Wow, this is a new one on me. I've never seen anyone do this and I spent a lot of time researching flooring options last year. How much do you think you will save by doing this instead of buying hardwood?

At least half Cindy. A sheet of 3/4 inch oak carpenter grade plywood at our local HoDe or L's is $45.94 for a 4x8 foot sheet or 32 square feet. The lowest price on prefinished solid oak is at $2.99 a square foot making it $95.68 for 32 square feet. I did see unfinished at L's for as low as $2.58 a square foot, but if we went with oak flooring we'd buy prefinished.

I have seen this done once in a picture but don't remember where! I was impressed, it looked amazing.

This isn't what you're thinking of, but I saw this blog when I was looking for basement flooring. I love it.

Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down for painted floor

I did it as one of those scenarios where I had to do something because what was underneath was cut and gouged could not be painted. I glued the 1/4" cheap birch down with screen door edging as "grout" in between and decorated it with a wood burner kit. I thought if it held up for 5 years, it was worth it, then we could take the time to redo the floor "properly." It has held up for 6 years so far with no wear and is the favorite decor item of many of our guests. I finished it with 3 coats of oil based poly, so the water never really touches the wood.

I would think it would be prone to warping?

Dainaadele, your floor really is neat!

ML

I seriously considered this for our river house that flooded twice in the last 3 years. I went back one more time with laminate. It will become a pavilion if it floods again.

Yes Dainaadele, I agree that is one cool floor!

I have to assume this is a treatment that is only practical for someone with the carpentry skills to install the floor himself. Otherwise, I think the extra labor would outweigh whatever you might save on materials.

But even just comparing materials, when you factor in the cost of a high quality finish material, won't the final cost be very close to what you would pay for pre-finished 3/4" hardwood?

Daisy thanks for that link to the painted floor. I painted my stairs recently and I must say, I am thrilled with how well the paint is holding up. At one time I read that it was a waste of effort to paint a floor because, according to the article no paint could hold up on a floor. That may have been true at one time, but the stuff they have now is fantastic and definitely worth considering.

I was thinking the same as Cindyloo, that the extra labor to install, finish the edges of the plywood, and then seal it will probably end up costing as much as the prefinished oak.

I've done lots of DIY and I see it as being labor intensive compared to oak planks ready for installation.

I love the look in your inspiration picture. My caution would be longevity. The attractive/veneer part of plywood is thin, it will not re-finish. Hard wood can be sanded and re-finished over its life time many times.

I thought of that too arcy, but this is a seldom used guest room I'm wanting to put it in. We'll use quite a few coats of a floor grade polyurethane on it so last for decades. The fact that dainaadelle has it in a bathroom for six years without damage is a good sign.

I think the tile look in your first photo is beautiful. If your guest room just gets occasional use (as mine does) hopefully longevity won't be a problem.

I just wanted to caution that what you are seeing in the inspiration photo is furniture grade plywood. You will not get that look from the home despot stuff. That said, the bathroom floor above is actually very pretty, but I just wanted to point out that they are two different grades with significantly different costs.

hokypoy, just our son and his family live close by so we're the ones that travel for family get togethers leaving our guest room rarely used. Even our daughter and her soon to be hubby (once he returns from overseas) will rarely visit since they'll be stationed in Hawaii. So no worries of heavy traffic.
igloochic, furniture grade is what I was talking about when I wrote "finish/carpenter grade plywood". Both estimates were using that as examples. Per sheet price was $44.94 using 3/4" thick and the $23.12 using 1/4" thick.

I LOVE the bathroom floor with the woodburning patterns! I had one of those kits when I was around 10, I loved using it but (fortunately) never had the idea of decorating my parents' floors or furniture.
This blog gives a how-to on putting in a plywood floor. Very intriguing!

Here is a link that might be useful: frugal farmhouse designs

Thanks sonicmom. I wonder if the expansion gaps are necessary? I really wouldn't want grooves where dust could gather. It was nice to see that Varathane has a water based floor finish. We use water based whenever possible but I thought you had to use oil based on floors.

I'm not an expert on this, but I work at an Ace Hardware and I seem to remember the only poly we could order in that was specifically MEANT FOR floors was water-based. Granted, most of the normal oil-based polys do say they can be used on floors, too.

Thanks jessicaml. Actually one of the most popular floor finishes is oil based. Varithane Premium Floor Finish, but its good to know there are a number of water based finishes out there.

The Varithane was what I used, I had forgotten until justgotabme mentioned it. You don't need to worry about expansion with plywood. The reason I did it was for contrast, and since I was putting in squares that may not be perfectly square, I thought that a slight bevel at the joints would help mask any irregularities. It was one of those happy experiments. By the time the poly filled the cracks, nothing falls in there. I should mention that the close up picture was taken before the poly was done, while the rest of the room was still under construction.

I think the professional grade water base polys specificly made for flooring like Bona, are more durable now than the oil base. At least that's what I always was reading in the hardwood flooring forums like Hardwood Talk etc.

You might want to look into the Floor Mechanics Store, they sell the professional grade floor finishing products (polys, stains, fillers, applicators, cleaners, etc.) to DIYers.

Floor Mechanics

They are mostly a big online store, but their comapny has a building/warehouse in Omaha where you can go in and purchase products. We bought all our floor finishing products from them when we installed/finished our hardwood floors DIY and they were wonderful to work with, their staff is very knowledgable and so nice.

The professional grade polys cost more, but it's worth it, our floors are wearing like iron, I have yet to find a scratch despite our dogs racing around for the past year since we installed them.

Thanks dainaadele. That's good to know about the expansion. I thought that was kind of odd they did that, but wasn't sure if I just didn't know something. I love your faux grout, but if we do this we need to save as much time as possible since our future son in law is due here in two to three weeks. He's deployed and is waiting on orders home.

roobear, my eyes about fell out of my head when you said they have a store in Omaha. We live out in the country a short distance from Omaha. Used to live there so I know the area where the store is at too. I'll have to check them out. Thank you!

justgotabme, your inspiration pics are fabulous! It looks as if you have done your research. I wish you the best of luck on this project:)

Justgotabme, I thought you lived close to me (Omaha), which is why I mentioned it. :)

Thank you ellle3. I finally told my hubby about it last night and he actually seemed interested! I wasn't sure he would be, considering how many other projects we have to finish our home. I think the low labor time helped.
roobear, I'm sure we've talked about living close to each other before, and now that you mention it I do somewhat remember, just not the details. With all that's gone on in the past six months my brain is fried! Thank the Lord breathing is involuntary! If only eating was something I'd forget...
We should meet in Omaha, for lunch sometime after our daughter's wedding. Okay that sounds like I mean yours and my daughter's wedding. LOL I always say "ours" since I didn't have them without the help of my hubby.

When we first moved into our house we pulled up some truly ugly carpet, but didn't have the funds to install hardwood and did not want to reinstall carpet. We purchased 4x8 sheets of plywood that were oak on one side, squared them up and screwed them into the subfloor. We use A LOT of screws around the edges because we didn't want them cupping. Then we painted two coats of a floor paint. Finally we put down an area rug.

This fix was supposed to be temporary, but it stayed that way for 9 years! The room was the former master bedroom but became the walk-through room between the hall and our master bedroom that we built above the garage. So there was decent people traffic over that floor - not to mention madly running Beagles who loved to race from our bedroom, through the "walk-through" room, down the hall, into the guest bedroom at the other end of the hall, up onto the guest bed, turn around and fly back to our bedroom, up on the bed and repeat. We inherited soft yellow pine floors downstairs and know what Beagle claws can do. The plywood floors held up perfectly.

As a bonus, when we finally took up the floors to install hardwood, we stored the plywood in the garage and recycled it for numerous projects since then.

I'm thinking of doing the plywood planks in our FR. Years ago we ripped out the cheap berber carpet in the room and just sanded & faux painted the subfloor. It was intended to be just a temporary fix to get us thru till we put in new flooring. But life got in the way and we never did get around to doing the floors. With five dogs, a woodstove, entry to the muddy back yard, that stupid painted subfloor (which has 3 coats of water based poly) has held up remarkably. However, we're finally at the point where we are going to put in a floor in there. We're waiting till our elderly dog has passed (he has a lot of accidents) but we're really intrigued by the rustic look of the plywood planks. I've seen it on Pinterest, and really, really like it. We've got oak hardwood floors throughout the house except in the FR and the office (they're an addition), and until we figure out our long term plan for the FR, we're going to go an inexpensive route. If that plywood lasts as long as the painted subfloor (going on 7 years), it'll be a great deal.

How about porch grade floor planks? Anyone use them, and then maybe paint them?

Justgottabme, please share pictures of the room when it's finished. This is a very intriguing idea!

Here is another blog about plywood floors~

Here is a link that might be useful: http://quarryorchard.blogspot.com/2010/12/plywood-to-plank-flooring-tutorial.html

Here is another blog about plywood floors~

Here is a link that might be useful: http://quarryorchard.blogspot.com/2010/12/plywood-to-plank-flooring-tutorial.html

Here is another blog about plywood floors~

Here is a link that might be useful: http://quarryorchard.blogspot.com/2010/12/plywood-to-plank-flooring-tutorial.html

So Sorry~I kept getting an "error" msg.

I'm wondering if something like this can be laid down directly on concrete or if it wouldn't work for the same reason hardwood needs to have a subfloor underneath it.? I love the first picture of the big plywood "tiles." It's gorgeous. justgotabeme, did that picture come with any additional information or how-to's?

Dainaadele, I love that floor and would love to do that in my house. I love that it has the edging in between as grout, but I'm not sure exactly what 'screen door edging' is. Is it a thin molding? I tried to look it up but couldn't find anything.
Did you do the wood burning design before or after you laid down the flooring?

I followed a blog a few years ago where a couple was DIY'g an entire kitchen makeover. They put plywood flooring down and painted it white. It was actually a temporary floor while they focused on real beadboard ceilings, cabinet makeovers, etc. I think she posted a lot on the HGTV decorating board. It was a gorgeous cottage/country style kitchen and the floors looked great. Wish I could remember the name of the blog.

Here are some neat painted plywood floors that I googled.

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted plywood floors

If I do convince my hubby that this is something that would work in our guest room it will most definitely be stained. We're both wood lovers. I being down right obsessive about it, so much so that I have folders of different wood species on my computer. The thought of covering any woodgrain (other than some knotty pines or low grain woods) up with paint brings me close to hyper ventilating and my eyes start to twitch.

I'm a bit embrassed to write that, but it's true.
If you could have only seen me recently when at a local thrift store I spotted a vintage Lane Acclaim cocktail table and student desk made from beautifully grained walnut (my favorite non exotic wood species) and ash, you'd know just what I'm talking about.
(I'll started another thread when I get a chance to take some pictures for all of you that understand that feeling.)
That being said, I don't mind anyone posting about the painted plywood floors on this thread, since others may very well be interested. Just didn't want anyone to feel hurt that I didn't rave about the ones they posted. You could very well feel the same way about stained wood that I do painted wood...though I can't imagine why. Just kidding.
Kashmi, I love it when you can recycle materials from a reno into something else. I want to find a way to use the old stairs (2x10's) into something instead of just tossing them. Most likely rustic benches or tables for one of our porches.
Pesky, I completely understand about life getting in the way. We've been in our "new" home for just just short of eight and a half years now and just two weeks ago finally got the construction grade stairway replace with beautiful solid oak floors. Still have finished touches left to do, but the stairs are in! YAY! We too have oak hardwood floors through much of the main level and hallway of our home. Which is why I'm not sure hubby will go for this. At least he didn't pooh pooh it when I mentioned it to him the other day.
Jeane Gallo I'm not sure how those would work if there were doors in the room since they're so thick. You might have to cut off the bottom edge of the door so they'd open.
Cindyloo123, if we do decide to go this way I'll be sure to share pictures. It will be awhile before we have time with the wedding and other summer activities though. You'll have to be patient.
forboystoo, That's where I got the second picture from in my original post. I get that error message every single time I post to a thread I started.
bluemoon, I think you'd need a moisture barrier of some sort.
lauriedeee, here's a picture of screen molding...

Oops, was just closing tabs and realized I forgot the link to where I found the first picture. No info there though, sorry.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plywood tile floors

I'm sure we've talked about living close to each other before, and now that you mention it I do somewhat remember, just not the details. With all that's gone on in the past six months my brain is fried! Thank the Lord breathing is involuntary! If only eating was something I'd forget...
We should meet in Omaha, for lunch sometime after our daughter's wedding. Okay that sounds like I mean yours and my daughter's wedding. LOL I always say "ours" since I didn't have them without the help of my hubby

LOL, certainly understandable, we've been pretty busy too recently with a DIY bath remodel, hubby going in for shoulder surgey soon, and fostering a puppyish dog that loves to chew on my house (walls, door trim, oven, furniture, banister etc.) even though she has tons of good chew toys.

I hope your daughter has a beautiful wedding. :)

lauriedeee: I wood burned the squares first. The wood burning kit that I bought in our local Hobbylobby came with the leaf tip. I did it while watching a movie one night. I occasionally look at my stairs, thinking about how it would look if..... The problem is my house is more Craftsman than Victorian. Flowers and vines on the stairs would be maybe "too fancy."

Thank you roobear. I've mixed feelings. I want it over, but that means she leaves for Hawaii and I don't know when I'll see her next. She just in Missouri now, though we're so busy getting the house ready I've not had time to go visit her and she's not wanting to drive up here again until her fiance it home.
Oh boy, I remember those puppy days when our precious Maggie had a litter and they loved to chew everything in sight.
I hope your hubby is healing quickly.

Justgotabme~ I can't get your link to open for me .
I hope I'm not re-posting your link again...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://design-crisis.com/?tag=painted-floors

Hmm...that's funny it worked for me just now. And no that's not the same link, but it links to the page I linked too. LOL