Stupid carpet rant...

[Deleted]

How funny, here "parquet" means any wooden floor, laminate or otherwise.

As others have said, that pattern is a bit dated. But it has a lot of charm, which is why it comes back into style regularly. Like I said, it would probably be MUCH cheaper for you to put that into the LR where the carpet was than to tear it up all over the house and replace it with the bamboo. It would be a lot more hygienic too LOL.

Personally I would keep it, and replace the trashed LR carpet with that.

Then I'd take some of the money you WON'T be spending replacing the wooden flooring in your entire house with wooden flooring you like better, and get a couple of rugs or other decorative items that you and Loop really LOVE.

[thyme4change]

It would cost me $25,000 to put that stuff in my house. And, that is why I still have carpet...

[Sum Dum Gai]

How old is it? in other words is it really wood or some sort of wood laminate?

It can't be that old, our house was built in 89/90.

[Sum Dum Gai]

That puzzle floor is friggin awesome! $18 a sq ft though... I don't even want to do the math on that. Yikes!

[thyme4change]

I personally like the strand woven bamboo.

If you leave the parquet, you would probably want a more "solid" color in the living room, but if you get a really good installer, they can do a cool transition, and it wouldn't look weird at all. The problem with the sample you posted (it is cool, don't get me wrong) but I suspect that those types of wood floors will be considered dated soon. Everything gets dated, so if you pick something a little bolder and super awesome like what you did, it gets dated a lot faster. Classic wood floors won't be the hottest trend in 10 years - but they won't scream "2012!!!" either.

[Sum Dum Gai]

The other look we both like is a more generic wood floor, like this;



We both like the lighter stain, except that it wouldn't match any of our built in cabinets which are all dark wood. We could probably live with that for a while though.

[findingdeadbeats]

I too love the puzzle floors. Way cool!

[thyme4change]

I like to mix wood tones, although I think my style is a hot mess. Decorators would probably have a heart attack in my house.

I think that picture would look great forever, it would be sellable. It is a low-risk floor. You could do a transition that was the same tone as the cabinets to tie it all together. Or a boarder.

Like this:

www.woodfloorshowroom.com/photo_gallery/fy9714.html

[Sum Dum Gai]

Dumb dog... I was supposed to be focused on the yard this summer.

[thyme4change]

Another option...do you have a concrete slab under that carpet? The thing to do in Phoenix is to stain the slab. That is cheap and pretty fast, and if you hate it, then you can throw floors or carpet on top of it in a year or two or five.

[Sum Dum Gai]

No concrete slabs up here, they don't do too well in earthquakes.

[thyme4change]

I saw your town on the documentary about earthquakes - it said you don't have earthquakes - but all the sidewalks show that your town is moving.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I saw your town on the documentary about earthquakes - it said you don't have earthquakes - but all the sidewalks show that your town is moving.

I don't know who did the documentary, but they screwed it up pretty good. The local paper has a little section that shows all the local quakes in the last week. I've never seen that section empty, and we've lived here for almost two years. They're all really small, in fact I only remember even feeling one, but we have earthquakes near us all the time.

[thyme4change]

Maybe it was that they've had so many, but never a "big one."

[Sum Dum Gai]

That might be accurate. The main drag downtown has a fault line that literally runs right underneath it, but I don't know that they've ever had a big quake on that fault.

[thyme4change]

Well, anyway...carpet is about half of what hardwood will cost you, and you only have to do carpet in the smaller area. Good luck. I hate these decisions. I like it when I'm in control of the timing of these things, and I always get really worked up when these types of things are done unto me.

[Deleted]

Dark that's my favorite wooden floor too. That's what we have upstairs in the two younger kids' rooms, the guest room, and the landing.

Personally I think that floor is pretty timeless. But the people who put the mosaic floor in probably thought the same thing LOL.

I really think you need to price all the different options and made an educated decision.

[Peace Of Mind]

Dark, I'd keep the parquet for now too and just buy a great floor rug if you don't love it. It's not my taste either, but with your dog it's probably the best idea until you can do what you really want.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I hate making an educated decision on household stuff. The cheapest option is going to be replacing the boring beige carpet with new boring beige carpet. We all know that. It's the reason home construction companies and landlords love the stuff. However, we hate the mix of wood floors and carpet in a big open room. It looks weird. Oh, and there's the little tile section right inside the front door, so you actually have a section where the wood, carpet, and tile all meet right as you walk in. It's odd looking.

Now I ask ya, how in the hell do you put a price tag on fixing odd looking? KWIM?

[Peace Of Mind]

I don't like odd looking. That's why I just do what I want if I can afford it. I've never regretted it so far. Are you sure the dog did this and not Loop?

[thyme4change]

Oh, and there's the little tile section right inside the front door, so you actually have a section where the wood, carpet, and tile all meet right as you walk in. It's odd looking.

Is there another place where you could put in a transition that would look less awkward? That way you might not have to do it all right now, but you could have less of a whacky look?

The other question is if you could have someone match the parquet. Then, you wouldn't like it - but at least it would be the same throughout the house.

[Deleted]

We all know that.

Yup. That's why you need to price putting the mosaic in the LR vs redoing all the floors in bamboo or oak. I sort of assumed you weren't even really considering the carpet anymore, especially since your dog could do the same again within 24 hours.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Are you sure the dog did this and not Loop?

I think she would have accidentally broken off the cabinet doors or something. Maybe spilled paint on them. Then again, she knows I'm going to like a floor that won't match the cabinets anyway.... I need that little tinfoil hat guy. They're all out to get me.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I sort of assumed you weren't even really considering the carpet anymore, especially since your dog could do the same again within 24 hours.

We aren't, but economically, that's going to be the cheapest option that won't look horrible. Well... too horrible.

[973beachbum]

May 17, 2012 18:58:11 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

We all know that.

Yup. That's why you need to price putting the mosaic in the LR vs redoing all the floors in bamboo or oak. I sort of assumed you weren't even really considering the carpet anymore, especially since your dog could do the same again within 24 hours.

I agree! Parquet isn't my favorite either but it is a very common flooring and there is almost no question you can get more of the same pattern later. I would just get some relatively inexpensive Parquet flooring that matches the rest of the first floor and replace it with that. Truthfully it shouldn't be too expensive to just replace the living room wiht it. Then later if you want and it is raining hundreds you can rip up all the flooring and replace it all them. Just my 2 cents.

[Deleted]

Carpet is gross, plus you hated yours, and it's gone anyway.

At least price the mosaic parquet, and THEN make a decision.

Oh wait ... that's the educated decision you don't want to have to make.

Never mind!

Maybe Loop would be willing to do it? ;-)

[chiver78]

May 17, 2012 16:54:01 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

So, our living room has that awful landlord carpet. You guys know the stuff, medium pile, beige, never looks good, but it's the cheapest most generic carpet in the world, so every landlord in the country covers their rentals in it. Anyway, the rest of the house is wood floor, except the bedrooms, and bathrooms. Our stupid dog tore up the carpet right where the entryway floor meets the living room. And I do mean, tore up. Like ripped a one foot wide by seven foot long strip of the carpet up, and I think ate the pad underneath.

We, mostly me, have hated that carpet since we've moved in anyway, but we weren't planning on redoing the floors anytime soon. When we did redo the floors we wanted to tear the carpet out, and the mosaic wood floor, and replace the whole thing with wood or bamboo plank flooring.

So, now we're trying to decide if we should just replace the carpet, even though neither of us like the carpeted living room, or go ahead and redo all the floors, even though we haven't really saved up for it.

What do you guys think? Oh, and does anyone know if I should worry about the dog since all the carpet padding is gone? She seems fine, and it's been over a week. Stupid dog.

reading now, and will edit if necessary. just had to pipe up now with the immediate comment - bamboo is not a very sturdy material, at all. it's very soft, and scratches at the slightest touch.

ETA: ok, caught up. I was going to call out "that's parquet!" but saw that others beat me to it. I happen to like parquet, and I'm pretty close to your age. that may be because I grew up watching the Celtics play on parquet at the Gahden, but what do I know? in any case, I'll echo the poster that suggested you match the parquet for now, since that seems to be the smallest area. with that dog and your kids, you don't want to replace now with anything expensive that's going to be trashed in a few years. just my two cents.

[quotequeen]

Flooring is supposed to match the cabinets? I wanted flooring that matched the cabinets and both DH and the designer looked at me like I was crazy.

And I agree that the puzzle floor is awesome.

[commuter]

Our wood floors are lighter than our cabinets and then we went all crazy and had a custom cabinet made and its black. I would put in what you like...life's too short.

[Works4me]

Is this your "forever" house or are you planning to sell it in about 10 years when the kids are grown and gone?

If this is your "forever" house I would go ahead and do the floors you want. If you are planning to sell in about 10 years I would match the parquet for the living room.

The reason is this: the bamboo and the plank you are looking at will be dated in about 10 years where as the parquet is a timeless classic. It will be much cheaper to put the parquet in the living room with far less hassle. Also, it is doubtful that you would regain the cost difference so save it for your dream house.