Home remodeling is a booming industry. In fact, according to Statista, the last few quarters have seen an increase in the amount of money that homeowners are investing in remodeling. Many homeowners have found that refinishing hardwood floors and installing new hardwood flooring are the home improvements with the highest return on investment. However, you have to get your flooring right, for the investment to pay off. Here are some of the biggest mistakes you need to avoid.
Finding the Right Flooring
One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make is becoming overwhelmed by the many choices available in the world of flooring. Choice can be overpowering and crippling. On the one hand, you want to leverage all the choice that is available to you to create a unique style, but on the other, you don’t want to spend the year looking through catalogs. So what do you do? You should be guided by a theme, or an idea, of how you want your home to look, and feel. Each material creates its own specific feel, and your design concept will guide you to the right one. Whether you pick laminate, carpet, solid hardwood, engineered hardwood, vinyl, or tile, is largely about your overall concept. For instance, if you want to create a traditional, polished feel, that might guide you toward carpets, solid hardwood or tile. This eliminates possibilities that go against your concept.
Not Measuring Flooring Properly
Full Coverage Painting & Flooring have observed that a lot of homeowners underestimate how much flooring they will need. This is largely because those homeowners do not accurately measure their floorspace, and account for any breakage. You want to buy 10% more flooring than the floorspace you are covering. This will give you margin for error.
Not Allowing for Acclimation to Humidity
Solid hardwoods take about two to three weeks to acclimate to a new climate. Engineered hardwood acclimate much faster, over just a few days. Acclimating is important for preventing any warping or cracking in your wood flooring, in response to moisture. In addition, you want to avoid storing planks in the basement, because basements have a lot of moisture.
Flooring Over Uneven Floors
You should never try flooring over uneven floors. Before flooring, check to see if your floors are even, and if they aren’t, get a sander and smooth out the floor. You should not have bumps, or depressions bigger than 3/16th of an inch.
Imagining You’re a Flooring Einstein
Flooring looks pretty straightforward, but it can get very complicated for DIY floorers, when they take on tasks or designs that are too big for them. If it’s your first time flooring, you should speak with a professional and get some guidance. Flooring mistakes can be very expensive to fix.
Getting the Cheapest Flooring Money Can Buy
The lure of the budget flooring job can sometimes prove too much for some people. While it’s important to budget, there is a point at which low-budget means low quality. You should always look for the best quality that you can afford.