Home Flooring
Homemade Flooring Ideas
Flooring can be made from a variety of materials that meet the minimum requirements. They must be able to be applied permanently to the floor and they must be able to stand foot traffic. Any type of flooring that is commercially available provides potential ideas for a homemade version.
Tiles
Tiles can be cut from plywood or hardboard to cover your floor. Use a thick plywood and cut large squares from on your table saw. Cut a groove along the top edges on two sides and the bottom edges on the remaining two sides so that the tiles nest together. Hardboard comes in thin sheets and has a very resilient surface that can be painted. Glue or nail squares of it to your floor and paint with semigloss oil or latex floor paint.
Planks
Plank flooring can be cut from thick plywood, similarly to the tiles described in the tile section. A “faux” plank floor could be made from full sheets of plywood, grooved on a table saw to mimic the seams between the planks. Use stain or linseed oil to seal the wood and apply a few coats of wax for a very durable finish. Alternately, full sheets of cabinet-grade plywood can be used without the faux planking to create an open feel.
Carpets
Heavy fabrics, old blankets and area rugs can be permanently installed as carpets. Pry the base shoe away at the bottom of your wall and insert the edges of your makeshift carpet into the revealed gap before reinstalling the molding to lock your carpet in place. Lay them over the existing rug, or on top of a wood or other smooth, hard surface floor.
Painting
The ultimate in easy is the painted rug or floor design. This method has been used for centuries and is cheaper than most other available floor solutions Floor paints may last marginally longer, but quality, semigloss latex paints work very well.
Check with local lumber yards and hardware stores for mis-tinted paint, which can be had for less than half price. Choose the colors you like and work them into your design for even more savings.
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Mixed Flooring Ideas
Though many homes and condos have a common flooring scheme throughout, such as all hardwood or nearly all carpet, you can mix things up a bit by using a variety of flooring in the rooms of your home, or even in the same room. When using mixed flooring, you must put some thought into where the flooring types meet.
Linoleum and Tile
If you would like to used mixed flooring in a room in which moisture is a constant issue, like a bathroom or kitchen, consider two coated flooring options that make spills easy to wipe up.
Linoleum and tile, both commonly used individually in kitchens or bathrooms, provide a non-porous surface that water cannot penetrate, which prevents damage to the underlay and subfloor. One benefit of matching linoleum with tile is that linoleum is less expensive, saving you some money compared with a floor that is only tile.
Carpet and Hardwood
Both carpet and hardwood have their benefits when used in bedrooms and common areas, like living rooms and family rooms. Carpet insulates and cushions a floor, while hardwood holds less dust and is easier to clean.
If you would like to mix these flooring types, you may want to use hardwood in areas where your family spends less time on the floor, such as in the dining room, and use carpet in rooms where hardwood might be uncomfortable, like kids’ bedrooms.
Hardwood and Tile
Many people like the look of hardwood flooring. In fact, according to the National Wood Flooring Association, a survey of real estate agents found that houses with hardwood floors sold faster than houses without it.
Hardwood flooring can suffer damage, though, when leaks or spills are left to sit on the surface, which may make some homeowners wary. If you have concerns about hardwood floors in kitchens and bathrooms, consider mixing hardwood with a more moisture-friendly flooring, such as tile. Read the rest of this entry »
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