I love my house. It's a classic New Orleans shotgun. Over 100 years old, it was made by craftsmen who really knew how to build things to last. There was an addition (back bedroom and bathroom) put on when the house was refurbished shortly before Hurricane Katrina. The addition was built competently, but they used pretty cheap materials on things like the doors, trim, bathroom fixtures, etc. In most of the house we have nice, solid hardwood floors. In the back bedroom - carpet. Ugly, dirty, Berber carpet. We hated it.
In a fit of annoyance we decided to ditch it. The problem was we needed to do it on the cheap.
My first thought was to rip out the carpet and sand, then paint the subfloor and leave it like that until we had enough to put in hardwood floors that matched the rest of the house. The downside to this is that there is nothing between you and the ground and without any protection other than the paint you might damage the subfloor and need to replace it (not something I wanted to do).
The other idea I had was to lay down plywood over the subfloor and paint/finish the plywood. I'd seen this in some lofts and thought it looked pretty good. This is what we decided to do.
We had two simple goals - put something in that looked better than the ugly carpet and for as little as possible. I think we definitely achieved this and the total cost around $400.00.
The best thing a about doing your floors like this is that down the road if you want to upgrade and install hardwood floors you don't need to pull up anything - you can install them right on top.
In a fit of annoyance we decided to ditch it. The problem was we needed to do it on the cheap.
My first thought was to rip out the carpet and sand, then paint the subfloor and leave it like that until we had enough to put in hardwood floors that matched the rest of the house. The downside to this is that there is nothing between you and the ground and without any protection other than the paint you might damage the subfloor and need to replace it (not something I wanted to do).
The other idea I had was to lay down plywood over the subfloor and paint/finish the plywood. I'd seen this in some lofts and thought it looked pretty good. This is what we decided to do.
We had two simple goals - put something in that looked better than the ugly carpet and for as little as possible. I think we definitely achieved this and the total cost around $400.00.
The best thing a about doing your floors like this is that down the road if you want to upgrade and install hardwood floors you don't need to pull up anything - you can install them right on top.
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Signing UpStep 1: Tools & Materials
Tools you will need:
• Pry-bar.
• Shop Knife
• Measuring tools -Tape Measure, Steel Square, etc.
• Circular Saw with blade for cutting plywood.
• Hammer.
• Caulk Gun.
• Paint brushes or paint roller.
• Polyurethane applicator.
Materials
• Kilz Primer
• Painters tape
• Cabinet Grade Plywood Sheets (we used 4'x8' 5MM hardwood at around $11.00/sheet).
• Oil Based Polyurethane (we used Varathane Clear Oil based Polyurethane).
• Construction adhesive (we used OSI brand that was specifically for subfloors).
• Finishing Nails (long enough to go through the plywood and into the subfloor).
You might also need:
Additional floor molding. When you take up the carpet there might be a space between the floor and the molding. We used quarter round shoe molding which matched the rest of our house.
NOTES:
You don't need a big caulk gun - just use the regular kind or you will wear out your hands.
Make sure you use an oil based polyurethene made specifically for flooring. The oil based poly brings out the color of the wood and the grain and makes the plywood look "warmer". It's almost like putting on a mild stain.
There are lots of other choices you could make on the plywood. The thing you want to do is make sure it is hardwood and "cabinet grade". We chose the cheapest that fit the criteria but you could spend a bit more and get oak, birch, etc.) It does not need to be thick (we used 5MM). I will say the plywood we got (http://tinyurl.com/77r6rzs) looked as good as the birch and was much cheaper.
• Pry-bar.
• Shop Knife
• Measuring tools -Tape Measure, Steel Square, etc.
• Circular Saw with blade for cutting plywood.
• Hammer.
• Caulk Gun.
• Paint brushes or paint roller.
• Polyurethane applicator.
Materials
• Kilz Primer
• Painters tape
• Cabinet Grade Plywood Sheets (we used 4'x8' 5MM hardwood at around $11.00/sheet).
• Oil Based Polyurethane (we used Varathane Clear Oil based Polyurethane).
• Construction adhesive (we used OSI brand that was specifically for subfloors).
• Finishing Nails (long enough to go through the plywood and into the subfloor).
You might also need:
Additional floor molding. When you take up the carpet there might be a space between the floor and the molding. We used quarter round shoe molding which matched the rest of our house.
NOTES:
You don't need a big caulk gun - just use the regular kind or you will wear out your hands.
Make sure you use an oil based polyurethene made specifically for flooring. The oil based poly brings out the color of the wood and the grain and makes the plywood look "warmer". It's almost like putting on a mild stain.
There are lots of other choices you could make on the plywood. The thing you want to do is make sure it is hardwood and "cabinet grade". We chose the cheapest that fit the criteria but you could spend a bit more and get oak, birch, etc.) It does not need to be thick (we used 5MM). I will say the plywood we got (http://tinyurl.com/77r6rzs) looked as good as the birch and was much cheaper.
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Looking back I probably would have cut them into squares and alternate the grain but I was worried about the straightness of my saw cuts. I should not have worried as my cuts were pretty straight ;-)
Doing it as you suggest you would have to take care with your cuts but otherwise it would work fine and I think it would look very good.
The floor has worn very well and it was the cheapest floor we could do next to just painting the subfloor. The nice thing about the thin plywood thatmI used is that later on when I can afford nicer traditional hardwood floors I can put them right over top of these.
This project worked out great for us! if you decide to droit post here with pictures so I can see and good luck!
I did not countersink or fill the nail-heads. I did use a nail set to punch the nails down just below the level of the floor. The floor sealant then covers over the nail (I used four coats).
To the nail in the nails I used a hammer.
I could have used something thicker but I wanted to be able to install more traditional wood flooring right overtop later on down the road. Plus the 5mm was cheap and looked good ;-)
I deep-cleaned it with a steamer, planning to seal it with varnish when dry and add a small bathrug. I gave it a base coat of white emulsion thinned with water just to lighten the colour first. However it dried a lovely soft grey, like driftwood, so I just rubbed it with 2 coats of clear furniture wax - not shiny, just a subtle satin-type finish. And added a litle blue/grey striped cotton rug to echo a seaside beach-hut feel.
I've never had any problems with water from the bath or sink on it, and only rewaxed it once to maintain the waterproofing. Whats even nicer is that the darker grain has stayed at the same level (being the harder part of the wood) while the pale background wood has compacted slightly underfoot, to give a wonderful sea-washed, smooth, ripple texture.
I have now ripped up all the carpet through the rest of the flat and hope to carry the theme through. On the larger areas I will probably rout grooves to mimic floorboards and whitewash the whole floor as the joins between the ply sheets are quite visible, they'll be visually reduced if I add 'fake' gaps. Thank you for the useful info and pics as I may change my mind having seen them!
and Jdfnola, I agree the cheap stuff (softwood, probably pine) looks quite ugly when 'raw'. It does have very defined light/dark grain and knots and is not as smooth as the better grades.
It needs a colourwash to reduce the harsh yellow colour when fresh, and I expect if you bought it new you'd have to run a sander over it lightly - I was lucky it was already laid and smooth... a tip - colourwash the sheet before cutting so it can dry outside. I wish I'd had the option!
great idea on this. it is a lot cheaper than buying pre-finished flooring
I think the 5MM plywood is flexible enough so that any expansion/contraction will not be an issue. Plus we don't really get below freezing in New Orleans so we might not have the same issues as someone in colder climates. Still it's just speculation at this point.
One of the other commenters Brian Jewett did something similar and did not mention any issues with expansion/contraction so hopefully it will not be an issue.
It is, after all, a (fairly basic) laminate, with the grain of each layer at 90 degrees, so everything cancels everything else out.
Generally speaking, expansion/contraction tends only to be an issue with solid woods - and the thickness at which things become so depends on the specifics of the actual timber.
That's not to rubbish tagyerit's point or the 'standard advice' noted - it's basically a good idea, just not necessary in this case.
I will post down the road with an update if there is any issue.