Home Improvement/DIY Projects

So has anyone here done flooring? So I bought an office space. About 3000 square foot of flooring on the main floor that I'll be renovating. Anyone have any suggestions on flooring? I'm finding it a bit overwhelming and realizing that prices can get pretty crazy pretty fast.
 
So has anyone here done flooring? So I bought an office space. About 3000 square foot of flooring on the main floor that I'll be renovating. Anyone have any suggestions on flooring? I'm finding it a bit overwhelming and realizing that prices can get pretty crazy pretty fast.

Depends on what you’re going for. If you want to save as much as possible, I’d look into some commercial carpet through Home Depot. It’s been a while, but you can probably get it bought and installed under $4 per sqft, maybe more if it’s gone up like everything else.

Laminate or vinyl is so over priced in my opinion. I’m shopping for flooring right now and I just can’t justify $5+ per sqft on the laminate shit just for the material. I’m leaning toward hardwood or bamboo.

I will say, my brother in law opened a tattoo shop not too long ago and bought some $3 per sqft laminate. He wasted his money. Anywhere there’s a chair it’s all lifring and he has cracks throughout.

If you’re doing it as a DYI, make sure and read the directions. You want to stagger those joints as they instruct. That’s another pet peeve of mine when I see a DIY laminate job.
 
To answer the question, yeah I’ve done probably 100,000+ sqft of flooring, tile/laminate/hardwood/vinyl.

I’ve never installed carpet, though.
 
I've done laminate, bamboo, and tile.

Just don't ever do a glue down wood floor. The result is great, but it's the biggest mess imaginable. And the glue costs a fortune too.
 
Depends on what you’re going for. If you want to save as much as possible, I’d look into some commercial carpet through Home Depot. It’s been a while, but you can probably get it bought and installed under $4 per sqft, maybe more if it’s gone up like everything else.

Laminate or vinyl is so over priced in my opinion. I’m shopping for flooring right now and I just can’t justify $5+ per sqft on the laminate shit just for the material. I’m leaning toward hardwood or bamboo.

I will say, my brother in law opened a tattoo shop not too long ago and bought some $3 per sqft laminate. He wasted his money. Anywhere there’s a chair it’s all lifring and he has cracks throughout.

If you’re doing it as a DYI, make sure and read the directions. You want to stagger those joints as they instruct. That’s another pet peeve of mine when I see a DIY laminate job.

Yeah there is commercial carpet down already. Just not a fan for a law office. I was thinking about LVP it looks good at the store just not sure how it will actually look once laid down. I think you can get for maybe $3.00 a square foot depending but I don't want it to look cheap. Engineered hardwood is great looking but the prices on that are $4-6 without paying for installation.
 
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I actually don’t have a finished picture of this one. This is like 95% done in this photo.
 
Enough decks. I want more dirt on your skirmish with Cotton today.
 
@Sheik or anyone else, I have a question I'm not quite sure how to deal with.

I'm redoing a bathroom. When I was scraping the popcorn ceiling, I must have screwed the sheetrock back and raised it up a little to the point it's not quite level. (I guess it was hanging down slightly before, not sure if by design or not)

I need to tile the shower up to the ceiling, but now this raised area won't reach. And a half-inch or whatever sliver of tile to fill in obviously isn't an option.

My idea was to put crown moulding up there to lower it an inch or whatever so a full piece will reach. Then I could slightly cut the edges of the other tiles to fit. Sound okay?

I guess I could try to somehow lower it again slightly, but I've already mudded over the screws and that would be a huge pain.

Edit to add -- I could also just not go to the ceiling and bullnose across a foot or so short of the ceiling. That would look fine, I think -- still tile going far up the wall, much bigger and better looking than the old 1980 crappy tile that only went barely above your head.

Any thoughts welcome. This is a weird problem I haven't seen addressed anywhere on the internet.
 
@Sheik or anyone else, I have a question I'm not quite sure how to deal with.

I'm redoing a bathroom. When I was scraping the popcorn ceiling, I must have screwed the sheetrock back and raised it up a little to the point it's not quite level. (I guess it was hanging down slightly before, not sure if by design or not)

I need to tile the shower up to the ceiling, but now this raised area won't reach. And a half-inch or whatever sliver of tile to fill in obviously isn't an option.

My idea was to put crown moulding up there to lower it an inch or whatever so a full piece will reach. Then I could slightly cut the edges of the other tiles to fit. Sound okay?

I guess I could try to somehow lower it again slightly, but I've already mudded over the screws and that would be a huge pain.

Any thoughts welcome. This is a weird problem I haven't seen addressed anywhere on the internet.
Any time you're doing construction, trim is your friend.
 
Any time you're doing construction, trim is your friend.
For sure.

I have read that crown mould in a shower is a bad idea for mold, rot, etc. reasons. But my mom and dad's bathrooms have that and it looks good. If I double prime with an oil based primer I think it would be fine.

But stopping short of the ceiling and going with bullnose might be a better idea. It would definitely be much easier.
 
For sure.

I have read that crown mould in a shower is a bad idea for mold, rot, etc. reasons. But my mom and dad's bathrooms have that and it looks good. If I double prime with an oil based primer I think it would be fine.
Yeah, I think you'll be fine doing it that way. You treat it properly and it should be fine.
 
You can do a soldier course on the top row of the shower. That's what the guy who put in mine did. The top row is vertical and the other tile runs horizontally so you can space it out.

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@dpf1123 Thanks, that's very interesting and something I hadn't thought of. I'm not sure if it would look as good with my style of tile, but I'll try to play with it and see if it might work.
 
For sure.

I have read that crown mould in a shower is a bad idea for mold, rot, etc. reasons. But my mom and dad's bathrooms have that and it looks good. If I double prime with an oil based primer I think it would be fine.

But stopping short of the ceiling and going with bullnose might be a better idea. It would definitely be much easier.
You can use PVC trim and crown molding.
 
I normally don’t take my tile all the way to the top. Here’s a shower I did in my house.
B8CFFB11-7735-493F-8A24-1FB22F4776C6.jpeg
 
I normally don’t take my tile all the way to the top. Here’s a shower I did in my house.
View attachment 692669
Yes, thanks, that's exactly what I was picturing. Maybe even higher on the wall. But my tile is 12x24 like that. Maybe I'll just do that.

Since we're here, can I ask how did you build that bench? Cement blocks? I almost did that and almost wish I had, but I settled on a triangular corner seat which I may not even put in. Not sure it's worth the effort.
 
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Yes, thanks, that's exactly what I was picturing. Maybe even higher on the wall. But my tile is 12x24 like that. Maybe I'll just do that.

Since we're here, can I ask how did you build that bench? Cement blocks? I almost did that and almost wish I had, but I settled on a triangular corner seat which I may not even put in. Not sure it's worth the effort.
No, framed with treated 2x4s, then covered with Durock. As long as you use Red Guard, or my choice -Schluter waterproof membrane you’ll never have an issue.
 
I’m looking forward to using Kerdi membrane. I don’t think I’ll be putting walk in showers in all 3 bathrooms at the house, but I’m putting a giant 9’x6’ in the master. That’s going to be a fun project.

I’ll probably go cheaper on the addition bathroom and the kids and just put fiberglass enclosures in those.
 
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