Monday is Floor Day!!!

Winchester

Winchester

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 The new kitchen floor will be installed this coming Monday! I am so excited! We stayed with the tile that we wanted and in that darker color in the pictures I had posted awhile back.

We have to move everything out of the kitchen. Going to Lowes for some plywood to set the stove and fridge on the living room floor. I'm not worried about plugging the stove in, but the fridge will have to be plugged in the living room somewhere. We have the stove, fridge, the hutch, table and chairs, and the cats' litter bench for the living room. It will work out; if need be, we can put some of the LR furniture in the bedroom for a couple of days. I'll have to pack up the hutch stuff into totes.

They said the floor can't be used for a day after installation to give it time to "set up" with the grout. (Wonder if that means the cats can't walk on it either.) Oh, and I asked about smells and such during installation; we're going to put five cats in our bedroom. Muffin and Tabby will go into the computer room for the day; they're the best of buds, so they'll be fine by themselves. The installer said odors aren't bad or anything, but if the weather holds, we'll keep all the windows open.

After the floor, it's the new fridge and then the backsplash. That will come more towards fall. I'd like to wait and see what any Black Friday sales might hold for the fridge. Looking at a French door fridge, if it works out, hopefully the Samsung with the four doors (but we'll see, nothing is set in stone). We have a side-by-side now and I don't like it; there's not enough room in the fridge.

I've been looking at a travertine backsplash, but haven't decided on anything yet.
 
blueyedgirl5946

blueyedgirl5946

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Is the store you are buying from doing the installation? We looked at some of this groutable tile at Lowe's last night. The girl told us the floor would need a primer to make the tiles stick better and also that a special kind of grout would have to be used. So far, I haven't been able to sell my husband on this kind of floor. Any tips you can give here, maybe I can use. :lol3:
 
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Winchester

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Thanks! I'm so excited! And, of course, pics!!


I really don't know what to expect with the floor as of yet. Yes, the store we bought the tiles from has installers who are doing the floor. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the same people who installed our kitchen cabinets are the ones doing the floor installation. They did a great job on the cabinets, so I'm sure they'll do a good flooring job, too. They sub-contract out to various companies. They're quite good. This isn't from Lowes or Home Depot; this is an Amish-owned flooring store. Their overhead is a lot lower than a DIY warehouse kind of place; their shop is really small. So their prices are lower, too.

Yes, they use some kind of an acrylic grout....that's my understanding. Luxury vinyl tiles are thinner than ceramic, so a regular grout wouldn't hold them down. I'm not sure, but I think that most tiles use some kind of a primer, so the vinyl tiles wouldn't be any different. Does that make sense? I know they're ripping up the old floor, then putting down the new floor....then the tiles.

We'll see how it goes!
 
blueyedgirl5946

blueyedgirl5946

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Winchester said:
Thanks! I'm so excited! And, of course, pics!! :)

I really don't know what to expect with the floor as of yet. Yes, the store we bought the tiles from has installers who are doing the floor. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the same people who installed our kitchen cabinets are the ones doing the floor installation. They did a great job on the cabinets, so I'm sure they'll do a good flooring job, too. They sub-contract out to various companies. They're quite good. This isn't from Lowes or Home Depot; this is an Amish-owned flooring store. Their overhead is a lot lower than a DIY warehouse kind of place; their shop is really small. So their prices are lower, too.

Yes, they use some kind of an acrylic grout....that's my understanding. Luxury vinyl tiles are thinner than ceramic, so a regular grout wouldn't hold them down. I'm not sure, but I think that most tiles use some kind of a primer, so the vinyl tiles wouldn't be any different. Does that make sense? I know they're ripping up the old floor, then putting down the new floor....then the tiles.

We'll see how it goes!
Click to expand...
The way the girl explained to us was that the grout had to expand and contract. So a special kind has to be used. You said they are ripping up the old floor, putting down the new floor and then the tiles. I am a bit confused. Are they taking up vinyl and then putting down something before the tiles go down.
 
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Winchester

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blueyedgirl5946 said:
The way the girl explained to us was that the grout had to expand and contract. So a special kind has to be used. You said they are ripping up the old floor, putting down the new floor and then the tiles. I am a bit confused. Are they taking up vinyl and then putting down something before the tiles go down.
Click to expand...
Yes. They are taking up the linoleum that's on the floor now (along with a sheet of something that the linoleum is on). Then they'll lay a thin sheet of something (plywood?) and fasten that to the floor. And then they'll put the tiles on top of that. I think that's the way they explained it. 

But I'll let you know.
 
margecat

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Winchester said:
Yes. They are taking up the linoleum that's on the floor now (along with a sheet of something that the linoleum is on). Then they'll lay a thin sheet of something (plywood?) and fasten that to the floor. And then they'll put the tiles on top of that. I think that's the way they explained it. 

But I'll let you know.
Click to expand...
They're probably using plywood sub-flooring. Word to the wise, should anyone else tile their floor: please do the sub-floor part and make sure everything is hyper-LEVEL before tiling. We've made that mistake! They also sell a concrete-like substance, "self-leveling [whatever it's called]". We should've done that in our kitchen...

Pam, everything sounds beautiful, and I'm excited for you!  Can't wait to the see the pics.
 
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blueyedgirl5946

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Winchester said:
Yes. They are taking up the linoleum that's on the floor now (along with a sheet of something that the linoleum is on). Then they'll lay a thin sheet of something (plywood?) and fasten that to the floor. And then they'll put the tiles on top of that. I think that's the way they explained it. 

But I'll let you know.
Click to expand...
Is your stove, refrigerator and dishwasher all coming out. Will there be enough room to put that down and still get your dishwasher back in the space beneath the counter top. When we built our house, the people who put down the vinyl floor told us it was not necessary to put a any plywood down. There was something called durastrand (similar to OSB board) on the floor and they said they would clean it up and level everything. Well they didn't do that. That was in '02. Now we can see some of the seams where the stuff is put together through the vinyl and also where some of the nails have worked up some. Plus there was stuff spilled and they didn't get it totally level. I want all that fixed, but can't decide how to proceed.l I like the laminate flooring, and that might be thick enough to cover some imperfections.

Keep us posted on what happens with this. Can you find our for sure what they took up and what they are putting down to fasten the tiles to.
 
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Winchester

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We are moving the stove and the fridge to the living room. The dishwasher is built-in and we are not moving that. We didn't take it out when they put the current floor down either, although we did move the fridge and stove that time, too.

I'll get more information for you. I know they're putting something down before they do the tile. I'll find out about the grout, too. I know he said it's an acrylic grout, but I have no idea of the name or anything.

We have two floors down there now.....the original linoleum from when we built the house and then the floor that's down now. The installer was there and said that he didn't think he'd have to take up the present floor. But then when he looked at the French door in the kitchen, he changed his mind and said he thought they'd better take it up.

Nails started coming up many years ago from where they put down the original subfloor and that had gotten a little ugly.  And MargeCat, there was also a place in the kitchen (walking over toward the kitchen table) where we noticed a "dip" in the floor.....definitely a leveling problem that the original builders didn't do right. We also had some nails come through from where the drywall in the ceiling wasn't mudded that well. But our house wasn't built all that well to start with and we've had more than our share of problems with it throughout the years.

Consumer Reports seemed to like the vinyl tiles as far as maintenance and appearance and such. But vinyl is vinyl and, up close, I'm sure it will look like vinyl. (So if you ever come to visit? Don't get down on the kitchen floor and look that closely at the tiles!! 
)

ETA: Well, the guys just called me to confirm Monday, so I guess we're good to go!
 
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blueyedgirl5946

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Winchester said:
We are moving the stove and the fridge to the living room. The dishwasher is built-in and we are not moving that. We didn't take it out when they put the current floor down either, although we did move the fridge and stove that time, too.

I'll get more information for you. I know they're putting something down before they do the tile. I'll find out about the grout, too. I know he said it's an acrylic grout, but I have no idea of the name or anything.

We have two floors down there now.....the original linoleum from when we built the house and then the floor that's down now. The installer was there and said that he didn't think he'd have to take up the present floor. But then when he looked at the French door in the kitchen, he changed his mind and said he thought they'd better take it up.

Nails started coming up many years ago from where they put down the original subfloor and that had gotten a little ugly.  And MargeCat, there was also a place in the kitchen (walking over toward the kitchen table) where we noticed a "dip" in the floor.....definitely a leveling problem that the original builders didn't do right. We also had some nails come through from where the drywall in the ceiling wasn't mudded that well. But our house wasn't built all that well to start with and we've had more than our share of problems with it throughout the years.

Consumer Reports seemed to like the vinyl tiles as far as maintenance and appearance and such. But vinyl is vinyl and, up close, I'm sure it will look like vinyl. (So if you ever come to visit? Don't get down on the kitchen floor and look that closely at the tiles!!  :lol3: )

ETA: Well, the guys just called me to confirm Monday, so I guess we're good to go!
Click to expand...
So my question is if your dishwasher goes on the blink, how will you get it out if a floor is put down in front of it instead of under it. I am facing this here in my house too.
 
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Winchester

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Well, that's interesting. When our old dishwasher died and we got the one we have now, we had no problem getting it installed over the current floor and that's not under the dishwasher. I honestly don't know.
 
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Winchester

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And they're off! Rick sent me a couple texts so far this morning with progress pictures. He says it seems to be going well.

I had to leave the house early this morning because of having the blood work done before work. He said he had some trouble getting all the cats in their respective bedrooms. But he thinks all the cats are penned up now, judging from the meowing he's hears from time to time.
 
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Winchester

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Yes, it is finished. I think it looks very nice and Rick is thrilled. Will get some pictures once we have everything moved back. We can walk on it tonight and, of course, the cats have nosed every inch of the floor. But we can't move the furniture and appliances back until Tuesday night.

Now, we're looking at backsplash. 

Here's the mural I'd like to have, but I'm not sure if I want it on the wall behind the stove or on the wall behind the counter next to the stove. More decisions. I really do like the mural, though.

http://www.stoneimpressions.com/pro...ral-tile-collection/grape-harvest-wine-mural/

And another favorite: http://www.stoneimpressions.com/pro...-meal-warm-tones-still-life-mural-collection/

We'd go with travertine tiles as well.

But we'll see. Turns out the guys who did our cabinets and our flooring? Also does backsplash!  


I love my kitchen. It's comfy. 
 
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Oooooo congrats on the new kitchen floor! Can't wait to see pictures. I love the first mural you are considering, the grape harvest wine!! It will be so pretty no matter what you go with. We went with a small mosaic stone/glass tile for our kitchen backsplash. I will post pictures but have been waiting for that darn hardwood order to arrive. It is taking way too long. :rolleyes: I am getting very impatient about it.
 
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Can't wait to see pics! :clap:

I also prefer the first mural. :)
 
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