home sectionhome sectionFloor outlets are commonly found in homes where the rooms are large and power is required in areas away from the walls, such as in large living room and dining rooms. Floor receptacles are more easily damaged and need replacement more often than wall receptacles. They break when their protective covers are left open and are struck by chair legs or cleaning equipment. Replacing these receptacles is relatively easy and something easily accomplished even by a beginner.
Removing laminate flooring is something you can do by simply unclicking each plank in a very specific way. Remove laminate flooring with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Staggering floating floors is something that you have to do by keeping a specific measurement in mind. Stagger floating floors with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Recognizing potential problems that you may experience when laying a laminate floor is a great way to avoid them altogether. Learn about problems when laying a laminate floor with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Installing laminate flooring is a lot of work, but it doesn't necessarily require you to remove the baseboards in your room. Install laminate flooring without removing the baseboards with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
If you're having looseness in your laminate flooring, the locking mechanism likely has been compromised. Learn about potential problems with looseness in laminate flooring with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
One thing that you'll need to do when installing laminate flooring is undercut the door frame in the right way. Undercut a door frame when installing laminate flooring with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Laminate floor fitting is all about two things: the proper space and stability. Get laminate floor fitting tips with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Replacing the shine on laminate floors doesn't necessarily require you to replace each individual piece. Replace the shine on laminate floors with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
Installing locking laminated flooring requires you to use your spacers to create the recommended expansion space. Install locking laminated flooring with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
When you install laminate flooring into your home, one thing that you're going to want to do is try to keep the spacers in between each piece as secure as possible. Keep spacers from moving when installing laminate flooring with help from an experienced flooring contractor in this free video clip.
A floor flange is a polyvinyl chloride closet flange with a metal collar used with any brand of standard toilet installation. It is installed after the soil pipe has been installed in the floor, or it can be used as a replacement flange in an existing bathroom where the previous flange cracked. Installing a floor flange can be accomplished relatively quickly, and the toilet can be placed on it soon after installation.
Acrylic guitars and wood guitars have a number of different interesting similarities and differences. Find out about acrylic guitars and wood guitars with help from an experienced audio engineer in this free video clip.
No matter how hard you try to prevent it, you will eventually spill something on your wood table. Find out how to fix spills on a wood table with help from a 46-year-old master precision craftsman in this free video clip.
Wood has a tendency to split as it ages if you're not careful. Find out how to properly fix splitting wood with help from a 46-year-old master precision craftsman in this free video clip.
Replacing laminate on furniture is something you need to do very carefully to help make sure that you don't damage the piece you're working with. Replace laminate on furniture with help from a master precision craftsman in this free video clip.
Not all laminate floor cleaners are going to be pet friendly. Get tips on identifying laminate floor cleaners that won't harm your pets with help from an accomplished interior designer in this free video clip.
If you're thinking about installing flooring but are concerned your family pooch's nails and playtime behaviors might ruin natural hardwood planks, bamboo and laminate are two ideal options to put on your short list. Both floors resemble hardwood and come in a variety of colors, "species" and looks. Both are more durable, scratch-resistant and easier to maintain than your typical hardwood.
Laminate flooring is sturdy and less difficult to clean than carpeting. It is also relatively simple to put together yourself. Many laminates no longer require gluing the joints together because of improvements in interlocking joints. However, glue does help to seal the joints, which can prevent liquid spills from seeping in between the laminate seams. The process requires a laminate glue formulated for laminate. The laminate glue is available from the flooring manufacturer and home improvement centers.
Laminated wood adds to the attractiveness of your home whether it's found on your furniture, flooring or cabinetry. As a less expensive alternative to hardwood, laminate is easy to maintain and, when cared for properly, long lasting. Occasionally, air bubbles may form under the surface of your laminated wood due to loosening of the glue that bonds the veneer to the laminate or the development of air pockets beneath the surface. Remove air bubbles in the surface and restore the appearance of your laminate wood.
Laminate flooring consists of a small percentage of wood and synthetic materials and is designed to resemble hardwood flooring. It's considered a floating floor because it's not attached to the subfloor during installation. This, and the relative low cost, makes laminate flooring a viable option for homeowners that want to replace or upgrade old floors with minimal work and expense. Because laminate flooring floats, it can be installed over various types of surfaces, including concrete and wood floors. The surface of the preexisting floor must be flat, however, to keep the laminate flooring stable and prevent damage. For this reason,…
Wood-framed houses in areas prone to earthquakes need additional reinforcement to ensure structural integrity under adverse conditions. A critical reinforcement is installing framing anchors to secure the home’s wooden floor joists to the wooden sill plate that is bolted to the foundation. Framing anchors are right-angle steel plates about 4.5 inches long, with holes. Proper installation involves correct spacing and fastening.
Floor drains are set into workroom floors, kitchen floors, bathroom floors and some types of showers. They are needed anywhere large amounts of water often spill, or in any floor that is regularly washed down. Two of the most common types of floor drains are hub drains and no-hub drains. If you are installing your own floor drain system, you need to know the differences between the two, so you can install the right type of drain for your job.
A nick in your wood floor can detract from its otherwise smooth and surface. Nicks can happen as a result of improper movement of furniture or from dropping heavy objects. Regardless of the cause, it's important to repair the nick to maintain the wood's attractiveness and condition, rather than leave the nick to collect dirt and dust.
Fireplace surrounds are usually either plain affairs designed to direct heat from the fire directly out into the room, or ornate surfaces that not only deflect the heat, but also provide space to stand ornaments. You can build a decorative fireplace surround of your own in the form of four bookcases with doors to protect the books you store on the shelves. Building such a surround is a similar process to building any other bookshelves or cabinets.
Since 2003, British company Laura Ashley has produced a line of laminate floors to complement its elegant, yet casual design aesthetic. The flooring, available in a variety of colors and textures, is made by Witex USA, Inc., and is a laminate plank product designed to look like natural hardwood, down to notched edges, either around all four sides of each plank or just two. There are no special installation instructions particular to Laura Ashley flooring, outside of those for other Witex products. Begin with a solid, level surface cleared of any old flooring.
Floor molding can add a finished look to any room by providing a visual transition between the walls and the floor. You can add visual interest to the room by staining or painting the molding a different color than the walls. Using a workbench for cutting floor molding eliminates the need for long hours spent kneeling on the floor. Placing a portable power miter saw on a work bench makes cutting molding a straightforward task.
The pieces in a laminate floor snap together to stay in place rather than attaching to the floor underneath. Laminate can go over existing flooring, but you do need underlayment, which is typically made from a foam material. Laminate underlayment comes in rolls and is placed over the entire area where the laminate is installed. For laminate placed over concrete, or a tile floor with concrete underneath, you also need a vapor barrier to protect the floor. A combo vapor barrier and underlayment takes care of both requirements. Proper installation is key to protecting the laminate.
Floor trusses are manufactured semi-rigid structural floor components that take the place of traditional floor joists to provide a stronger support structure for your wood framed floors. Trusses are made to measure, created as a braced frame that’s nailed into place. While floor trusses can last for decades without sag or rot, they can become damaged and need replacement. Though the general structure of the truss is different from that of a floor joist, the replacement process is much the same, requiring the removal of the existing truss followed by the anchoring in place of the new truss. Once the…
If you expose your home's subfloor you'll see that it includes a sheet of plywood attached to the floor joists that runs all the way along the wall studs. Even after removing the primary flooring -- such as hardwood or carpeting -- you'll notice that the drywall rests above the subfloor, thereby making remodeling a difficult job. Incorrect removal of rotted or damaged plywood subfloors can damage or crack the drywall. Done correctly, you can reinstall the subfloor without damaging the wall above.
The original engineered wood product called Masonite was invented by William H. Mason in 1924 and used in a variety of building products, including art board, table tops, siding and flooring. Over time, other manufacturers began producing high-density fiberboard, or hardboard, which the public still commonly refers to as masonite. Among its other uses, high-density fiberboard is used as the core of pre-finished, snap-together, laminate flooring.
When replacing doors in your home you might find you want to install taller pre-hung doors. This requires you to make the doorway taller to accommodate the new door. Although a homeowner shouldn't attempt to enlarge an exterior doorway, it's within the scope of the homeowner to make an interior doorway taller. Most interior doorways use standard 2-by-4-inch framing. The key to successfully making a doorway taller is to provide support for the ceiling while you remove the current door header, once you remove the old door and door casing.
Transitioning from laminate floating floors to another surface isn't always difficult -- until you throw a curve into the mix. To put a transition molding around a curve, you'll need a flexible molding or a custom-made curved transition piece. A handful of companies specialize in either flexible or custom-made transition pieces, so you'll have to choose which route to go. The custom-made pieces are more expensive and can quickly tear through a flooring budget. Cutting the curves in the laminate isn't difficult with a jigsaw.
Maple Leaf Lamisol is a type of laminate flooring made in Canada. It is marketed under many names, including the Menard's and Wanke brands. Maple Leaf Lamisol flooring is easy to install, and it resists stains and fading. It comes in many colors and styles to suit any home's decor. You can use Lamisol in just about any room in the house without having to remove the old flooring. Just one person can easily install Lamisol using basic tools.
If you want a wood floor that looks as if it's been in place a lot longer than it has, you'll want to consider both the finish texture of the wood planks you use and the finishing product you apply to the floor once it's been laid. Hand scraping is a technique for making flooring planks with a simulated antique texture, and matte finish coatings help to highlight and protect hand-scraped wood.
Installing original hardwood plank flooring enhances the appearance of a room and adds a touch of country flair to the interior space. Depending on personal preference, use pine, cedar, oak or another wood in the desired shade to form a lasting floor. Before installation, however, clean the subfloor so it's smooth, level and free from inconsistencies. Once prepared, install the snap-together flooring planks from one end of the room to the other.
An island adds aesthetic appeal and practical workspace to a kitchen -- writing in “This Old House” magazine, contractor Duo Dickinson calls islands the hearth of the 21st Century kitchen. The process of adding an island depends upon a handful of important considerations, including the type of floor in your kitchen. You can add an island to an Armstrong Swiftlock laminate floor, for instance, in one of two ways -- by working around or going through the flooring.
Floating floors became widely used in the late 1990s as a nail-less flooring option for professionals and do-it-yourselfers. They get the name "floating" because they are not secured to the floor. The floors "click" or "snap" together by angling a tongue of one plank into a groove of another. Some floating floors still use glue in between the tongue and the groove, although the majority of manufacturers have adopted the snap-together method. Installation of most brands is a snap, although a few obstacles may pop up during the process.
Daltile is a company that makes a wide variety of tiles. Its offerings include pattern flagstones made of decorative all-natural slate. Each flagstone exhibits its own textured surface in varying shades. The flagstones have been specially cut to interlock and give a finished appearance. Daltile flagstones are used on walkways, patios, and floors. Like standard flagstones, the Daltile slate flagstones are installed by setting them across a prelaid concrete surface and adhering with thinset cement.
The transition between two different floors when going from a bedroom to a hallway can involved a variety of flooring materials. Laminate to carpet, tile or other laminate are some possibilities. A special saw with an offset handle makes installing the laminate under the door jamb professional looking. The jamb saw allows you to trim close to the floor without bumping your knuckles. A transition strip prevents any stumbling on loose material while providing a nice-looking bridge.
Floor, sole or base plates, typically constructed of 2-by-4 inch lumber, fasten to the subfloor or cement slab and help to hold a wall framework in place. Floor plates fasten the wall to the floor, while top plates fasten the wall to the ceiling and vertical studs fill the space between. When building a partition wall in an existing structure, some carpenters choose to install floor and top plates first, with the internal stud framework to follow. When framing a new structure, many carpenters erect the wall framework and install it in one piece, floor plates, top plates, studs and…
If you prepared your subfloor properly, any gap between your underlayment and your flooring will be down to the way you laid it. Laying the edges of pieces of underlayment on top of one another can create gaps, as can bunching sections of underlayment up under your floor during the laying process if the product you’re using is made of foam. Any gap between your underlayment and floor will weaken your boards and is likely to make an irritating noise.
Glueless laminate flooring is a free-floating floor covering that removes the need for securing the floor planks to your subfloor surface using adhesive. The flooring remains in place using a tongue and groove system, locking itself into a continuous surface once the boards are set into place. When you use the glueless flooring as a covering for your stairs however, many of the advantages of the tongue and groove system are lost due to the single board nature of the plank placements. Because of this, glueless laminate installation require that you secure the laminate as you would any step covering…
Laminate flooring, a synthetic product, is a relatively inexpensive alternative to hardwood. Manufacturers have designed it to be a floating floor because it can be installed over almost any type of surface. The only disadvantage of laminate flooring is the noise it can produce on contact. This is usually due to an uneven floor. Fortunately, you can avoid this problem by using an underlayment during installation. The installation is straightforward and does not require previous experience.
One of the most important parts of installing laminate flooring is creating a level subfloor underneath it. If installers skip this step, the wood floor actually hovers above the subfloor instead of laying flush on top of it. The result is that the boards move when you walk on them, which causes a popping or creaking noise. Fixing the problem requires that you fill in the uneven gap under the laminate floorboards.
Trimming a wood floor so that it meets the edge of a hearth evenly can be a difficult task. Cutting each board precisely to the hearth edge is time-consuming, and can often lead to a jagged edge where the surfaces meet. A better option is to either undercut a raised hearth slightly, so that you can extend the boards beneath it or conceal the board ends, or place trim strips overlapping the transition between the two surfaces. Either choice results in a crisp, clean edge that’s far more attractive than the jagged alternative.
Brick facade or facing transforms a house. It also eliminates maintenance and painting of that wall. Brick is a durable material and when properly installed will last for many decades. Installing it is not a simple task. Laying a basic brick facade requires some skill and attention to detail. Laying brick around doors and windows usually requires cutting bricks, which is not always easy and is best done with a masonry saw.
Stoves must have a stovepipe or chimney running through the wall behind the stove or from the roof of the house. The stovepipe must be properly sealed where it exits the roof. Corrugated tin roofs require tin flashing to seal the gap. Several products are available that slide directly over standard stovepipe sizes and create a watertight seal using rubber attached to the corrugated metal piece. These are called corrugated metal pipe boots.
Diagonal cracks leading upward and away from the top corners of the doors inside your home are often common in new homes. These cracks are mild enough that it's easy to pay them little mind. Often, however, they are a subtle sign that your house is settling. Some settling of the foundation is natural, but if the cracks persist, they can be evidence of a major issue. Fix these cracks but keep an eye on more appearing.
Although you do not usually insulate the ductwork that returns to your furnace from your vents, a few cases might arise where insulation proves beneficial. For example, if your return air ductwork runs through an unheated space like a crawlspace or attic, you need to insulate it. Otherwise, the air will cool significantly as it travels back to the furnace and your heating bills will rise. Depending on your climate, you might recoup the cost of insulating the ductwork within just a few months.
