Oh I hope everyone is back from vacation and ready and able to help me :o
You may remember me asking about what people thought about parquet flooring some time back. A new house has been found and a move is on the horizon. It needs lots of work before move in as it's in orginal condition.
The floors are parquet, but not those cheap prefinished tiles. The floor is an inch thick of solid wood. Most of it has been covered up with carpet which will be removed and the floors will be sanded and stained but what colour? I find this to be a most overwhelming decision.
The kitchen will be open to the living room and I was planning on having the Ikea Adel medium brown cabinets. This is a reddish brown colour and will flow nicely with the other reddish brown furniture in the living room
I don't want really dark floors because of the dust issue and the house is heavily shaded and dark inside. But I have heard from many sources that dark parquet looks very good although I have not seen it first hand. I was immediately drawn to the Red Oak stain colour because it is a warm spicy red. But will it be too much red or should I pick a lighter stain like Natural or Pickled Oak?
It's a small house too by the way so the main living areas, hallway and bedrooms will be all done the same colour with my existing area rugs on top.
I have been lying awake at nights thinking about this and it's paralyzing me so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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So that is one ugly job over with. You must be glad to see it finished.
Before you go planning the ceramic tile, you have to find out what kind of subfloor you have there. It has to be right or you are wasting time and money on ceramic because they will end up cracking or lifting. If there is any way to see the edge (sometimes a floor vent can be lifted out), see what type it is and how thick and then measure your floor joists and have a chat at a reliable tile store. They can tell you what you can do.
As an example, I have totally the wrong subfloor in my bathroom for tile but because I used .75" hex I was okay with using an overlay. Any larger tile would have been out of the question.
I'm done removing the peel and stick tiles :bliss:
I have perfected the art of removing these and I'll share my little tip, leave the iron on longer than you would a sheet or something. When you're peeling up the tile place the iron on your next tile to speed up the process.
I also hit gold tonight as not all the hallway floor has peel and stick over the parquet. The entrance by the door has peel and stick over the subfloor so I will leave those for now with the intentions of ceramic tiling that small area. It's only about 4' X 4' so I think I should try and find a dark brown tile the same as the wood floor colour. Not very exciting but it will keep the area looking more cohesive.
I was just wondering if you had tried the hair dryer method. What I did was aim the dryer at one edge moving it along the edge until you can begin to lift it a little. Once I was able to lift it I aimed the dryer so that the heat would be going between the bottom of the tile and the floor. As it was heating up I would lift at the same time. Took me no time at all to lift each tile.
What I found was that the decorative top was coming away from the bottom part. Maybe I need to leave the iron on longer but at a cooler setting? I will try that tonight and see what happens. There's no way I could have done all of it in one afternoon the rate I was going yesterday. Someone very wise told me recently that Rome wasn't built in a day but as long as I can get this part of it done before a week next Thursday then I'm laughing. Ha ha ha. :hairpull:
Are you leaving the iron on the tile a while? It takes a bit to warm them up but if you keep testing you will see when they get really soft. they should just lift right off, no breaking or pushing or anything required but they have to be warmed right through.
I had the iron on the hottest setting and the tiles came up easier but I wouldn't say like butter. Not that I don't appreciate the tips because I do. I got a third of them done, that's about 14 tiles. I could pick at it if I were living there but I'm not and I have to get this done by August 14th which is when the floors are being done. I suppose a deadline is good for a job like this. The area where the tiles were removed is tacky so I'll have to go over that again with the Goof Off.
Thanks so much for those tips, it will make a crappy job go much better.
I decided to go with a Walnut stain which is dark but not the darkest. I was also thinking it might be a good idea to e-mail the photos to the floor refinishing company. I am using Advantage Flooring and they are doing a water based stain and a polyurethane finish so it can be done in one day, there is additional time for curing but at least not the extra expense of getting people out several times as it is considered out of town.
The stain was kind of expected as I had a feeling that's why the floors were covered up. I have area rugs that will hide most of the stain should it still be visible but not all of it. It might be one of those things that anyone who saw the original stain will be able to see it when the floors are redone but no-one else will. Here's hoping. :)
I have removed peel and stick tiles by heating them with my hairdryer. They also came up like butter and left very little residue if any. Just keep moving the hairdryer along at the same time you are lifting the tile. Works great.
I'm too lazy to read back.. what colour stain have you decided to go with? You might want to take pictures of those stains in because they may make a difference in either colour or method of staining.
As for those tiles, [B]this is the best tip you will ever get[/B] I promise you. Those tiles will come up like butter if you heat them first. I learned the hard way after spending an evening trying to lift tiles and managing to scrape up a whole 2 (and that was hard frustrating work just to get that far). Then someone told me to throw an old towel down and get the iron out and heat the things as I went. As soon as the tile is warm it will lift off easily, be pliable, and take most of it's glue with it. Just have a box close by because they are very sticky and get hard very quickly as the cool.If you throw them down on the floor you will just have to heat them up again because they will restick themselves to whatever they touch.
Again keep the iron handy to go after any glue that remains as it will soften it which makes it a lot easier to get up. Just having the iron hovering over it a bit means you can scrape it off with a putty knife and then razer. What remains you can get off with the googone stuff.
When I used the heat, I cleared my bathroom and hall in about 4 hours compared to the 4 I spent going after 2 tiles. Also, figure out how to work your way out of the room. It's way easier to sit on the old tile and keep scooting back out of the room vs trying to get across gluey areas when you need a break.
Ohhh Arizona... you have a big job in front of you, pulling those tiles and getting the glue up!! Hopefully some elbow-grease and your goop remover will do the trick!! Keep us posted.
Too bad about the stain on the floor... I assume it was unexpected? Did you end up choosing a stain colour for the floor? I really think that after a good sanding, and with a dark(ish) stain, the stain on the floor should be non-existent. :D
By the way... I like the parquet floor and I think it's gong to look great!!!
Here are photos of the floor that was underneath the carpet. I have an orange floor :o
There is a dark stain from a spill in the dining room so hopefully the new stain will hide it or make it less noticeable. Do you see the peel and stick tiles in the faux green marble? There is parquet under those too that I have to remove and get the sticky stuff off of the wood, I went to HD already to get some goop remover so it shouldn't go too bad.
I was watching House Hunters International tonight, the Spain episode. One of the places had a parquet-like floor in a medium-dark stain and I thought it looked very nice. So that is my vote..medium-dark stain.
Our floors were actually a laminate dark walnut, plank style with the hand-huned look. We absolutely LOVED this floor... the colour was great and the quality was top-notch (12ml, superb finish)!! Here's a pic of the whole floor, taken on move-out day:
[IMG]http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/tangotori/living%20room/IMG_2080.jpg[/IMG]
The planks came with the finish... I'd say they were semi-gloss. When you asked whether we would choose gloss or satin, I didn't think about semi-gloss... Smoodgie's right on this one, semi-gloss is definitely the way to go!
I also agree with TryinTo... parquet would look wonderful because each piece would take the stain a little differently - the the overall look would be dark.
Luigi the flooring guy recommends using a semi-gloss finish. Not sure why -- maybe it's more diurable than satin?? We went with semi-gloss on our floors and it looks good.
I think dark floor will look great with the reddish cabinets and furniture.
Arizona, congratulations on your new purchase.....
I will certainly go with the dark walnut because parquet is usually multi coloured and this way you'll be getting nice dark to medium colours.
Thanks for sharing your photo Tangotori. What colour are your floors there and is that a high gloss finish or satin?
They look soooo dark.
You should be able to get a stain stick (like a felt tip marker) to use on any scratches you get... it's a great way to mask them, making the scratches the same colour as the floor so they're less noticible.
A rug is a great idea to help ground your furniture and designate the areas in your room (if it's open concept)... i.e., rug for the living area and one for the dining area. We had a relatively contemporary/transitional living room in our previous home so I felt that a light shag rug would be okay design-wise... it was a prefect way to keep the space bright... like your new home, we had very little natural light coming into the room. Here's a pic if you're interested:
[IMG]http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/tangotori/LivingRoom1.jpg[/IMG]
As for your finish... I vote for satin. :)
Can't wait to see your space, Arizona!
When I thought about it, a dark stain will go with all my woods.
I will have area rugs so hopefully the scratches won't be too much of an issue. The dust is another story. Before I decide upon the final colour I will see if any sun gets in the house and go from there. I know there is nothing more frustrating and embarrasing as having dust all over 5 minutes after you have dusted.
Now, high gloss or satin finish?
Good!! Once I saw the pic of the Ikea doors that Smoodgie posted, that was what I was thinking would look best. Similar to my condo kitchen with the cherry wood/Sugar stain cabinets and walnut flooring :D
I have been told! My boss does staging on the side and she said DARK FLOORS. She felt the natural or light colour would look cheap. So as much as I am hoping I don't regret this I am leaning towards Dark Walnut or Jacobean. Does anyone have any photos of those stain colours?
I'm going back to Home Depot today with a wood shelf I have to see if that will put me on the right track.
Sweetpea I did a search on wood floors and noticed yours. I'm thinking something light might be the way to go.
Sinnes had those orangey red kitchen doors too, I wonder what flooring she eneded up getting?
Arizona,Congratulations ! on the purchase of your new home...as you already know we will be more than happy to assist you with any decisions to be made :D ...My kitchen cupboards are stained in minwax Fruitwood shade ....it is a soft medium brown with no red tones to it ...I really like it.
Yes Smoodgie that is the kitchen cabinet colour. I always like white kitchens but this one will be open to the living room and it will look too strange having a glaring white Ikea kitchen I think. I really like the orangey red colour.
I don't know for sure what the wood is under the carpet (because it's not mine yet and I can't walk in there and rip out the carpet just yet as much as I would dearly love to) but I feel it is probably oak and not maple.
So, I think I can safely say I won't be going with the Red Oak colour, I trust and value your opinions. Imagine if I just went ahead with my own ideas? :rolleyes: What a disaster. I see it now but I really thought I was on to something :o
Jan in van I think you are right about the tone, it makes sense. Now what tone would go with those Ikea medium brown cabinets? A warm tone for sure but I don't want to end up with yellow or golden.
Is this the cabinet colour you plan to go with??
Do you know what kind of wood the parquet floors are?? DIfferent woods take stains differently -- the grain in oak absorbs more stain than a harder wood with less grain (like maple, for example), so the same colour stain will look different on the two woods.
I wouldn't go with a reddish stain on the floor -- that would be too much red-toned wood. And you wouldn't want all the wood in your house to be the same colour.
Hello Arizona,
You can definitely mix your wood types - the trick is ensuring that the colours/tones compliment one another. I personally don't think they should be the same wood or the same colour... too much of a good/bad thing! :p
I'm not sure if this will help, but I'm posting pics of two of my kitchens - both with wood floors (both in the distance, I'm sorry to say) that don't "match" the cabinets...
This first pic is of my previous kitchen - loved the cherry wood cabinets with a stain that was called Sugar... the floors were a dark walnut. We tied the two colours together (colours that were already somewhat complementary) with the counter choice - a silestone that looked like Brazilian Brown granite. This photo was taken the day we moved out so the kitchen is naked of pretty stuff :(
[IMG]http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/tangotori/IMG_2094.jpg[/IMG]
This second photo is of my current kitchen... but before our counters and backsplash were installed (nothing more recent shows the two woods together... although I could get off my butt and take another picture if you want something closer up... just ask). Anyway... the cabinets are hickory with a stain called Cognac and the floors are golden oak. There are multiple colours in the oak strips which I think look great with the cabinets. In fact... the hickory takes the stain radomly... so there are lighter parts of the cabinets, too.
[IMG]http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee62/tangotori/DSC00027_r1.jpg[/IMG]
So... if you're going to get the Ikea cabinets, I'd recommend taking your stain samples to the store with you and choose a stain that compliments the redish-brown cupboards... but don't match! :D
Make sure you show us some before and after shots of your floors!!!!! :clapping:
Great news on finding the house.
As for 'red oak', that is probably what I have in this house as they seem to have been trying to match the original trim (which it doesn't) and have to say... not liking it.
Now, I've had really dark new wood floors, old oak, medium maple, and this red oak (which is quite dark) and it's not the gloss on the floor that shows the dust, it's the colour. both the floor I have now and the dark one in a previous house show way more dust and scratches etc. than the others. So, yes if you don't like dust, you will be hauling out the dust mop nearly every day with a dark floor.
It really does depend on what you like, but even though I always gravitate to dark, when it comes to floors the ones that are closer to a natural colour seem easier to live with both with the cleaning and general look. Personally I have zero problem with a light floor next to dark cabinets or furniture at all. What I think you do have to watch (as Jan mentioned) is the tone and there are lots of tones from red to yellow to orange to grey etc. so you also want to pay attention to any wood you have in furniture too when deciding on the floor.
Of the choices you mentioned, I'd avoid the pickled oak just because it's too 80's for my taste. The darks in wood are gorgeous, just extra work. What I would do is get the cupboards sorted first and once you have completely decided on that, take a sample door to the store and see how the stain samples go and that way you can be sure the undertone is one that will work. Know that you can also mix stains to have a custom tone.
I am thinking the lighter/medium tones rather than dark.
Recently I read that your wood colours should be the same tone, not necessarily the same colours. Don't know if that helps.
I should have posted the colour choices I have in case anyone has any other suggestions.
[url]http://www.minwax.com/products/wood_stains/wood_finish.cfm?tn=4#Colors[/url]