As above. You will WANT to take out the floors that are there. You have a photo with sheet vinyl...that needs to come out. You post another photo of something that looks like stone. This one *might be able to stay....so long as you give it a HIGH-END clean and then polish it out and reseal...and remove/replace the grout. Or just jack it out if you want something new. I always chuckle when people try to go over top of a soiled floor. Why would you try that? It would be like throwing down a new bed sheet over top of a an old one that is filled with urine. Yuck! Remember: anything that is LEFT IN PLACE will CONTINUE to give off odour. So imagine all that money and work to put in flooring over top....only to have to spend MORE MONEY to rip out the "new", remove the old, purchase MORE flooring (because the "new" is now contaminated/too damaged to be useful) and then pay to have it installed - again. So the best thing to do: is do it properly the first time. That means ripping out the old. Cleaning all surfaces. Refinishing all surfaces that contain ordours (6 sides to a cube = 6 surfaces per room = ceilings, walls, floors, windows, doors, trim, etc). There are ways to deodorize somethings....but the best way to do this is to remove and replace as much as possible. Anything that cannot be removed/replaced can be dealt with using specialized products. But floors need to come out. Then you can do what you want whenever you want. It is much easier.

Run the long-edge of the plank along the long axis of the house. Example: the planks *should run length wise from the back door to the front door. The next option is to run the long edge of the planks in the same direction as sunlight enters the house. If possible, you do NOT want the long edges 'back lit' by sunlight. And to be clear, you will want to do the deck first and then the flooring. The amount of muck that will enter the home during the deck renovation is going to be substantial. You will want to let the existing flooring take the abuse and then replace it with new flooring when ALL OTHER renovations are complete. Remember: floors go in last.

Stumbled across this and wanted to add that 3 years later, this post remains accurate. There are two really good options in the Cincinnati…Windows Direct with the Sunrise Restorations and Windows Plus with the Soft-lite essentials. I was comfortable with both but in the end more comfortable with Windows Plus and with their cost 20% lower (and for triple pane vice double pane) it was the right decision for us…but it was not an easy decision. I would encourage anyone in the area to meet with both companies and skip the rest! There is still no Okna dealer in the area which makes these the 2 best vinyl windows and associated with 2 good installers.

Do you have photos? What is your style? What is your lifestyle? Who lives in the house? The wood work/trim/doors will dictate the colour range you can work in comfortably. To be clear, 'golden oak' is really ambering that happens when OIL FINISHES age. They turn orange. All by themselves...without any help from the wood below. When you sand down your old floors you will find they are beautiful (to me) wheat colour. First things first: make sure you do a SPECIES match with the new hardwood. Oak has many cousins. White Oak is not the same as Red Oak. European Oak is not the same as English Oak. European Cork Oak has NOTHING in common with European Oak. Whew. Pay the $100 fee to have a sample of your old floor sent away to a wood testing facility. They will tell you the species of your wood. You can make purchasing decisions from there. You then need to match the width of the plank, the cut (quarter, rift, plain, etc) AND the grade (Select, Common, etc). Now you can plan your colour. Things to remember: 1. Always have the wood flooring professional (not some guy who says he can do it) sand down a large patch (like the living room) of wood. Then add several colour swatches to your wood (if you want water popping, make sure he water pops the samples as well). And THEN he adds ONE COAT of the finish. 2. Never view colour swatches without a coat of finish. 3. View the colour swatches through the 5 lighting situations of the day. I normally like to see patches put down on Friday so you can view them over the weekend. By Monday you will have a very good idea of what you want and what you don't want. 4. Oil based polyurethanes turn ORANGE! 5. Oil MODIFIED polyurethanes turn YELLOW! 6. Water based polyurethanes are CLEAR and COLOURLESS! Whew. Try up loading some photos for us to see.