Hardwood Floors - Steps

[klk]

We (and when I say "we" I mean my dear hubby) did this project last summer. He installed about 600 sqft of hardwood in the living room, dining room and family room to match existing floors in kitchen and hallway and then refinished it all to match (about 900sf). In all of the home improvements "we" have done, the only one I wish we had hired someone to do was the refinishing. Prefinished wood is so much easier.

Hardwood stairs can be very grand; but if i was to put carpet anywhere (even if just a center runner), it would be on staircases. its amazing how much easier on your feet, and often-times quieter, a carpeted staircase is over just bare hardwood.

We stayed in a rental house that had hardwood stairs. They were kind of slick when walking down them in socks. I love having hardwoods throughout the lower level but they do end up hurting my feet for a while.

OMG - doing the same project in 2 weeks.Picked up a flooring nailer from Harbor Freight - hope it lasts through the project - it's el cheapo.

PS - RG - let me know how your back / knees are doing - I'm a little worried that it's going to kill me when I start... Do you think 2 weeks is enough time to do ~1200 sqft? - including all trimwork?

I'm pretty sure we used the same flooring nailer from HF. Love that place. The tile saw we got from there is still working great after 1000 SF brick patio and bathroom remodel #1.

I think my hubby took 1 week off from work to install the HW and refinish it all. If I recall correctly, he was able to get the hardwood installed and refinished, but he didn't have the trim work done by then. he just finished it up during the evenings and weekends. He lost a lot of weight during that week. The refinishing took the longest because we had to wait 24 hours between each coat. If its prefinished, you get to eliminate that step. Good luck!

 

[Chucktown PE]

I hate prefinished hardwoods. We have them in our rental house and I will not buy a house with them. The problem is that since there is no urethane in the joints, if any water gets on them they warp very badly. For instance, in front of our refrigerator, there are 1/8 inch gaps in between the boards. In our old house we had traditional tongue and groove hardwoods that we refinished. You could drop a pitcher of water on the floor and since there was essentially a urethane membrae over the wood you never had to worry about warping. It's worth it to do it the old fashioned way IMHO.

 

[Katiebug]

I have the risers painted the same color as the trim/mouldings. IMHO, it looks funny to have the risers stained the same color as the tread.

That's the look I prefer as well. Right now my project for the spring and summer is painting all of the windows and trim in our house white. It's currently crap-tastic cheap pine trim that was stained a dark color, and IMO it really makes a room look smaller than it is. Since our trim is going to be white, I'm painting the stair risers white as well. That's going to be TONS of fun to mask off.

Our upstairs, basement, and staircases, are all fully carpeted, however, and I really like that too! don't think i could go full hardwood thruout the house. . .and its quite a bit more upkeep (sweep / vacuum, mop) vs. just carpet (vacuum). And def with young kiddos, no way i could live with the noise. Good luck!

We're trying to get away from carpeted floors. As it is, I steam-clean the carpets quarterly and it inevitably disgusts me that I suck up so much dirt, even though the carpets look clean. I think solid surface floors are easier to keep clean and reasonably hygienic than carpet. As a bonus, I have asthma and allergies that I believe are exacerbated by dust, so solid floors will help a lot.

I'd much prefer Swiffering daily (for pet fur) and damp-mopping weekly on laminate instead of every-other-day vacuuming and quarterly steam cleaning on carpet. Laminate flooring is going in all three bedrooms this year, and then next year we'll either go with laminate or hardwood in the dining and living rooms.

 

[snickerd3]

That's the look I prefer as well. Right now my project for the spring and summer is painting all of the windows and trim in our house white. It's currently crap-tastic cheap pine trim that was stained a dark color, and IMO it really makes a room look smaller than it is. Since our trim is going to be white, I'm painting the stair risers white as well. That's going to be TONS of fun to mask off.

Good luck with that. We attempted to do that after we bought the house, but the people put such a thick coat of poly on top the super dark stain, that primer just flowed off the trim. Even after 5 minutes of sanding the poly just wouldn't go away. We ended up having to replace all the trim and doorframes on the main and upper levels so we could go white.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Yeah, they are "forcing" us to take off time at work, so I'm planning on taking the last 2 weeks of May off of work. Wood is sitting in the garage (53 cases for me - like 21sqft per case). It's going to be a whirlwind few weeks.
We're tearing out all our cabinets and I'm having them professionally painted while I do the floors - a Granite countertop to go back on it when it's reinstalled. I'm ripping out all the 'soffits' above the cabinets and replacing a few can lights with pendants above a bar area. Scraping all the popcorn and then having someone else do the mud work while I start to lay the floor... rip out the carpet and install the prefinished hardwood in the kitchen, diningroom, livingroom, hallway, coat closet, etc... leave the master bedroom / closet until the rest of the house is liveable again. Then I've got to reinstall all cabinets, add a crown molding across top, tile backsplash, reinstall all appliances and reinstall the baseboard.

I think 2 weeks is pushing it a LOT, but I'll get done what I get done.

Once that's complete, then go back and install hardwood inthe master / closet, and tile the master and spare bathroom floors. Then I'll get to the steps.

As for the steps, I want full hardwood tread - no carpet runner. So, here's what I'm looking at installing:

Stair Tread Cap (3/4" thick)...

There is a show on DIY Network that is rebroadcast on HGTV called Renovation Realities that shows people with minimal to moderate building skills tackling huge projects with very unrealistic deadlines and budgets. It is one of my favorite shows of all time, and I think your project would be a 2-parter on that show. You should contact them...maybe they'll pay for it all.

I'm in the process of designing a house to be built for me. I think I'm going to go with bamboo flooring in the kitchen and dining room. It looks awesome.

Hey TD, if you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying per square foot for your granite countertops? I'm about to start pricing those for my house, and would like a good starting point.

 

[Road Guy]

The pre-finished hardwood floors seem easier than finishing them, but I tried the first room I did, man if you dont hit that nail gun just right it totally ruins the board you just nailed (and that was using the special plate for prefinished floors that came with the nail gun!)

I had to lug about 12 bundles back to the home depot and return them for the unstained version.

As I have been pulling up the carpet room by room (10 year old carpet put in when the house was built) I have joked to the wife that with all the dirt and debris, razor blades, etc, that vacumming is a waste of time because there is enough dirt under the carpet and pad to build a pretty decent dirt castle...

Our kids are 10, 8, and 6, still noisy (but getting alittle better each day) but there is like a trail in all the hallways where the kids walk on the carpet. I figure it will take me at least 2 years to finish up our bedroom and the two boys bedroom and by then they will be in that stage where they all come home from school and go to there room to talk on facebook all afternoon.....

 

[Katiebug]

Good luck with that. We attempted to do that after we bought the house, but the people put such a thick coat of poly on top the super dark stain, that primer just flowed off the trim. Even after 5 minutes of sanding the poly just wouldn't go away. We ended up having to replace all the trim and doorframes on the main and upper levels so we could go white.

I've gone through two rooms already without too much trouble. In most of the house, the baseboards were just stained, not even sealed, so they covered fine with a coat of Kilz, followed by latex enamel. The door and window trim is a bit tougher but my approach is to lightly sand to get the gloss off, then primer and two coats of the enamel. The doors are the tough part (cheap hollow core, dark wood) - I take them off the hinges and down to the basement, then spray paint with two coats of primer and brush on the enamel as a top coat. Very time consuming, but paint and time is still cheaper than new interior doors throughout.

I've come to loathe stained pine trim! If we had the money we'd just replace the molding with pre-primed trim, slap a top coat on, and be done with it.

Painting those stair risers is going to be a b*tch. That's the absolute last step in the process because the prospect of doing it makes me cringe.

 

[TouchDown]

Hey TD, if you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying per square foot for your granite countertops? I'm about to start pricing those for my house, and would like a good starting point.

You can go to Lowes/Menards/Home Depot and they typically throw in a free sink, but per sq foot... you should just estimate a little under $100/sq ft once you add in all your edge finishing and if you need a backsplash. Islands are expensive since they have to have the edge all the way around. I'd say on average from those places, once you add everything up - it was going to be around $85/sq ft. (there are price gradients based on color as well - depending on color you desire - it can go up and down from here - we were looking at a mid color tan with lots of black specs/yellow swirls)

We are however looking local at some countertop guys who we think will be 25-50% less than the big box home improvement places... We have to purchase the sink ($300) but we'd still come out much better. Awaiting their bid as we speak and hope to hear from them today. Only reason we're looking at doing all this now (with economy this way...) is that you can get unbelievable deals on stuff.

Chucktown - as for prefinished and water... No hardwood likes water, you are more susceptible for issues with the prefinished, but if you had 1/8" gaps, I'd be concerned that you didn't have the proper nailing (ie. they were possibly skip nailing? - every other row?) or you had a major water issue? We've had pergo that is susceptible to water at the seams just like hardwood in our kitchen for 7 years, and we wet mop. We won't wet mop with the prefinished stuff, but I'm just not that concerned.

 

[snickerd3]

Chucktown - as for prefinished and water... No hardwood likes water, you are more susceptible for issues with the prefinished, but if you had 1/8" gaps, I'd be concerned that you didn't have the proper nailing (ie. they were possibly skip nailing? - every other row?) or you had a major water issue? We've had pergo that is susceptible to water at the seams just like hardwood in our kitchen for 7 years, and we wet mop. We won't wet mop with the prefinished stuff, but I'm just not that concerned.

My parents have had Pergo in their kitchen for at least 10 years, maybe closer to 15. My mom wet mops all the time and they have had no problems. That stuff is indestructable too. My dad had dropped cast iron pans several times in the same spot near the stove and not even a scratch. Their dogs nails also haven't made a scratch, but it is a little slick for the dog.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Man, you guys are killing me with all this talk of painting over wood!

I grew up in a house that was all wood paneling and floors. The wife and I both love the look of wood. Our house's den had nice knotty plank paneling that has been painted over. We're trying to figure out a good way to get paint off.

 

[TouchDown]

RG - you should post some pics of your hard work - Wanna see how it's coming! That might help me get through the transition of living in chaos for a couple weeks to know what it might look like when finished!!!

 

[bigray76]

Man, you guys are killing me with all this talk of painting over wood!
I grew up in a house that was all wood paneling and floors. The wife and I both love the look of wood. Our house's den had nice knotty plank paneling that has been painted over. We're trying to figure out a good way to get paint off.

Capt... I refinished most of the wood in my house (base, doors frames, paneling)... I used Zip-Strip, peeled off the paint with a putty knife, then used steel wool dipped in zip strip to get the rest of it out, and then sanded the hell out of it before refinishing it. It was very time consuming, but we are much happier with the look of natural wood. I had in most cases 4 - 6 coats of various types of paint to remove.

I ended up losing my fingerprints for a while and had really dry and cracking skin, but a wise man would wear gloves.

 

[Road Guy]

I will get some pics, I have the hallway done, and did the first step, I think it will go in a lot easier than I thought

 

[OSUguy98]

...I think it will go in a lot easier than I thought

famous last words of a DIY'er....

others famous words:

"This should go quick..."

or

"I'll be done in about an hour"

or...

or...

or...

 

[Katiebug]

Man, you guys are killing me with all this talk of painting over wood!
I grew up in a house that was all wood paneling and floors. The wife and I both love the look of wood. Our house's den had nice knotty plank paneling that has been painted over. We're trying to figure out a good way to get paint off.

If it was nice wood underneath, we wouldn't be painting. However, it's cheap craptastic pine trim so I don't feel too guilty about painting it. That, and wood trim makes our already-small rooms look smaller (IMO). Light colored/white trim opens a room up a lot.

This weekend's project is the dining room windows and trim. The first coat of Kilz went on last night (and by the way, the "Odorless" Kilz still has quite an odor to it!), and I sanded this morning. The windows will need another primer coat to be on the safe side due to some old water damage, but the trim will get the first top coat today. 1st/2nd topcoat on tomorrow, and the dining room will be done. Unfortunately it's the easiest room to work in for trim/window painting.

famous last words of a DIY'er....
others famous words:

"This should go quick..."

or

"I'll be done in about an hour"

or...

or...

or...

A-freaking-men. The horror of painting windows is no longer fresh in my mind, so last night when I sat down with my primer to prime 3 windows and a room full of baseboard and trim molding, I figured I'd be done in an hour. Three and a half hours later, I finished.

Even funnier, the Home Depot 1-2-3 DIY book (a good resource) said that it would take 1 hour for an "experienced" DIYer to prep, prime, and paint a single window. Baloney - I spent an hour on Thursday prepping, 3.5 hours on Friday priming, and I expect the two top coats will take just as long or longer than the primer coat did. Yes, there's a room full of baseboard, but that's super quick to paint.

Home Depot lies. I think it's part of their business model to encourage DIYers that their project will be quick and easy - otherwise no one would DIY.

 

[klk]

If it was nice wood underneath, we wouldn't be painting. However, it's cheap craptastic pine trim so I don't feel too guilty about painting it. That, and wood trim makes our already-small rooms look smaller (IMO). Light colored/white trim opens a room up a lot.

We have the same awful pine trim throughout our house. So we also went through the process of painting all of the trim in our house bright white. Our doors were already white so we thought it was only the trim we'd have to paint. After painting all the trim around the doors upstairs, hubby goes to rehang the first door and we finally realize our doors are painted "off-white" :smileyballs: Thus, we had to paint all of the doors too.

Our house is relatively new (it's one of those cookie-cutter homes where the owners get to choose what colors and trim gets installed) and the previous owners chose the natural ugly pine for the trim. Our house looks a lot nicer and newer with the white trim.

 

[cement]

Man, you guys are killing me with all this talk of painting over wood!
I grew up in a house that was all wood paneling and floors. The wife and I both love the look of wood. Our house's den had nice knotty plank paneling that has been painted over. We're trying to figure out a good way to get paint off.

nice wood strips pretty easily because it has a tight grain that you want to see. now for knotty pine...

:joke:

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Capt... I refinished most of the wood in my house (base, doors frames, paneling)... I used Zip-Strip, peeled off the paint with a putty knife, then used steel wool dipped in zip strip to get the rest of it out, and then sanded the hell out of it before refinishing it. It was very time consuming, but we are much happier with the look of natural wood. I had in most cases 4 - 6 coats of various types of paint to remove.
I ended up losing my fingerprints for a while and had really dry and cracking skin, but a wise man would wear gloves.

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

If it was nice wood underneath, we wouldn't be painting. However, it's cheap craptastic pine trim so I don't feel too guilty about painting it.

Hey! I love pine!

nice wood strips pretty easily because it has a tight grain that you want to see. now for knotty pine...

Yeah, that's what's really holding me back it trying to get the paint out of the knots. I think once you paint knotty pine planks, you're pretty much committed.

 

[TouchDown]

And I'm in day 2 of my 2 week project. I have officially reached the "what did I get myself into?????" Phase.

Help me.

 

[Paul S]

A little late, but here was my trim saw of choice for flooring, a Bosch Power Handsaw, it can lay flat on the floor and cut flush.