1
0
Adding a layer
I knew I wanted to replace my honey oak wood floor and builders’ special tile in my kitchen, front entrance, and powder room. I also knew that hardwood or laminate floors weren’t going to be in my budget. During our initial visit, Debby suggested I overlay new flooring over my existing floor. I did a bit of research, but I was still not sure if this was a safe option. I reached out to my neighbourhood Facebook group to see if anyone nearby had covered their hardwood floor and tiles with new flooring. Someone a few blocks away replied they were in the process of remodelling their kitchen (turns out it was with the company that I got my original kitchen renovation quote from; small world) and doing exactly what I was thinking of doing. My neighbor invited me to come over and look at their flooring, so later that day I went to check it out. She said they were pleased with the results, and it looked great from what I could see, so that was the validation I needed to move ahead with covering up my existing floors.
LVP is the MVP
When I was investigating flooring options, a friend mentioned she was installing vinyl floors throughout her house. I though well I don’t want vinyl (thinking she meant linoleum). However, when I started looking at floor options, I quickly understood luxury vinyl meant something totally different than I was envisioning, and that vinyl had come a long way from the 70s style flooring I grew up with. Hardwood is the best quality flooring you can buy, but if your budget doesn’t support this expense, laminate and luxury vinyl planks are great options. LVP is waterproof, durable, and budget friendly, although prices throughout various LVP brands do vary greatly.
Beach vibes
When I moved into my house, the honey oak floors were a potential deal breaker. I disliked them from the start, but decided to purchase my house with a plan in the back of my mind to eventually replace them. I covered them up with area rugs, but they were still pretty visible throughout my house. I knew I wanted to go a much lighter tone for my new floors, and although I couldn’t live further from the beach, I had this vision in my head of “beachy” wood floors that I had probably seen on HGTV. I used to love Vern Yip’s designs when I first started watching “Trading Spaces.” He always designed beautiful rooms that had a beachy, calming vibe. I started looking for samples at a couple of local shops to recreate the look.
Sample and opinion overload
One day when I was at Lowes, I found a floor sample I really liked. I showed it to Debby and she sourced a couple of similar samples (better quality) at another local store. At one point I had six different samples. Deciding on a floor colour was one of the decisions that scared me the most, as it would impact the entire lower level of my house and maybe eventually my whole house. I laid the samples in my spaces and viewed them in different lights and with different elements of my rooms (area rug, couch, front door, cabinets). One night I even transported all six samples to a “Girls Night” dinner to ask my friends their faves. Unfortunately, I got five different opinions and was more confused than ever.
Rookie Tip: Although you crave validation for your design choices, it can sometimes cause more confusion than clarity. Everyone has different styles and you have to be confident in the choices you are making. That didn’t stop me for asking my closest friends (who I looked to as trusted advisors) their opinions throughout my renovation. If you’re familiar with the saying “too many cooks in the kitchen,” well this can also apply to asking friends and family for their opinions on the items you are debating for your renovation. In my case, they would always say “it’s your house, so pick what you like”, but in the back of your mind, you don’t want to make the wrong choice since you are spending a lot of money on your project.
Seeing is believing
Pretty early on, I landed on a favourite sample from BIYORK called Everest, part of their HyroGen 5 line. I went back to the flooring store Carpet One in Milton and returned and took out the sample board at least three times, but I still wasn’t sure. The small plank wasn’t giving me a true representation of the colour variation on the planks. I liked it a lot, but something was preventing me from placing my order. I searched online for a virtual sample, which still didn’t help. Still unsure, I called BIYORK and asked if I could purchase a box of the flooring I liked. The person I spoke to was amazing, and she offered to ship a sample of Everest to the store in Milton (I don’t even think I got charged for it). Once I had the box of flooring, I placed it in my space and I was able to see the colour variation I was looking for and this cemented my decision.
Level up
The week after the COVID hiatus flooring was laid. It was the first noticeable improvement, so I was so excited, and beyond ready to see the changes I had been planning for months start to come together. I had the tile in the kitchen removed during demo as there was a height difference between the original tile and my hardwood floors in the living room, so we couldn’t overlay the kitchen floor. Once the tile was removed, a new subfloor was laid. A “leveller” compound was applied to the hardwood flooring from the front door to the edge of the living room as well as in my powder room. This helped even out grout lines and the lip between the kitchen and living room.
Put it down and cover it up
The flooring went down quick! It only took a couple of days. As soon as a large portion was laid, I immediately loved the look. It was exactly what I was looking for. I decided that I was not going to cover my stairs with the new flooring. That will have to be a project for a later date. Although, I am dying to do it now! I am currently looking at painting the stairs with white and dark grey paint. Once the floor was laid, we all had to be really careful. There were still a lot of materials to be installed including cabinets and counters, so I was very worried the new floors might get damaged. We were also in the middle of winter, so salt and snow were also major factor. I went to the dollar store and invested in rubber runners and some drop clothes to try and protect my flooring. A few of the other suppliers also brought their own runners.
I am very happy with my flooring choice. I had it installed from the front door to the back patio door, it has lightened up, and really changed the look of my entire main floor.
The next post, one of the biggest, and most expensive items in my renovation; cabinets are installed and we are about half-way through the renovation…and budget.
Happy reading,
LA
