Home improvement thread

drpyurz49 · Post by **drpyurz49** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:08 pm

Yeah, I would NEVER pay anyone to refinish anything, it is just that easy, you can take a piece of old furniture from the 60s or 70s and with some wood putty, sanding, stain,sealer, and wax, you'll have a new piece of furniture. Main thing is making your surface smooth and a even finish, anyone thats ever done some painting can finish furniture. Go by a shop and they'll charge you out the ass.

loose_string · Post by **loose_string** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:01 pm

I just refinished my hardwood red-oak floors over the 3 day weekend. Did 450 sq feet. Sanded and refinished in 3 days. Not bad. Cost of renting the sander was $200 instead of paying 2000 for someone else to do it.

gdavis5446 · Post by **gdavis5446** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:21 pm

Me and my girl just bought a new house. Really nice place. I keep thinking someone is going to knock on the door and tell me I don't belong here.

Place is perfect. I am a bit pissed though. The moving company who moved the old homeowner out, scratched the wood floor up real good in the master bedroom. These are real wood floors so it is going to be a job to repair or replace. At least the jerks are paying for it, so they say.

drpyurz49 · Post by **drpyurz49** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:47 pm

For a real deep scratch you can put wood putty (make sure its not too dry), spread it with putty knife and let dry, then lightly sand it, then touch up with markers.

Once on a delivery, we had something in the back of our truck that got damaged on the way to house out of town. But me and my buddy saved the day, we stopped by the loca Wal-Mart bought some supplies (we got reimbursed) and fixed it right up, the customers never new there furniture was damaged.

The markers wont exactly ERASE the scratches but will make them very unoticeable. Really worth it for the money, you can use it on anything wood, I've fixed all kinda screw-ups with them and no one ever noticed.

bentonbourbon · Post by **bentonbourbon** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 8:00 am

We've thought about doing the flooring thing .. But I want to fork over the $$$ and have the guyz from Lowes or Home Depot do it while the Wifey wants to do it ourselves (i.e. ME and either neighbor/friend or family).
I'd rather pay for it because:
1) I suck at home improvement and I want it to look good, not half-assed
2) I'm kinda lazy and I don't get a boner over home improvement-type things
3) The whole project will freakin' stress me out TO THE GILLS if it's in my hands and I have to work with said neighbor/friend or family.

That being said, they do charge a butt load for putting the stuff in .. hence we haven't moved any further on it.

bigdieseltrucker · Post by **bigdieseltrucker** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:53 pm

You can sand and refinish the oak!

I'm too late.

ShuckOwens · Post by **ShuckOwens** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:36 pm

farewellangelina · Post by **farewellangelina** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:22 pm

drpyurz49 wrote:farewellangelina, I use to finish unfinished furniture and had to fix scratches/dents,etc on just about everything. But regarding your floor, the easiest and cheapest way would be to buy some touch-up markers. You can buy these at Wal-Mart, paint stores, building supply stores, furniture stores, etc. I know there's a three pack you can buy that comes with a dark, light, and red marker, just use the one that resembles your finish most closely. Not hard at all, and just wipe any extra marks away. It will be much more less noticeable.

Thanks for the info. Is there any putty or filling I could (somewhat) easily put into the deepest part of the scratch, and then use the marker, or would that require something else? I would be willing to put in maybe 30 bucks if it keeps her from noticing.

trousersnakeandlarry · Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:40 pm

Cleanup best with a Swiffer.
THey are hard as hell to walk on.
They will seperate if not acclimated before you assemble them. I had mine outside in the summer on one job, and inside when the cool air on they shrank after it was down. This is very common and happens a lot. I rented a cabin last year for a week vacation and the flooring was pulling apart and you could see the seams.

drpyurz49 · Post by **drpyurz49** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:34 pm

farewellangelina, I use to finish unfinished furniture and had to fix scratches/dents,etc on just about everything. But regarding your floor, the easiest and cheapest way would be to buy some touch-up markers. You can buy these at Wal-Mart, paint stores, building supply stores, furniture stores, etc. I know there's a three pack you can buy that comes with a dark, light, and red marker, just use the one that resembles your finish most closely. Not hard at all, and just wipe any extra marks away. It will be much more less noticeable.

farewellangelina · Post by **farewellangelina** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:26 pm

dEvRoNiKa wrote: they “bruise”, they scratch (maple is a soft wood)

yeah, this reminds me, I don't know what kind of wood or what kind of finish it has, but the wood floors in the house I'm renting are getting scratched up ridiculusly easy, and I just moved in here a couple months ago! There's a huge gorge with little scratches surrounding it in my bedroom (presumably from bringing in my matress)--does any one know how I can fix this, so the landlord doesn't notice and charge me a couple grand for it?

The finish is one I've never dealt with before, it's a matte finish, and very slippery.

dEvRoNiKa · Post by **dEvRoNiKa** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:15 pm

Don’t know much about putting this floor down, but I can tell you this. The last house we lived in had the laminate stuff, the snap-lock fake wood floors. LOVED them. Easy to clean, lovely to look at. When we had our house built a few years ago, we decided on real wood (maple) floors. We paid about $8 thousand bucks for ‘em; covered the whole bottom-floor of our house with maple floors, save for the foyer, hall to the utility room and guest bath (ceramic tile). As gorgeous as they are; our dogs have clawed them all up – they “bruise”, they scratch (maple is a soft wood); and while they still look pretty gorgeous, they aren’t holding up as well (cosmetically) as the fake wood laminate we had before. You couldn’t mess that stuff up no matter how hard you tried. And if you DID mess it up – it wouldn’t be as heartbreaking as water damage (for instance) on your $8 thousand dollar floor. Ahem. As much as I love the wood floors, I’d be inclined to go with the fake stuff if we do maple again.

farewellangelina · Post by **farewellangelina** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:10 pm

My sister installed some, Pergo I think it was called (My family had a joke about this but I can't remember what), when she was in high school with very little (uh, no) experience. It seemed that she did it all with a pocket knife. We put it in the hallwway, replacing some gross carpet--only lived in the house for a few more months before selling, but it was a huge home improvement for us.

you probably wont need any luck, so have fun!

As for me, I rent, so the only home improvement I've done is buying a large plant (to fill the vacancy left by the x-mas tree), some paperwhite bulbs, and curtains for my bedroom.

trousersnakeandlarry · Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:58 pm

also a drafting or art compass is very usefull for odd shapes and near walls for the final pieces.

Pibber · Post by **Pibber** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:57 pm

I laid some in my kitchen and one word of caution...it becomes ridiculously slick with the smallest amount of water. Maybe just my cheapo brand, but a few drops of the wet stuff and voila, instant ice skating rink. Installation is very easy and straightforward. Good luck.