any precautionary measures to keep the area clean, most installers can attest to the possibility of sheetrock mud finding its way...

Flagstone is a flooring material that has been used in exterior applications for centuries and remains among the most popularly used for patios. This is a stylishly universal material that can be...

Laminate flooring is a cost-effective alternative to hardwood and has grown to be among the most popularly used flooring materials. Advances in laminate flooring technology offer an installation...

Roll crush occurs when sections of carpet fibers are compressed by the weight of other carpet rolls during storage or transport. Roll crush marks do not indicate a flaw in the carpet. These marks...

Travertine is a type of stone that serves as an attractive alternative to ceramic tile and is available in several different colors and finishes. Removing these stone tiles is a simple task that...

Freshly installed wood floors do not have the glossy or slippery finish most treated wood flooring has. This may be the exact look you want for your hardwood; however if it is not treated with...