I should have never got wood floors throughout the house!
curlyjbs117
15 years ago
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arizonarose
15 years agoseattlemike
15 years agoRelated Discussions
I've got the shade, but shade plants never thrive!
Comments (6)I have a mostly wooded lot. All the neighbors (non gardeners) are also wooded. So even if I cut down trees I would need them to cut some down also in order to get full sun. There are places on my property that nothing grows, not even poison ivy or stilt grass. I should have paid attention to this fact when I planted tons of hostas and hellebores and various other shade tolerant plants. Live and learn. Years ago I had a dozen or so mature oaks and tulip poplars cut down, that made enough room for a veggie garden but now that a few years have passed the edge trees are spreading their canopy out over the open spot. The only thing I can get to grow well at the foot of the trees is Hedera helix or English Ivy - which is a big no no plant, invasive wise. I don't have to plant it, it just pops up throughout the edge of the woods. There is too much of it to pull up so what I do is trim it from tree trunks so that it never gets tall enough to bloom. A trick I've used in the past is to take large plastic pots of rich potting media and plant fast growing tropicals - Wandering Jew, Swedish Ivy, Syngonium, etc. I sink the pot into the ground and the vines creep out and cover about 5 feet in all directions. They won't survive winter but they make decent houseplants. I haven't seen decent rain in a month. In this weather you have to water every day and potted plants often need it twice just to stay alive. If you're not going to water, I doubt anything will thrive there....See MoreHow should I heat/cool my house, hydro air, wood, propane...OIL!?
Comments (28)Here is what I think is going to play out best for you if you are going to be in the house long enough and will heat primarily with wood. Keep in mind that I am an amateur with absolutely no experience in duct systems. I decommissioned mine at the first opportunity and installed mini splits. I'll gladly accept all criticism from anyone that actually knows something. Berto, you've already said that you are going to have ducted AC, (I'd look at mini-split heat pumps, but that is me and I don't have the time to split wood.) It ought to be pretty simple to make a dual furnace system with a wood furnace first in series with the (second) propane or electric furnace. Your thermostat turns on the AHU blower (for me, ideally, a variable speed blower with a proportional thermostat). If the wood boiler is supplying sufficient heat the secondary furnace does not run. If the duct temp between the furnaces falls below a set temp (which might slide depending on outdoor temperature) the secondary furnace fires up. If the day comes that you tire of cutting and splitting wood, you pull out the cheap furnace and put in a mod con furnace. It is no biggie to toss that first furnace because it was inexpensive to start with. The duct system has to be designed to support both heat sources and cooling. The furnace that you choose will have to be just good enough to run a cooling system well which might be more costly than the least expensive that you might use for (back up) heating alone. Keep in mind that a (complicated) super efficient furnace or boiler is not going to be a good investment in a well-insulated and sealed house that is primarily heated with wood. The ROI time will look like infinity....See MoreShould I install woodlike tile throughout the house?
Comments (6)We just had over 2,000 sq feet of wood look tile installed in our home. We're in South Florida so there weren't many other options that I would consider. I am not a fan of laminate or LVP so it was either real wood or porcelain tile... and in south FL with a pool, humidity, etc we decided on tile. People on here say the tile planks are going out of style but it's just not true. It's durable, has a great texture (isn't shiny), elongates the home if you run it the right way, and has that look of warmth on the floor instead of the usual cold square builder grade tile that is all over down here. Many will also say it'll never pass as real wood and I agree but who is trying to pass it off as real wood? It's not even close lol. But it looks amazing for what it is! I like a seamless floor throughout so I'd do that whatever option you choose. We are in the middle of our reno so the floors are very dusty and some parts are covered but here are a few pics:...See MoreWhat wood flooring would compliment the tile throughout the house?
Comments (9)OK...Here are some suggestions. If you KNOW the tile is coming out in the next 5-7 years (I call this the 7 year renovation time line....which you plan out EXTENSIVELY before you TOUCH a single surface...right?) I HIGHLY recommend you put in a SOLID hardwood upstairs. You will have it SITE FINISHED to the colour you want for then next 25 years. Leave the stairs alone for now. Recarpet if you must...but leave them alone. You will choose a REGULAR 3.75" narrow strip hardwood in a regular wood (Maple, Red Oak, White Oak...nothing crazy or exotic). You will do this with the FULL KNOWLEDGE you will *most likely run this through the MAIN LEVEL at some other point in time. You want to be able to source the product in 7-10 years time...so you can have a consistent WOOD throughout the home. You do NOT have to have the same COLOUR on the two levels but you really want to try to keep the same SPECIES, WIDTH, and CUT for future renovations/refinishings. You will 'match' or 'compliment' the stairs to the MAIN LEVEL flooring (not the upstairs flooring). And THAT'S why you leave the stairs until you refinish the DOWNSTAIRS. Believe me, you have a lot of PLANNING to do for the next 5-7 years worth of RENOVATIONS. You will want to have a "story board" of colours that you want the ENTIRE HOUSE to be draped in BEFORE you touch the flooring. We've seen FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE rip up flooring 'at the beginning' (because the house is empty and it is the 'easiest' time to do it) only to have HUGE regrets that they rushed the decision. It is an EXPANSIVE and EXTENSIVE mistake to make. And please be aware the carpet is hiding HORRIBLE subfloors. I mean EXPENSIVE TO FIX. I always tell my clients to budget $2-$4/sf for the subfloors under the carpets. The average is around $2.50 - $3/sf...but a $4/sf repair is not rare. The $5-$6/sf repair/rebuild is rare....but not unheard of. Give yourself a TOTAL budget and work BACKWARDS to your 'wood purchase' budget. You might just find the 'purchase budget' is TOO LOW to get a wood floor installed....See Moreseattlemike
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