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desertsteph

My trip to HD & other misc things

desertsteph
11 years ago

last Saturday (or Sunday, I already forget which) I made a trip to HD. It was aligned w/ a few other places I needed to go to. Got the zircon stud finder. the guy there demonstrated it on a display they had of several models. looked simple enough and was only about 10.00!

I also checked out a few others things while there - like the faucet I've decided on. Gee, it's fat - lol! not used to seeing a chubby faucet like that. bulky little sucker! not sure I like that. Thank goodness I have time to relook and toss it around in my brain before buying.

checked out grate cover thingies for the heater/a/c hole in my bdrm. They had one that aims the air to 3 directions. I'll probably get that one since it will aim it toward my bed also. most only aim the air to one side or the other. It's white tho and I'll have to spray paint it.

I looked at a few other things then decided to check out flooring again. they had something new - Pergo XP and I really liked it so picked up a few samples. It's 1/2 inch thick tho and it'd bump up to flooring in 4 or 5 other rooms. that's not good because those rooms will be so much lower. such a bummer.

I spent some time on Monday testing out the stud finder - seeing if it could 'find' the studs I know are there (have shelf braces already screwed into them). It found 'em fine - yea!

shades - did you put down a moisture barrier when putting down the vinyl flooring? They mention it at HD w/ the Pergo laminate and that made me wonder about the vinyl. I 'spose it'll say on the install info. I'm planning to loose lay it I think.

I did find several good rolls of vinyl remnants at HD. At 8 x 12 I don't think they'd fit in my car, so will have to think about that one. I'm gonna spend some time today w/graph paper to see how many closet floors I can cover with a roll of it. there's enough I could do both baths and the laundry room.

I'm shutting down now to go next door for a few minutes then back here for maybe an hour before I go there for the rest of the afternoon. back on about 9pm or so.

Comments (12)

  • Shades_of_idaho
    11 years ago

    "shades - did you put down a moisture barrier when putting down the vinyl flooring? They mention it at HD w/ the Pergo laminate and that made me wonder about the vinyl. I 'spose it'll say on the install info. I'm planning to loose lay it I think."

    As far as I know you do not put a moisture barrier down because you glue the vinyl to the sub floor.ere is some vinyl that floats but we have never used it.

    I know our vinyl is glued directly to the sub floor.

    Under the other kinds, pergo, of flooring that is not glued down I would imagine you do use moisture barrier.

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    thx shades. I'll have to check some installation info I guess on loose laid vinyl. I didn't remember if you glued yours down or not.

    I have an underlayment for some laminate I bought. guess I'd better check it to see if it acts as a moisture barrier also. Sure hope I don't have to buy something else for that and they didn't tell me.

  • krayers
    11 years ago

    I think that the underlayment for laminate serves as a moisture barrier too. At least that's all we used in my son's house & I think we bought all they told us to.

    I've laid loose vinyl in my old house utility room. Worked pretty well for us but was not a high traffic area. All of our other rooms were glued down.

  • TxMarti
    11 years ago

    I know moisture barrier is common here under floating floors, but do you need it in the desert?

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    krayers - I hope it does serve as both. can't imagine having to put down 2 'under' things for the laminate.

    was your vinyl down for a long time? It's only me and the dog here but the utility/laundry room is walked thru to go in/out. Will do a lot of that (for me) putting her out and letting her in. That glue causes me lots of breathing problems so was hoping to avoid it.

    marti - I hadn't thought much about not needing it because it's desert and dry. It's needed for laminate. Tho, maybe that's for on slab. Most homes out here are on slab. Not even many basements here. I'm up several feet over a crawl space. I could call a mfg home place and ask them. There are times we do get rain a few days in a row. During monsoons the dew point gets up to around 40-50 for a number of wks. oh, the things I have to know / learn these days - stuff I wouldn't normally care to know.

    how are your cabs coming along? got any new pics of 'em?

  • lokipup
    11 years ago

    Hi desertstef,

    I've never posted on this forum, but lurked a lot & have read your story. We used loose lay vinyl from Lowes (I imagine HD is the same) in a rental property kitchen 3 years ago. It didn't require a moisture barrier, but the underside was thicker and spongier than regular vinyl so maybe it is built in. Anyway, it has held up great and is very comfortable to walk on. Good luck with your new place.

  • TxMarti
    11 years ago

    Slow going on the cabs right now. I'm still working on them, but dh hasn't touched them since the dining room began. I think I'm ready to stain the refrigerator cabinet though.

  • lokipup
    11 years ago

    I don't know if it matters, but that house has a crawlspace, not on a slab.

  • krayers
    11 years ago

    Desertstef - Ours was a very inexpensive roll of vinyl from Fred's - we were too broke for much else at the time! It was down for at least 5 years before we built the new house and wore fine. Think it we just put quarter round moulding around the edges & maybe a metal threshold strip at the doorway where it joined the existing kitchen floor. Our house was on a raised foundation and this was a utility room addition where we had enclosed part of a garage. Our vinyl in the new house was glued down & never wore out. We just got really tired of looking of it after 20 years & tiled both bathrooms.

  • idie2live
    11 years ago

    Steph, I have loose-lay in my kitchen. After a while I saw a ripple in it that has not smoothed itself out. I just throw a rug over it. Here is the ripple
    {{!gwi}}

    More importantly, I have 2 tears it it. One was cause from pulling out the fridge. The large one was caused by a loveseat chair leg when I forgot and pulled it out to sweep under it. Drat! Lately I have been thinking about letting the floor guy pull it up and glue it down. They even make a special glue for it. The tear
    {{!gwi}}

    And lastly, my understanding is that floating floors squeak and need some type of cushion underneath. I have some type of paper between the floor and the sub floor.
    Loretta

  • Nancy in Mich
    11 years ago

    Steph, I have asthma and I find that most chemical smells "get me" bad. I just had old-fashioned linoleum laid in our foyer and halls last summer, and in the kitchen and family room the summer before that. This was real lino made out of cork and linseed oil, not vinyl flooring. The way they laid the lino was interesting. The installer measured and cut out pieces of luan wood underlayment to exactly match the space he was covering. Then he took the luan outside on the driveway and lawn and cut the sheet lino to cover the luan. Then he rolled on a glue that did not even smell much and stuck the lino to the luan. After they sat a while, he took the luan pieces inside and used the glue to glue the lino-covered luan to the subfloor. If you want, I can call the store and ask the name of the glue they used.

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    lokipup- I do think some of the newer vinyls feel different and are thicker. I'm so glad to hear it has lasted and is comfortable to walk on - those are priorities for me. not being on a slab seems to be mentioned a lot with the loose laid vinyl. Might be a factor and I'm ok there.

    marti -can't wait to see how the fridge cab turns out - post a pic soon!

    krayers - I did see a roll of vinyl (not the real cushy kind i'm sure) at HD. I was thinking of using for closet flooring and possibly the hall bath and laundry/utility room. I think the qtr round moulding should hold it fine. also, if it ends up needing replaced in 5 yrs or so it'll be easier and the $s amt won't matter as much. The laundry room will be the only one getting much use - I'm hoping to keep pup in there when she needs barricaded. I'm not too worried about growing tired of it - I doubt I'll care much once something is down or be here to want to change it a lot of yrs down the road. of course, pup might tear it up - but if so I'll be glad I didn't put a lot of money in it and didn't glue it down!

    idie2 - good to hear from you! - how'd you hold it down around the edges? qtr round strips?
    could you pull up a strip and roll that ripple out again?

    as for the tear - I think they can fix those easily and if under the loveseat it won't be seen anyway. If you call him ask what the paper is and why. that's something I've not heard before. would be interesting to know why it was used. Are you on a slab?

    nancy - I'd sure appreciate knowing what was used. Might not be the same as can be used with vinyl but I could check it out and see if I can use it. I'm not opposed to glue tacking at the edges if the smell of it isn't overwhelming.

    thx to all of you for the info on what you have, how it was put down and has survived. It all helps in making a decision.

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