Flooring install

Thanks to all the advice on what flooring NOT to get on this mopping science experiment post I had a long list of requirement and dreams when I picked out our new kitchen/dining/family room flooring.

Flooring Requirements

Durable XCheck

Fairly waterproof and scratch proof XCheck

Easy to clean XCheck 

(very smooth- I mostly sweep and occasionally damp mop with a microfiber mop)

Flooring Dreams

Look like real wood X check- pretty darn close- hand scraped, knots, variation in color

Warm Xcheck

Quiet Xcheck

Large planks X check 6"wide x 48"long

No grout lines X glue down install- so if we ever need to replace one plank it's very easy.

I think we hit a home run with this plank vinyl flooring.  The look of wood but's it's waterproof, with almost the durability of tile- but it's warmer, and quieter. It's the Mannington Brand Adura Distinctive Plank Dockside Boardwalk color.  We picked out what kind we wanted then I called every installer listed on their site to get the best price quote.  Our installer told us the owner of the flooring store has the same kind in his game room- that made us feel pretty good about our choice.

October 22nd

Since Matt had already torn out all the old tile and scraped up the quick set and grout back in July the prep was very fast.  You know our tile was bad when living on concrete for 4 months was a huge improvement.    Flooring was the first thing we took out and one of the last things to go in.  For prep our installer scraped a little more and then put a very thin skim coat on the whole floor- the cement groove where Matt put in the new electrical line needed two coats but it dried very quickly.

I wish I had a picture of the installer- he was at least in his sixties.  He's been installing flooring for 35 years.  He was here with me and the kids trying to stay out of his way for 2 days, so we became friends.  He was born and raised in Ireland, so his name was Patrick of course- his last name was very Irish as well.  Despite living in the U.S. for most of his life he still had some accent and phrases that sounded Irish.  He also lived in a few other countries in Eastern Europe and Australia   He had some great stories!  

He did an excellent job on our floor and Matt and I both thought it was well worth the money and time saved to not try to do  it ourselves for the first time on our own floor.  We gave him a fairly good sized tip for dong such a great job and he hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and called me dear.  It was charming; and a little weird!

 He left us 1.5 boxes of extra flooring so we could use it for our bathrooms, front room or hall.   I would love to have this flooring in the hallway and front room but our carpet is only 5 years old and we want to get our money's worth.  I also wanted to try out the flooring and see if I liked it.  If I do, we'll buy the extra boxes and replace the rest when the carpet gets bad. 

I'm so glad we decided to do the side panels on the ends of the islands and other cupboards.  So much better than plain boards.  Toe kicks were put in over the weekend to be ready for the flooring.

Going around the island and having both sides match up on the seams is the hardest part, so he cut all those pieces and laid them out first before he glued them down.  It goes right up to the edges- we were so impressed with how meticulous he was on the edges.

The hand scraped texture and variation in color and durability sold us on this brand.

Day 1 kitchen, pantry, under stove and fridge, up to dishwasher and one strip in the living room finished.

 Day 2 Oct 23rd only took him part of the day to do the rest since it was mostly long straight lines except for the window seat, fireplace and door needed cut-in.

It's a low gloss finish so it doesn't show dust as much as a high gloss would.

 That ice chest on the fireplace is where all my essential dishes were stored!

Crown molding sneak peak on cabinets!  I love them!

Just the new flooring alone is a huge source of joy for me!  I love to sweep- it's so much warmer, smoother and quieter!