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Floor Coverings
Gosh, there are so many things to tell you
about floor coverings. You have to be very careful when you set up your
house in the beginning. Whenever possible figure out all the flooring
before you begin building. The picture at the top gives shows you what is
going on during the trimming of the house. The problems start when you
need different floor heights to match everything up so the floor transitions are
even. Most flooring materials will be installed after the trim is down.
(Reference the above picture)
Another additional thing to think about is
the interior doors. The higher or lower the floor determines how high or
lower you trim the bottom of the doors during install of the interior doors.
Its not much fun when you move in and the doors are difficult to swing because
you did not keep in mind the height of the floor. This normally happens
when real plush carpet is installed.
The following ideas are the way we view things.
You will run across other builders who do not want to do it this way. That
is ok by me, this is just the way we do it.
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Foyer - when we are going to put in a
foyer we will drop the sub-floor down 3/4 of an inch so we can than install the
mud, (we do not like to use cement board unless there is no other choice).
We find that the old fashion way of putting down mud levels out the uneven
spaces under the mud and therefore we have no tiles that crack. The joint
material naturally will shrink somewhat along with the settling of the house
over the next 12 months or so. The thinking process
is to come back 1 time within 12 months and fix any cracks in the joint areas
which is normally caused by the house settling and the shrinkage of the grout
material. Most anything which is made with a water mixture (including
cement) will have water evaporation. If done right the floor
should be excellent for years to come. That is one reason you see the ceramic
bathrooms from the late 50's and 60's in such great shape.
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When using tiles and marbles you have to
be careful of weight. Your floors have to be structurally sound enough to
carry the weight. You can end up with to big of a deflection ratio in your
floor. (All floors will have some deflection: That is where you will
walk on it or your kids will jump up and down on it and the floor actually has
give to it.) I refer to it as bounce. If we happen to run across a
deflection problem during the building process we will actually put extra floor
joists where needed. YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DO THIS, IT IS NOT FUN AND
IT IS EXPENSIVE. Normally a deflection problem happens because whoever
drew the plans made a mathematical error. What do you think happens to the
tile and grout if there is to much deflection? LOTS OF CRACKS AND FUTURE
PROBLEMS.
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Wood Floors - Generally you think of wood
floors as the same height as carpet so you really do not have the same problems
which can come up with tile and marble and similar materials. There are so
many different types of wood flooring you have to really know what kind you are
you to install. If you are installing pre-finished you install it at the
end of the project, right before you put down the shoe molding. If you are
putting down oak and sanding it and staining it before you move in than you need
to install this floor either right before you install the cabinets or right
after installation of the cabinets.
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Flooring in general is quite complicated.
It would probably be good for you to go to a flooring store way before you begin
so you can get a hands on approach from the flooring people. One of the
flooring company's we have been satisfied with through the years is Kramer
Flooring Company. They have 2 locations. One in Canton, Michigan and
one in Livonia, Michigan. Call Mike Kramer and ask him to put you in
contact with a new construction sales person. Its important that whatever
company you are talking to they are experienced in NEW construction.
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