Floor Drains

For commercial uses all areas where water is located has to have a drain outlet which leads into the sewer. This saves the people below if there is a leak or a burst pipe.

In modern homes the plumbing code requires a drain in the basement usually next to the water source: water heater, water inlet, sewer. This is only  smart because water heaters leak when they fail and the water has to have somewhere to go.

In new home designs the commercial aspect of drains is being taken a step further. Kitchens and bathrooms are now being fitted for drains if the home builder wants them. This makes sense because some kitchens now have more than one sink area and almost every home has a dishwasher.

A drain is placed in a spot where an leak will go to a neutral spot, usually in a spot equidistant from all the water sources. The floor is sloped toward this spot so that no extra effort is required to move pooled water from another area if there is a spill. if the kitchen is tiled this is easier to do although vinyl floors can work as well. A floor drain should also have a strainer-cover over it to prevent any vermin from having access.

Hardwood Floor Fillers

In almost every part of the country you will get expansion and contraction in a hardwood floor. Even in areas that are not dry the temperature in the home or home heating unit may cause the floor planks to contract. This is especially true in a room where the fireplace is being used often.

Before a hardwood floor is put down the flooring installer will usually “season” planks in the room for up to two weeks. In other words her or she will have the cartons delivered to the home well before the job will have be done. Then the boxes will be opened so that the planks will drink in the humidity of the room before the installation takes place. However, even with this process the floor planks can shrink and small cracks can appear. These can allow moisture to degrade the planks and should be filled.

As with most paints and sealers there is now a water-based wood filler product to repair cracks between the planks. These are especially good for the installer who is putting down unfinished flooring or for the finishers. The reason for this that, unlike the old solvent-based fillers, this water-based product will adapt to the seasonal changes. it will not shrink, crack or fall out. In addition it will accept stains.

For finished or prefinished floors the crack are already there. Now there has to be a filler that can move with the wood, expand and contract without pushing out of the crack. Alcohol or solvent-based fillers dry hard and so are not designed for this. It also has to be colored because you don’t want to be sanding and refinishing a sliver of your floor. It will rarely match and the damaged places are rarely out of sight.

Silicone-based fillers will expand and contract with the flooring planks during the changes in humidity. Since these products come in a tube you can adjust the tip for a very fine bead. And they are colored, up to a dozen standard wood colors including black and white. In addition they can be used for wood floor damages like holes and dents.

Kick Plate Floor Heaters

The new kitchens are marvels of new storage techniques. Pantries and base cabinet setups line the walls leaving little room for heating elements or ductwork down on the floor where it is needed. So unless you are willing to use in-floor radiant heating there are few other options other than a radiant heat source from the ceiling. And this takes a long time to get doen to the feet!

A good compromise is the kick plate heater, named because the unit fits underneath the base cabinet and produces an airflow horizontally from a fan inside. The heat source is an element which can be either 240 or 110 volts depending on the unit. Some heaters actually come with a switch where the voltage can be changed to either 110 or 220. This is common in European countries.

The nice thing about a kick-plate heater is that is gets hot air to the area where it is needed quickly. At 750 and 1500 watts respectively they do not have to be on for very long to get the desired effect.

Installing a kick plate heater requires an electrician to hook up the power. The thermostat has to be wired as well. The unit, itself, goes underneath a base cabinet in an area where it will spread heat to to the biggest area. in other words don’t have it pointing at the island because the heat will be confined.

There are many styles of grills to cover the kick plate heater, from brass to wood. As for price, they start at around $120 and can go above $300 for a high output heater.

Staining a Wood Floor

People love the natural look of wood and this is why the product is so popular. Sometimes, however, the decor calls for something slightly different to match with the other features of a room.

Wood stains are used all the time by homeowners for moldings, chairs and refinishing jobs. These penetrating agents bring out the grain and give a three-dimensional look to the wood. This process can also be done with wood floors. Many new homes will have the floors already stained before they are finished. This can be one of many tints from a whitening to a hint of green. Pre-finished hardwood flooring already comes tinted and this is why this product is so popular.

To stain an old wood floor you will have to strip it of wax first and then sand it. The floor should dry for a few days before starting the sanding process then you will see what you have. For example, the sun may have bleached the finish in the traffic areas whereas the edges of the flooring and the parts under the furniture may be darker. In this case you have to be very careful in matching the colors.

For the best results hire a professional to sand the floor. This way you will get a uniform surface with no drum sander marks or other imperfections that amateurs sometimes leave. If the flooring is thick the sander can get below any UV damage. The really cautious among us will get a pro to do the whole thing but if you are the slightest bit handy, and have an artistic eye, you can accomplish the task.

1. Vacuum: Make sure there is not a crumb on the surface.

2. Match: If you can get a piece of the flooring from the closet, or other area that will not be noticed, take it to the paint store to test the stain. The stain will go on the old wood in a different shade than a newer piece. You might consider a sealer to put on first. This will go deep into the wood and make a level playing field for the stain so that some parts do not receive more than others. Ask a painting pro about this.

3. Application: Mix the stain evenly. You can roll, brush or pour the stain on the floor but make sure you get an even coat on the floor. Start at the far corner and work back to the door leave for five to ten minutes and then wipe with clean, lint-free rags. The length of time the stain sits on ther floor will determine the darkness.

4. Finishing: Use an electric floor buffer with a #2 steel wool disc and buff to get an even look for the floor. Vacuum the floor before applying the finish. The finish should be a urethane-based one if the stain is oil-based. If the stain is water-based then the finish can be a water-based product. You can apply three finishes. Lightly sand, vacuum and  damp mop between each. Let the floor a day between coats and let the floor dry aftre damp-mopping.

Waxing Your Floor

Commercial establishments and schools have miles of linoleum, rubber and vinyl floors to maintain and the preferred finish is usually a wax procedure. In the past waxing was real wax made from bees wax and then petroleum products.

In the past wood floors were always waxed and now, with the new coatings, many homeowners just wet them and leave them. But others like the look and feel of a newly-waxed floor and for them there are a new bacth of waxes available.

1. Supplies For Removing Old Wax: To properly wax a new floor you must remove the old. It is like an old paint that new colors will not hide. Go to the hardware or flooring store with the infomration about your type of floor and get the right wax and wax stripper for it. If the area is large you might want to rent a floor scrubber to help. Have on a hand a pail, broom, mop, an old tooth brush (for small areas), gloves and rags.

2. Preparation: Remove all furniture and get your supplies close to the job. Now open the windows to ventilate the place.

3. Experiment: Test out the stripper in a small area usually covered by furniture. This is in case something goes wrong (you bought the wrong stuff!).

4. Pattern: Start at the end of the room farthest from the doorway and move toward it. Work in small areas so that you will get a good handle on the job.

5. Spread: Coat the area and leave fr a few minutes. Then scrub by hand or use the machine. For grooves and tight areas use the brushes and even a putty knife.

6. Wipe: With the rags wipe the are clean. Do not use the same rags twice.

7. Wax: Start at the far end of the room and pour the wax material on the floor. With a new mop work the the wax in and back up toward the door in the same as when you stripped the wax.  Let dry for about 40 minutes and buff with a power buffer. Then repeat 2 more times.

8. Maintenance: Every few months you can apply a thin coat of wax and buff.

Linoleum vs. Vinyl

Up until the early 1970’s linoleum was the desired flooring for kitchens and bathrooms and even some living rooms. Linoleum floor covering is made from linseed oil, pine resins, wood powder, cork powder and lime. These materials are pressed onto a layer of jute, or rope material. It was discovered in the mid-1800’s when an Englishman named Fredrick Walton noticed the skin on a pail of paint based on linseed oil. Because of the ingredients linoleum is a completely natural material. In addition linoleum has a resistance to germs and all strains of bacteria which makes it suitable for bathrooms, kitchens and nurseries.

Vinyl flooring is made from a petroleum product, polyvinyl chloride in a rotogravure printing process. A printed image forms the pattern for the flooring and is administered by a cylinder that spins around while the vinyl’s core layer passes underneath. This cylinder prints various colored ink dyes to create the pattern. After the dyes dry a clear layer is applied to the finish to protect it from wear. The thickness of the wear-layer depends on the intended use. The thicker the wear layer the more expensive the flooring.

Unlike vinyl, the patterns in linoleum flooring go through the material which makes wearing not noticeable, even in high traffic areas. As well, the backing for most vinyl floors is paper. This means that the wear layer can easily come off the floor if pried whereas the canvas and jute backing of linoleum makes this more difficult.

Pine Floors

Pine floors go back as far or further than the first settlers who first put a floor in their cabins. Because of the resins pine lasted but was eaily marked. And even though hardwood like oak and maple was harder to mill and install they were perceived as the better flooring materials and they took over from pine for the home market.

On the Janka scale, which measures hardness of flooring products, almost all species of pine fall below 1000 foot pounds of pressure whereas the median for oak is around 1200. This means that it takes 1200 foot pounds of pressure for a steel ball bearing to put a dent in the wood plank. However, with the new urethane coatings a well-maintained pine floor should be able to stand up.

Drying

One of the keys to a good pine floor is how well it has been dried. Many flooring experts maintain that pine floor planks should be dried to a moisture content of between 6 – 8%. Then this planking should be left for 2 weeks in the room where it is to be installed and there should be a moderate heating temperature in the place.

Distressed

A favored look for pine is an aged, wide planking with a few marks thrown in. On new pine this doesn’t look very good but if stained this can have a very dramatic effect. Some planks can be bought as wide as 18 inches although, for good reason, these are very expensive. For a pioneer look a random selection of planks 6-8″ wide and in random lengths to 16 feet will do nicely.

Reclaimed Pine

A big industry within the flooring market is reclaiming old boards from barns, fences and even from the bottom of rivers and lakes. These old boards not only have character but were originally harvested from larger trees and so the wood was not as knotty. The aging process process has produced a rich color that burst through when the wood is planed into flooring planks.

Get Off the Ground

Many homes in the country are built slab-on-grade which means a concrete pad is poured and the home is built without a basement. This is because the water table may be too high for a basement or a basement would be too expensive to build, as in the case of being close to bedrock. However there are costs to pay for having this type of a structure:

1. Inaccessible Pipes, Electrical and HVAC

Putting in a pad means that all the wiring, heating, cooling, drains, water and other amenities have to be buried in the pad when it is poured. So if you want to add anything later it would be a very costly enterprise. This is esepcially true if the flooring is right on the pad.

Unless Murphy’s Law has been repealed there will be maintenance issues of some kind or another. Even if the repairman, plumber or electrician is able to fix the problem the floor in the area will have to be taken up before any work can be done. And this might included cutting or jackhammering the a hole in the pad. A crawlspace or shallow basement can allow access to every function and is cheaper to install than burying conduit and pipe in concrete.

2.  Insurance

Insurance companies don’t mind you not having a basement but want you to get the home off the ground. This is especially true in low-lying areas. Some even offer a break for every foot that the home goes up.

3.  Water and Pests

A raised floor also takes away the risk of rainwater getting to the slab and undermining it. In addition, a faulty gutter and downspout system can mean that water can get into the home or pool around the slab. This could cause rot in the sill plates. Insects, vermin and mold love damp areas and are attracted to rot.

4. Pilings

As the devasting Hurricane Ike in Texas has shown, pilings are solid. In areas where moisture in the ground is a problem getting up on pilings is a better idea than having a slab. Moiture moves through the ground and slabs can crack letting in water and even radon gas. Having the home up even a couple of feet off the ground and properly insulated can alleviate a lot of problems. As for access for wheelchairs a two foot rise accounts for a very shallow slope.

The main idea is to keep your floor above the ground so that you will have peace-of-mind.

Insulate for a Warmer Floor

The discomfort of standing on a cold vinyl, tile or wood floor can be talken away with wearing slippers but that doen’t take away the fact that you are losing heat. To get the floor warm you have to turn up the heat and/or put rugs down.

The first project you should undertake is to take off the baseboards and caulk around bottoms of the walls. This will stop any drafts. Next put preformed insulation pads behind all outlet covers and child-proff plugs in the outlet plugs. This will also stop drafts. Doors are the next item to check. Make sure the weather stripping is tight.

Cold floors mean that there is not enough insulation under the floor to keep the cold from getting into the flooring. Ther are many ways to fix this but few of them are cheap, especially if the space is difficult for working.

Floor insulation fights the three main heat loss vehicles: convection, radiation and conduction. Therefore a warm floor reduces the temperature fluctuations that fuels convection. It impedes conduction by adding a thermal break and radiation to the cold beneath the floor.

1. Basement: If the floor is over a basement then the floor isn’t the problem, the basement is cold. If the basement is not meant to be heated then the subflooring can be insulated with fiberglass batts, rigid foam or foam spray insulation. Batts are the easiest. They can lie on top of 1″ X 3″ strapping attached to the bottom of the joists. However this will not work well if the basement is drafty. Rigid foam cut to fit inbetween the joists are better but a closed cell spray foam insulation will seal everything.

2. Garage Apartment: Like a basment a garage can be very cold and drafty. First, fix the drafts. If the ceiling is finished then you can blow in cellulose insulation between the joists. If  the ceiling is exposed then fiberglass batts will work but fix the drafts first.

3. Subfloor Removal: Sometimes the floor is framed over a pad but left uninsulated. If you are replaceing the floor anyway the subfloor can be taken up and rigid foam insulation put in. Also, fiberglass battts can be suspended in chicken wire webs strung between the open joists.

4. Floor Insulation: If you are going to change your flooring to tile or hardwood insulation membranes can be added on top of the existing floor. These are a foam product in thicknesses of 1/8″, 3/16″ and 1/4″. The sound dampening qualities are great and they provide a thermal break from the cold which, along with a plastic vapor seal, will keep out drafts and not let cold penetrate.

Stairs and Energy

Up until the 1970’s most home designs were sectional. Even ranch-style homes had pocket doors and narrow door openings while bungalows had a door for every room. This hearkens back to the days when homes were closed off for privacy and to save heat. In winter the kitchen was always the warmest because the stove was always going but all other rooms except for the bathroom could be kept at the temperature of a deep freeze, especially the bedrooms. In fact the only heat these rooms received was when the doors were left open.

As homes opened up there was a realization that heat and airconditioning were more efficient. This was because the air was constantly moving around the area so there were no cold or hot spots. Designers of HVAC systems did not have to insert as many zones or ducts to keep all the areas equal in temperature.

One of the big “blockers” of air motion has been stairs. In fact the front entrance to a typical two-story home was a small vestibule, a sort of “air lock.” To the left was a door to the parlour and to thr right was one to the kitchen. However, when one opened the door directly ahead it revealed a staircase to the seoncd floor. Many retorers of old homes routinely take these doors off to get an air flow going.

Taking the risers out of staircases can greatly increase airflow. If there is a heat source, such as a wood stove, in the lower part of the home having open risers allows the air to rise quickly though the spaces. This is a great energy saver because otherwise the hot air will be trapped and soon find its way out through window glass or be absorbed into the walls. Having a fan at the top of the stairs to draw air up will help this flow. Many companies have steel staircases with both open risers and treads which almost makes the steps transparent.

The key to equalizing the heat in a home is to have a constant air flow. This also enhances the quality of the air as well.