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      November 19, 2018

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diy hardwood floors

Still Loving Our DIY, Low Budget Hardwood Floors After 3 Years
Build ItHome Decor & DIYPopular Posts

Still Loving Our DIY, Low Budget Hardwood Floors After 3 Years

by Jill August 27, 2014
written by Jill

3 years ago, when our 2nd baby was just a few months old, we thought it would be a super cool idea to rip out all the tile and carpet in all the living areas of our house and our kitchen and install 1100 square feet of real hardwood floors. Ourselves.

It was A LOT of work, and we definitely went A LOT crazy while doing it.

We Love Our Low Budget DIY Hardwood Floors

But we don’t regret it one bit. We LOVE them even more every year. Our total cost for the project, including all aspects of installation, finishing, supplies, and what we spent on eating out while our kitchen was unusable was $5,000. That works out to about $4.55 a square foot, all expenses, rentals, and contractors included.

Check out a screenshot of our spreadsheet of expenses, along with a list of exact materials used here.

Over the years, I’ve received so many emails and comments asking me how we like them, if we’d change anything, if we’re happy with how we sealed them (skipping traditional stain and poly).

So I thought I’d take some time today to answer some of the most popular questions I get.

1. Where did you get the wood?

We found the best price at Lumber Liquidators. It’s UTILITY Oak 3/4″ x 2 1/4″. It’s the cheapest real wood option because there are a LOT of irregularities. There are knots you need to fill before finishing, there is discoloration. Many pieces aren’t straight, many are cracked, many are not useable. For that reason, you have to buy at least 30% more and then manually pick through it to sort out the pieces suitable for your floor.

All of that said, it’s still a very inexpensive option for what it is, and you’ll have tons of pieces left over for fun projects. My husband built our kitchen table with leftover pieces, and our headboard. 

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

2. How did you install them?

My very handy husband and his brother, who is in construction and offered a ton of help, took on the whole project of actually installing the floors themselves.

Our home has a concrete foundation with no subfloor. So they had to first cover the concrete with a plastic barrier, then drill a plywood subfloor into the foundation to protect the floors from potential moisture. We aren’t 100% sure this is 100% necessary, but we did a lot of research on it, and felt we wanted to do everything we could to make these floors last a long time.

There was also a layer of felt-quality roof/deck protection that went over the plywood subfloor (bought from Home Depot) before they began installing the actual floor.

They used a professional grade staple-gun to install the pieces of the floor, starting at the back of the house, working up to the front from left to right. It’s VERY important you begin laying the pieces in a straight line.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

3. How did you finish them?

We originally planned to sand and finish them ourselves, but eventually thought better and hired someone on the cheap to come and sand for us. We didn’t feel they did a great job, but they definitely did better than we could have. They charged us $1,000.

You really have to be careful with the sanding because it’s very easy to mess up this part if you’re not very experienced, and that alone can ruin all your hard work.

We did, however, apply our own finish. We opted for a clear Monocoat Natural Oil finish. It was easy enough for us to apply ourselves in a day, and it dried quickly. Not to mention it’s a healthy, safe option with 0% VOCs and other harmful chemicals.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

4. How long did it take you?

The actual install of the subfloor and wood took 5 FULL days with 2 men working on it. We’re talking a few days where they nearly worked through the night. The sanding took just a few hours (remember we hired out for that), and the finishing with the Monocoat took about a day to apply, then time to let it dry. Ultimately, it took about 2 weeks from ripping stuff out to having a livable house again.

5. Are they hard to clean? Do they look dirty easy?

They are actually super easy to clean. We sweep them frequently, and even use our Dyson on them (on the hard floor setting). We mop them once every few weeks or as needed, using a special cleaner from Monocoat that has lasted us a lonnnnng time.

The variation of color in the wood in combination with the matte finish of the Monocoat means they camouflage dirt and dog hair beautifully.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

6. What about scratches? 

Scratches happen. We have a dog and 3 kids. We LIVE in our house, and we don’t stress about keeping these floors pristine. A lot of minor scratches just blend in to the other imperfections of the wood, giving it more of an aged, lived-in look that we really love. The big scratches can be “healed” a bit by cleaning them well and applying a single layer of Monocoat to the scratch again. No need to sand the area. It’s really one of the best features of using the Monocoat finish.

Note: The spot where you apply a fresh coat of Monocoat over a scratch may appear darker for a bit since the floors around it are more worn in. Over time, this becomes less obvious. It’s not something that really bothers us, but again, we are okay with the lived-in, imperfect look.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

7. How are they holding up after 3 years?

Beautifully. They have aged really well, and the imperfections continue to give them character. There are some spots where epoxy that we used to fill in knots have come loose, and we’ve had to refill those. There are some ragged spots where wood has chipped away from some cracks in the wood. Nothing huge or defective. Just… imperfect.

I would not suggest this route for anyone who wants a polished, pristine floor.

Have kids, dogs, make messes, don’t want to worry about keeping your floors shiny? This is a great option.

8. Would you do it again?

Without a doubt we would like to have these floors again. If/when we build or renovate another home, we will for sure strongly consider this option. Though, this time we will hopefully hire someone to install them for us.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

9. What about when they get wet?

Because the Monocoat isn’t a thick, waterproof layer like a polyurethane finish would be, water can seep into the floors if left standing on it too long. It’s not an issue to mop them because we aren’t pouring gallons of water onto the floor and leaving it to sit. It’s not even an issue when we spill something because we just wipe it up. Liquids don’t immediately seep into the floor. We just make sure to keep “floor towels” handy to clean up accidents.

But, if water stands long enough, it will penetrate the Monocoat and can cause warping in the wood. This happened pretty bad around our dishwasher before we realized it was leaking underneath the kitchen floor. The GREAT news is you can’t even tell now. We replaced the dishwasher, fixed the leak, and time healed the warped wood as it dried out.

10. Would you change anything?

I would hire someone to install, sand, and finish them for us, assuming we had the budget for it next time. I would also try to get the wider 3/4″ x 3 1/4″ boards. We originally wanted these, but there was a very long wait for them.

DIY Low Budget Hardwood Floors- BabyRabies.com

11. What do you love most about them?

It’s really cool to say we did this ourselves. We take a ton of pride in our house, largely because of how much work we put into these floors. Scott and I have both admitted to each other that we are fully prepared to cry when we sell this house.

Have any other questions? Please ask away! I will do my very best to answer them, or get my husband to help me answer them. If you want to be sure I see your comment, make sure to leave it in the actual blog comment section and not the Facebook comments, since I don’t get notifications for those. 

 

August 27, 2014 27 comments
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Home Decor & DIYThe Story

Love the (Home) You’re With

by Jill May 13, 2011
written by Jill

For better or worse, we live in a part of the country where houses are ridiculously cheap. I say that because I have lived in other parts where we could never even dream of owning a 1 bedroom condo on 2 salaries. It was the biggest factor when deciding to move here after having Kendall, leaving behind a much posher existence to take up space in an area with NO Trader Joes. (Although, word on the street is Dallas is finally getting a few, praise Peppermint Joe Joes!)

By nearly anyone’s standard, we are living the American Dream in a house that is most definitely enough. It is big enough for all four of us. It is safe enough for my kids to play in the front yard. It is sturdy enough to endure these Texas storms. It’s pretty enough to show off when it’s clean. It’s warm enough in the winter and cool enough in the summer. We are blessed to have it.

Sometimes, though, I’ll admit I dream of more. There are always bigger, better, newer houses going up around us. They have more bedrooms, they have lofts that make great playrooms where toys are not seen by guests, they have media rooms that I could hijack and turn into my office/craft room, they have 3 car garages that would give Scott enough space to make a real workshop, they have long driveways that would give Kendall and Leyna a safe place to learn to ride a bike. They don’t need as much work.

And *some* are, though just barely, within our reach.

Something about this time of year always has me searching the real estate websites and checking out the model homes, lusting after the bigger, better houses we could maybe afford. The reality is, though, that even is we could afford one, we can’t sell this one… not without a loss. That’s what we get for buying at the top of the market back in ’08.

But, let’s say we could sell. We would really be stretching ourselves to move onto bigger mortgage payments right now. We would have to give up luxuries like Starbucks whenever I’m too tired to figure out the coffee maker at home, eating out and frequent trips to visit family. We might end up in a position of working just to pay to live in our home, and that’s no way to experience life.

I read something the other day and it really struck a cord.

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they make the best of everything.

Isn’t that the truth? In an effort to help change my perception and appreciate how much I really have to be thankful for, I’m on a mission to make the best of everything, starting with this house.

Our realtor said when we put in the offer on this place that it’s a “clean slate” and it has “good bones.” We’ve been slowly adding to those bones and jazzing up that clean slate since we moved in, but we’ve really been in overdrive the last 6 months. Our newest, biggest, most challenging project being the hardwood floors that my husband and his brother installed. They are now sanded and ready for the clear coat that we plan to apply this weekend. (Yup! We decided on clear over mahogany.)

Un-sanded, but looking good. I'm in love with their imperfections.

Don’t worry, I plan to share much more about the floors, how we finished them and the final product soon. And then I’m going to file it in the new category called Love The One You’re With. I hope to share many more home improvements, DIY tips, organization overhauls and decorating ideas with you all over the next year. We have plans to re-do our kitchen (on a shoestring budget), finish our master bathroom, organize our closet and FINALLY make our room look like something other than a college dorm room. I’m sure there will be many smaller improvements along the way, too.

I may not be able to live in the house I love, but I’m going to try to love the house I’m with. Who’s with me? Tell me what your home improvement projects are right now.

May 13, 2011 29 comments
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Home Decor & DIYThe Story

Why I’ll Always Associate Piles Of Wood With bin Laden’s Death- Also, Your Opinion, Please.

by Jill May 4, 2011
written by Jill
I will always associate the news of Osama bin Laden’s death with walking through my disaster of a house Sunday night, surveying the destruction and tiny bit of progress on these floors. As I was videoing on my phone, my sister called through.
“Hey, can I call you back? I’m taking a video right now.”
“Oh, Osama Bin Laden?” my sister hurriedly replied.
“Yeah, this place is a freaking war zone!” I said right before I hung up, not even thinking that was an odd reference for her to make, but whatever, it seemed to fit.
I proceeded to record this. Please note that no babies were harmed in the making of this, and that I don’t typically leave my children unsupervised in rooms full of stacked furniture. Also, Kendall is really good about not throwing balls at his sister. I swear. I just remind him not to as extra measure.

Over the last week this “little project” of ours has become quite the Pandora’s Box. What started out as one home improvement has turned into a list a mile long. We now need to raise our kitchen cabinets, but before we can do that we have to replace the countertops, which means we’re going to have to do a new back splash. We have to replace the baseboards with new ones, which means we have to buy them and paint them first. Then all the wall paint needs to be touched up, and the curtains re-hung (or hell, just replaced at this point).

There were MANY bumps in the road, and I can pretty much say I don’t ever recommend Lumber Liquidators to anyone. Customer Service FAIL. Unfortunately, though, I think they are the only place you can get utility grade hardwoods. We worked through it all (and by we, I totally don’t mean me) with the help of Scott’s amazingly talented and generous brother who helped out.

The floor install, as of 8 pm last night, is finally done.

The view from a week ago.

TA-DA!!

Now we just have to fill all the knots and cracks in the wood with wood putty, sand them (which we are hiring a professional to do), finish them, and CLEAN UP. I feel like we are living like refugees. As I type this, I have 5 loads of laundry placed in piles randomly throughout the house. Why I keep washing it, I don’t know. Our bedroom is just as bad as it appears in that video. No. WORSE. Also? Stinky.

The really, really hard part is behind us, but the sort of hard part is still ahead, and that’s living on unfinished wood for at least a week with a toddler and two dogs. Thank God Leyna’s not crawling yet.

We are finishing the floors with a product called Rubio Monocoat Natural Oil Finish that I’m SUPER excited to use. I did a ton of research on eco-friendly, healthy finishing options, and this was at the top of our list. It’s completely VOC free, non-toxic, very durable and easy to maintain, from what I’ve read.

Now, I have a question for you all. Originally, we planned to finish them in a mahogany, as seen here. But, after getting the floors down, I am absolutely in love with the way they look right now. Since we used utility grade wood, there is a lot of variation in the colors, lots of knots, and I sort of hate to cover that up. I’m thinking of just applying the clear Monocoat over it. What do you think? Would you leave them natural or stain them a little darker?

Kendall is 3! Leyna is 4 months.

 

May 4, 2011 49 comments
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