DIY - Do It Yourself Category Archive
As a proud member of Carlisle’s marketing team, I wanted to share my most recent do-it-yourself project—the installation of my very first Carlisle floor! I chose Walnut because of its beautiful brown tones with highlights of golden honey and the nice figuring in the grain patterns.
I began my project in September 2007 when my boyfriend Dan and I first decided to embark on the demolition of our current bathroom. We knew straight off that it was going to be a fairly large undertaking, but we also knew it had to be done. After two days of destroying, hauling pieces of old sheetrock, insulation and tile out by the truckload we were finally down to the rafters.
As we have delicately built the bathroom back up we decided to make our project as custom as we could afford. Firstly, we’ve done the entire project ourselves: plumbing, electrical, everything! (We did have the extra hands of our dads helping out, which is great.) Dan invented his own radiant heat system—it’s a built-in subfloor unit with PEX tubing (which we purchased on EBay inexpensively). We were able to install our Carlisle floor directly on top of our radiant heat system. We also did a tile inlay underneath our toilet and in front of our bathtub, and it was really easy to make both the tile and the walnut work nicely together during the installation—we had zero hiccups.
One of the best parts during our renovation was applying the tung oil to our floor. We thought the wood was stunning before we started the finishing process, but as we added the coats of tung oil we were amazed at how it heightens the swirling grains and warm chocolaty tones.
A few holidays, snowmobile season and a litter of Weimaraner puppies later and we are still working on our bathroom! We are hand making our vanity and that’s our current stage of the process. Stay tuned for the vanity and completion of my bathroom
Author's Name: Megan Sprague
Posted Date: April 22, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Megan Sprague
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Wood over concrete? Yes, it can be done! For the longest time, homeowners were warned that wide plank wood floors installed over concrete would result in moisture problems. But that’s not so anymore. A concrete sub-floor is no reason to deny yourself beautiful wood floors. Nowadays, they can go virtually anywhere.
It is true that wood is affected by climate change: wood fibers expand and contract with fluctuations in relative humidity. However, this movement and the resulting moisture problems can be controlled with proper installation techniques and the use of high quality wood products. If you’re going to be installing over concrete, it becomes even more critical that you understand what part of the tree the boards are cut from and the manner in which the boards were processed; both of these factors are vital to your overall satisfaction with the floor. Wood cut from the center of a tree contains a higher percentage of vertical grain, which makes it less susceptible to movement and thus a higher quality material.
Before you embark on this installation process, we recommend certain rules of thumb to manage moisture and ensure the stability of the wood:
1. Be sure the wood supplier has properly dried the wood. (We recommend 6-12 months of air drying followed by a period of kiln drying.)
2. Let the wood acclimate in the home or business for 7-10 days.
3. During acclimation in your home or business, keep relative humidity at 45 percent.
4. Make sure the wood flooring has proper stress reliefs (These ridges on the underside of the wood relieve tension in wood, reduces board movement, and provides
a greater glue surface).
There are two options for installation of wide plank wood floors. Both options are driven by the height allowance between the slab and door. To determine height, measure the distance from the top of slab to the bottom of the exterior door or measure the transition to other flooring surfaces. Check accuracy by swinging door completely in both directions.
Here are some step-by-step installation guidelines once you know the height allowance: Option One: Gluing directly to concrete -- 1/2 to 3/4 inch height allowance
Using either Bostik’s Best or Sika adhesive product, spread one layer of adhesive onto the concrete per manufacturer’s instructions and place your Carlisle planks, milled to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness directly onto the adhesive. Allow 12 hours drying time before finishing your floors.
Option Two-A: Concrete slab with plywood sub-floor – 1 inch height allowance
Place a layer of 6mm polyethylene onto the concrete as your moisture barrier. Using a Hilti Direct fastening tool, shoot concrete nails into 1/2 inch plywood to apply directly onto concrete. Install Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, milled to 1/2 inch thickness by blind nailing and gluing.
Option Two-B: Concrete slab with plywood sub-floor – 1 1/2 inches or more height allowance
Lay down 3/4 inch plywood and then follow the directions above.
The cost associated with both options for installing wood over concrete is similar. However, due to the cost of the adhesives, it can be slightly cheaper to use the plywood method. It’s also possible to install Carlisle floors over concrete slabs with radiant heat. The installation process calls for using a floating plywood sub-floor. Proof that this method of installation has gained industry acceptance is its prevalence in high end commercial applications. For instance, the Park Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., used Carlisle White Oak wide plank wood flooring over concrete in the public space of their main level. Given the resources for high quality wood, like Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, and the variety of mastic adhesives available today, you too can install wood floors over concrete in your home.
Author's Name: Don Carlisle
Posted Date: April 8, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Don Carlisle, Home Building and Contracting
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In the June, 08', issue of TimberHome Living, on page 12, there is a section called "Ask the Flooring Guy." I was asked to contribute to this section with questions ranging from "What is handmade flooring?" and "How is it different from other hardwood flooring?" to "What is antique wood and how does it differ from reclaimed wood?"
I always find these sections very helpful in educatiing the consumer because there are so many myths out there about flooring, especially when it comes to wide plank. With the average price of homes rising every year, homeowners want to make sure they are going to have the floors they have always dreamed about. Additionally, they want to have confidence that the value and stability of the floor is everything they had hoped for.
Author's Name: Rick Menard
Posted Date: March 25, 2008 at 3:56 PM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Rick Menard
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Tags: antique flooring, Ask the Flooring Guy, hardwood flooring, reclaimed flooring, Timberhome Living, wide plank flooring
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We received a question from a homeowner about installing our floors over a concrete slab in an earth contact built home. Although I am not familiar with this type of home, I am very familiar with installing our floors over slab as dipicted in the photo to the left.
Contrary to belief by many, you do not have to have a floating floor, or an engineered floor, if you are planning on installing wood floors over a concrete slab. What you do have to have is the best quality wood to start with, and the basic knowledge of how to do the installation, for your specific needs. So many of our floors are either glued directly to slabs, or installed over 3/4" subfloors on slab, especially in areas throughout the southeast. (Click here to see a video on the subject.)
Let's start with the wood itself. The best quality planks will come from the slowest growing trees, and from the center of those timbers. The more heartwood and the tighter the growth rings, the more stable the planks will be. A 4" red oak plank with 1/2" between the rings, will move more then a 12" plank with 1/6" between the rings. A plank with 10% heartwood will take on much more moisture then a plank with 70% heartwood. Then air drying these planks for a long period of time before kiln drying them will add tremendous stability.
Then the next decision is whether to glue directly to the slab or to use a 3/4" plywood or OSB sub floor which is then nailed and glued to the sub floor. The deciding factor here is what you have available for height. In other words, can I get away with 3/4" flooring and 3/4" sub floor, for a total of 1 1/2" height, or am I limited to 3/4". If you are limited, then you will want to glue directly to your slab. We can also mill your floor to less then 3/4" if you are really limited.
Checking for moisture in your slab is easily done by taking a sheet of newspaper and taping all of the edges down and then checking it a few hours later. If it is wet, your slab needs to be cured more.
To glue directly down to your slab, use a concrete sealer first. Bostik's MVP works great. Then the next day you can glue directly to the sealer with a full spread mastic.
Installing over a sub floor is always less expensive, and takes less installation experience. Seal your slab by covering it with a 6 ml poly, then cover it with a 15 lb. roofing felt, then nail your sub floor down using a concrete nail gun. Advantec makes a great OSB sub floor that is impregnated with a wax to help seal out moisture. Your floors can now be nailed and glued just like a typical installation.
If anyone has any questions regarding this process, please give me a call for further explanation.
Author's Name: Rick Menard
Posted Date: March 19, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Rick Menard
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Tags: Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, concrete, earth homes, engineered, glue direct to slab, hardwood floors, heartwood, sealing concrete, slab, slow growing, stable wood floors, subfloors
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Pre-finished flooring has been out there a long time. But we waited until we could be sure of getting it right. Right, in terms of the lustrous traditional look for which Carlisle finishes are famous. And right, in terms of the environment.
Announcing Carlisle Custom Coat finishes.
For starters, virtually all other manufacturers leave the bottom of their boards unfinished. Which, because of moisture absorption, could mean mold and mildew problems as well as instability due to seasonal effects. But our new Custom Coat finishes are applied to the top, bottom and even the tongue and groove by our Custom Shop craftsmen so that the board will stay dry, flat and stable. Plus, they incorporate a special additive which effectively combats mold, mildew and other unhealthy airborne microbes. And because they are completely sealed and cured, they are ready for immediate installation. So customers don’t have to first stack them in the house to let them acclimatize. Or wait, wait, wait while each coat dries, which can be a real problem in humid climates. Which means any professional installation will now go faster and more economically. And do-it-yourselfers won’t have to live with smelly fumes, sticky floors and stacked furniture for days on end.
Pro-environment. Super-tough.
Our Custom Coat finishes are formulated to be environmentally friendly. For example, they contain no measurable volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can pose a significant health hazard as they escape into the air when finishes are applied on site. Another big advantage is that these new finishes are three times more durable than typical site-applied polyurethane finishes –yet, unlike other pre-finished flooring options, can be easily be touched up when accidents happen. Or be totally refreshed after years of wear – a huge breakthrough. In addition to a clear top coat, our Custom Coat finishes are available in all thirteen of our Historic Stains or any individually-created custom colors. And in board widths up to 12 inches – something no one else offers. We can also pre-finish any and all of our custom surfaces, including foot-worn, hand-scraped and saw kerf. And we even offer a commercial version that stands up to the heaviest foot traffic in the busiest of places. Carlisle Custom Coat finishes – just the thing for the floors we – and our customers – have all come to love.
Check out our latest issue of Surface for more details.
-Don Carlisle
Author's Name: Don Carlisle
Posted Date: February 25, 2008 at 2:28 PM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Don Carlisle, Home Flooring Choices
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I had a client recently ask if it would be ok to install wood floors in a full bath, often used by kids in the home. It reminded me of a blog I visited a while ago asking the same question, and out of the thirty or so responses, it was a pretty good split between yes and no, ranging from "NO WAY" to "Yes, I have been living on them for over thirty years and I love them."
There really should be very little concern about putting wood floors in a full bath, just the way kitchens are perfectly acceptable today, as they both have been for hundreds of years. And your floors do not have to be a laminate or a pre-finished floor to make it work. To the contrary, a true traditional wood floor will be so much easier to maintain, and will stand the test of time, just as our ancestor's floors have. I grew-up in a late 1800's home with one bathroom, and six siblings. The floor was original wide pine, and it is probably still there today.
Here are a few things you want to think about when installing your floors in a bathroom that has a shower and/or a tub and a commode. Today's bathrooms are well ventilated with a ceiling fan that wisks away the moisture. You can buy commodes with an insulated tank liner to help the sweating pipes from leaving water around ANY bathroom floor, and if you are doing a bathroom remodel, now would be a great time to have your plumber add a mixing valve to your commode, mixing warm water with the cold, to completely eliminate sweating.
A few more things to think about with traditional wood floors in a bathroom are: finding the most suitable finish for your home from all that is available today, using the best quality flooring to ensure stability of the boards, and assessing your true expectations of your flooring.
For a finish, I would suggest using a high resin tung oil, as this not only seals the wood, but it is the easiest finish to maintain that I have found. You can also back-seal the flooring and the sub floor to help prevent moisture from getting into the wood. If you are replacing your sub-floor, look into the wax impregnated OSB board, such as Adventec, as this will help seal moisture out.
As for the material, work with a company that understands wood, that will work with you on the installation methods, and is known for using only the best quality timbers available today. The installation can be perfect, but if the material is low quality, your chances of having problems are greatly increased. I would prefer to have a floor I can let acclimate to the home, then install it and put a good finish on it, rather then a pre-finished floor I have less control over.
Finally, what are your expectations? Are you looking for that perfect laminated, linoleum look, or is a natural wood floor, with a slight gap here and there, more your style? The beauty of real wood is unsurpassed, especially in today's plastic world. And the wider the plank, the more real your floor will look. Don't let a little puddle from the kids shower scare you away from having a beautiful floor. (Click here for some other tips to protect your wood floor.) The way we live in our homes today, with throw-rugs, and wiping up after ourselves, there really is nothing to be concerned about. GO FOR IT!
Author's Name: Rick Menard
Posted Date: January 25, 2008 at 7:52 AM
Filed under: DIY - Do It Yourself, Rick Menard
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Tags: Bathrooms, Carlisle Wide Plank Flooring, Flooring, Hardwood Floors, Kitchens, Linoleum, Tile
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