Dogs and flooring

KelleGA · January 10, 2010, 08:53 AM

I really need some advice on how to proceed. I have a 1000 sq ft bungalow built in 1946 to house the workers at the Bell Bomber plant here in Marietta, GA. When I purchased the house the seller pulled up the carpet to expose the original hardwood. SHe used an oil finish on it instead of a polyurethane or some other sealant. Now almost 3 years later, the oil is gone, the floors are dried out and they show every drop of water that gets on them as a white stain. I have the additional problem of there not being any insulation under the floors. It's cold as hell in here during the winter.

I had a contractor come out yesterday and take a look. He stated that because the crawl space is so tight, as to be inaccessible, that he couldn't help out with the insulation. He recommended I lay a new floor over the existing one, perpindicular, to cut down on the drafts. When they refinished this floor, the sanded down so far in a few places that they used wood filler (I kid you not) to build it back up again. So needless to say, I am not in love with this floor. Now, here are my options, 1) I will be calling an insulation contractor to give me their opinion on possibly insulating the floor. The guy from yesterday said I should give that a shot; 2) laying a new floor over the old one for appearance sake and hopefully to cut down on the draft.

This new flooring would go in a living room, dining room and bedroom. Probably not more than 750 sq feet I would guess. I tend to prefer modern/transitional style. It looks like Ikea exploded all over my house. I love bamboo flooring, but don't know about water solubility. THat's my extinuating circumstance-3 small dogs (biggest one is 18lbs) who use puppy pads to pee. They don't always hit the puppy pads. So, no carpeting, no laminates that can't withstand dog pee. They are allowed in the dining room and kitchen during the day (linoleum in there). I'd love cork because of the warmness of it, but I understand it's more susceptible to water than laminate. THey don't scratch the floor a lot because they don't weigh much, but I need a water durable flooring that I can put in basically the whole house that won't break the bank. This neighborhood is not up and coming, and I only paid $94,000 for the house. So no luxury materials would work. So cutting down on drafts and withstanding dog pee, primary goals.

What about painting the floors with durable porch paint? Would that help with the draft problem do you think?

THanks for reading my book, any advice?

rgfloor · January 10, 2010, 09:05 AM

It has been said cheap, beautiful, and durable!!.........pick two, any two .....cause ya can't have all three at the same time.

I think it kinda applies here, think about it!!

Ed · January 10, 2010, 09:52 AM

You may want to consider having a doggie door installed.It can be placed through a door or a wall.Costs about 85 bucks. I have one through a utility room wall where I can close utility room door when I am not at home to shut off my dogs access to the rest of my house but he can still hang out in the warm utility room.
As far as the drafts,you may find the air leaks are where the walls meet the floor,not nessasarily coming up through the middle of the floor. If this is the case you may find a new floor may insulate somewhat but not stop the air leaks around the walls.You may ask insulation co. about this.

KelleGA · January 10, 2010, 10:11 AM

I have a doggie door, but they're all rescue dogs and learned to use puppy pads before I adopted them. They won't always go out the doggie door to the yard. Out of the 3 things I can't have, beautiful is the one I can skip. It has to be cheap and it has to be durable. As for the drafts being around the walls, it doesn't seem to be any worse around the baseboards than it is in the middle of the floor. Not to say that's not an air current I'm feeling, but it feels like still, freezing air.

Daris Mulkin · January 10, 2010, 11:15 AM

I'd find out where the drafts are coming from. easy enough to do, take a candle and move it around the baseboards and see if the flame moves or goes out. You don't say how deep the crawl space is between the ground and the floor but should be 18 inches or more.
I really don't think new flooring is going to solve a draft problem you got to seal up the draft first.
I tthought it was warm in Georgia.

Daris

mcbrides · January 10, 2010, 11:57 AM

Hi Kelly:

Being a dog owner, I know your concerns.

Of course, doing it right would mean pulling up all your existing hardwood, the subfloor and insulating, then rebuilding your floors. You are, however, looking for a cheap fix, so I'm thinking that if you had the existing hardwood skim coated with a concrete based floor leveler to seal the cracks, then have a wood-grain look sheet vinyl installed, you would have the look you want with the performance properties (i.e. moisture issues) you need with your dogs.

We once pulled up 160 yards (almost 1500 sf) of carpet and pad, laid 1/4 ply and woodgrain vinyl in one house for that very reason, however, they had 40 little dogs and there wasn't a pee pad anywhere in evidence ~ I don't need to tell you that there wasn't a square foot in that house that didn't have pee or feces on it. Installers will put up with a lot, and deal with a lot, but this one we would have walked from if the dealer who sold it in hadn't threatened us with no work if we didn't do it. In the end, we parted company with that dealer over that job, anyway.

Good Luck. Thought it was warmer in Georgia (drove through there many years ago - pretty place). I'm up on the north side of Lake Ontario and we've been freezing our butts off the past week or so.

Deb

Kman · January 10, 2010, 12:13 PM

Unless you're wanting to pull up the existing floor, I think what the McBrides suggested would be best, or maybe Konnecto. I wouldn't advise ceramic tile over hardwood, and neither laminate nor carpet would hold up.

KelleGA · January 10, 2010, 03:26 PM

Usually Georgia (and the south in general) has very mild winters. But the last couple of weeks have been brutal here. There were multiple days last week that the high never broke freezing. The heat wave of the week was 41 degrees right before it came a sleet and snow. We don't know how to deal with that mess at all. There's one salt truck and it sits in front of the Governer's mansion (jk).

Anyway, I think the leveler layer is a great idea and one the contractor yesterday recommended. I have structural problems in this old place and some of the beams have shifted over the years. The floors are FAR from level so that will be a good start. Depending on how much the estimate is for laying new floor I'll decide from there whether to paint it and call it a day, or lay down new strand over bamboo. That seems to be the toughest wood product I could afford.

Thanks guys!

Dan Schultz · January 10, 2010, 03:45 PM

Bamboo is very moisture sensitive.

Al Gladden · January 10, 2010, 04:06 PM

i think a new floor is the way to go, but for 750ft.. you can normally figure around 1500 bucks for the install. that is the going rate in your area...and yes this winter is supposed to be the coldest we have had in georgia in the last 10 years...being the house is over 50 years old i bet is has no insulation at all.

KelleGA · January 10, 2010, 06:37 PM

Thanks for the info Al, I appreciate the going rate tip. Yes, I'm sure this house has little insulation. The attic isn't so bad. However, I'm sure that whatever used to be in the walls (if any) has long ago settled. I am planning on putting blown in insulation into the walls before next winter. I think that's something my friends and I can do, especially since the studs are 24 inches apart....they were in a hurry apparently. I wish I could put blown in into the crawlspace, but I think it would probably act like a moisture wick without any sort of plastic on the ground. If I could get plastic sheets laid down, I could get batts up under there. It's just too tight....the house might as well be on a slab.

stullis · January 10, 2010, 08:08 PM

Just remember the "going rate" is what the crappiest bottom of the barrel installers charge.

Al Gladden · January 10, 2010, 08:21 PM

scott, in that area the good installers are charging that.. the economy is so bad right now, the crappy guys are charging around 1.25ft..

Kman · January 10, 2010, 08:26 PM

I talked to a retailer Tuesday who said he can sell product to the house builders, but he can't sell labor to them because he can't compete. The builders are getting tile installed for $1.65 and wood for even less.

The slowdown in building and the economy in general has caused installers in this area to drop their prices to a point lower than they have ever been.

rgfloor · January 10, 2010, 09:01 PM

OK Kelle, now you have posted a little more information.

If you install wood or bamboo in your area I can almost guarantee that it will not last. Why you ask, you have told us that you have a very tight crawl space, and now you hint that it has no plastic down. Wood and bamboo are moisture sensative, the excess moisture in a crawl space will come up into the wood or bamboo and it will fail. You need plastic down and ventalation. Moisture testing is also essential. I would say you are back to sheet vinyl flooring as the ONLY way to go. MY 2 cents.