Wall
insulation | Drywall
| Finish carpentry
| Paint | Attic
and crawlspace insulation | >>Hard
floor coverings
Hard floor coverings are installed right after the
painting has been completed. Hard floor covering include
coverings such as vinyl, hardwood, laminate floors,
ceramic tile, and stone. The most popular places to
install hard floors are in areas where water and heavy
traffic are present. The kitchen, dining room, bathrooms,
and entries are just such areas. Carpet is really
not practical in these areas.
Click on Thumbnail to view a cross-section of a hardwood
floor.
Hard flooring is critical in the timeline because
it will hold up the cabinets and finish plumbing,
and carpet if not scheduled on time. The plumbers
can't install the water closet or appliances until
the hard flooring is installed.
Although not all contractors do it, it is recommended
that the entire kitchen and bathroom is covered with
flooring even the areas under the cabinets. It may
cost a little more in floor covering but there are
some good reasons for this:
-
It
is much easier to finish hardwood, tile and laminate
with out working around cabinets.
-
It doesn't affect lower the countertop height (distance
from finished floor to countertop surface).
-
If you ever replace your cabinets it's not likely
that you'll be able match the existing flooring.
-
Vinyl
has a tendency to curl under the toe kick if it
is not continuous under the cabinets.
| Floor covering
material |
Comments |
| Inexpensive for the cheaper
lines, installs quickly, fairly durable, low maintenance,
water won't damage it. Often used in kitchens,
and baths of tract homes. |
|
Will last a lifetime if cared
for, looks fantastic, many different species and
stains available, can be refinished a different
color. Expensive to install, suceptible to water
damage. Fairly high upkeep cost. |
|
Will last lifetime, good looking,
many styles, sizes colors and textures available,
durable, not affected by water, very low maintenance.
Difficult to remove if you want to change style
or color. |
|
Will last a life time, expensive
look, durable, expensive. |
|
Authenticates wood and stone
fairly well, durable, installs quickly, low maintenance,
inexpensive and one of the easier do-it-yourself
project. |
The base board will have been installed prior to the
hard floor being installed, except where the hard
flooring is to be installed. The finish carpenter
will need to return to install the base over the finished
floor. The painters will also need to prep and paint
the baseboard after the carpenter is done.
Click on the thumbhail
below to see a cross-section of a ceramic tile floor.
.
There are floor covering stores where you can get
a bid for all your floor covers from carpet and tile
to vinyl and hardwood. The advantages of dealing with
one store is time saving and coordinating the construction
with one person instead of 3 or 4. Discounts may also
be available if you purchase all your floor covering
from one dealer. The drawbacks of using a single supplier/installer
are usually a limited selection of brands and an overall
higher price than if use shop around for the best
prices on individual coverings.
As with most building products there is a great variance
in price depending on quality, availability, and locality.
With hard floor coverings, this is even more so. Tile
for example can vary in price by 200% depending on
location and retail outlet. Many times bargains can
be had with hardwood, laminate flooring too. If you
are skilled you can install the floor yourself and
save even more money. Protecting your hard floors
is important during this phase. Contractors usually
cover hard floors with cardboard, or thick paper.
Traffic should be kept off of newly installed or finished
flooring.
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