Eagle Eyes Needed! Pros & Cons of Floor Plans
premerson
4 years ago
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Green Hammer Construction Consulting
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Pros and cons of Engineered Wood floors
Comments (5)We've had engineered (handscraped oak gunstock, 5/8" thick) flooring in a living room for about a year. We like it so well that we've just purchased enough of the same flooring to install it throughout the rest of the downstairs, including in our kitchen. We selected a click-lock version, which is glueless and results in a floating floor. Installation was a breeze (just need to make custom cuts at the ends of runs, and around door jambs, etc.) and the 5/8" thick planks are heavy enough that the floating floor feels very solid rather than having that "hollow" feeling some floating floors have. I would avoid a 3/8" product if you want a solid feeling. I've found that it will scratch, but no more so than a regular solid wood floor. Follow the usual care practice recommended for wood floors - pads under furniture, regular sweeping/vacuuming, etc.. The particular kind we got has just a thin veneer which, normally, might be able to be sanded just once, but because of the "hand-scraped" effect, can't really be sanded. But, there is new technology out there which abrades "sculpted" floors with sort of a brush attachment, allowing for refinishing without sanding to bare wood. Realistically, I figure if there were major damage, I would replace the damaged planks. I don't expect to refinish this floor. Factory finishes are actually more durable than anything that can be applied on-site. Things to think about... a lot of people advise against engineered floors (or wood, in general) in kitchens because of the potential for spills. Some people have some horror stories to tell. But, engineered wood flooring in particular is recommended for areas where there is excess moisture, so it seems like a good choice (over solid wood) in a kitchen. Because of its multilayer construction, it is more stable than solid wood. Obviously, you don't want to let spills sit for any length of time if you can avoid it. But, I actually took a few scraps of wood leftover from our first installation, and did all sorts of "tests" on them. I soaked them in water, and I let water (and even vinegar, to recreate cat puke...) sit on them while they were clicked together. The substrate of mine is mostly HDF, with plywood sandwiched in the middle, and I didn't have problems. The HDF is impregnated with wax, resisting water. I am most excited to install these in my kitchen - I have identified an indoor/outdoor kilim rug available from Pottery Barn and plan to use that near my stove and sink to help protect the floor. Otherwise, I'll just exercise common sense. Note that I am usually a "purist" when it comes to most construction products. I HATE vinyl siding, I HATE vinyl flooring, I HATE laminate flooring. I had to wrap my brain around the engineered flooring, but gave in because the installation was just so easy. I really love it - because the top layer is real wood, it has a sort of authentic beauty laminate just can't match. It really has a warm look and we're pleased we took the plunge....See MoreDown to 3 floor plans. Can you give me pros/cons to help me decide?
Comments (7)The more bumps, roof lines etc the more expensive. The cheapest to build is a box, so the closer to a box your footprint is the cheapest, therefore I would say the farmhouse would be more to build. I noticed the laundry was upstairs in the farmhouse also, will this be a home you live in when you are older? If so you may want main floor laundry. I do like that the dining room is part of the kitchen, never had any use for a seperate formal dining room myself. In #56 the master bath seems odd for some reason, and a long way to walk to get a quick change of clothes, I would probably put a sliding door to one of the closets from the bedroom. Laundry does seem ackward here because its not a straight shot or even semi straight from your bedroom to it, where all your clothes and towels will originate. I love the front porch and overall look of the house though. The William one has some good things, the sun/kitchen nook is large enough to be a dining area on its own, allowing you to re-purpose the official dining area and use it as a library/den, etc. You could even make the kitchen larger: taking away space from that dining room, and use the smaller new room as a office/workout room etc If you added 4 extra feet to the bottom of the kitchen, the remaining "dining" room would still be more than large enough for office/workout space. That is still larger than bedrooms I have seen in smaller houses! It has lots of storage and a great porch. And everything you need as you get older is all located on the main floor. You don't mention kids so I haven't really taken them into consideration much, but he farmhouse does have a nice activity/playroom on the 2nd floor, and the William one has the bedrooms spaced a little apart which could potentially avoid some sibliling conflicts, plus that huge future room as they get older and want friends over or a media room. For me I would narrow it further to the farmouse or William. And probably lean more toward the william one because its squareish, seems to have more useable space, and potential with just a few changes....See Morefirst build. thoughts on house plan. pro cons?
Comments (5)You're giving an awful lot of exterior wall over to closets, both upstairs and downstairs. Closets should go on interior walls, so bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces can have windows. Is the size of your lot dictating the weird garage arrangement? One 3-car garage would allow much more natural light into the living areas of the home. A big fat NO to the cooktop on the island. Put the cooktop on an outside wall where it can be properly vented, eliminate the second island, and gain yourself a lot of space in the living/dining rooms. One does not need to seat the whole family at the island when there is a dining table 2 steps away....See MoreMohawk Revwood Plus - Pros and Cons - My Experience
Comments (17)You know, it's funny that someone posted on this thread just now. Just two days ago, I ended up accidentally dropping a plate from normal carrying height in the kitchen. The plate shattered and ended up scratching two planks. Well, one of the planks is more like a gash, while the other one has two surface scratches. Not bad, but still kind of annoyed. My original floor installers will replace the planks for me with my spares whenever they install some new baseboards in my garage in July. Other than that little incident, my floors have been pretty durable over the last year with no real issues, although I did freak out once when my bug guy dragged my stove out from its spot to spray. I told him to not do that again. I did, however, send a snarky e-mail to Mowhawk, telling them that they probably shouldn't market a floor as "scratch resistant" while conveniently excluding scratches from the warranty. It is what it is, I guess. I still haven't done my upstairs yet, which probably won't be until next year, but rest assured, I'm going to always make sure I have extra boxes of planks at all times. Better to overprepare than underprepare. As for the creaking. I still have some creaks in a few spots and do notice some "play" in certain areas around the perimeter, but these are typically in areas that I never walk on....See Morepremerson
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4 years agopremerson thanked Green Hammer Construction Consultingemilyam819
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