Grugger’s Way

That means NEW base board, (or simply base), or more specifically, wood base.

We generally prefer natural pine for base board and we have always stained it. That is what we have throughout the three levels of the house (four if we count the finished basement area).

But the 3 1/4-inch tall, (and remember, 19-year-old), stained pine wood base looks cheap and outdated when compared to the refinished hardwood floor, which just sparkles! (You may want to take a gander at yesterday’s post about the hardwood floor which includes “before” and “after” photos.)

We are seriously considering the composite base, which comes already primed, and then painting it to match the wall color. We would also move up in size from 3 1/4-inch to the 4 1/4-inch tall version. I also would like to find a product that is slightly wider at the bottom than the 5/8″ thickness of the existing base. This would cover any minor flaws in the hardwood refinish that are right in the corner or up tight against the existing base. I may have to even move up in height to a taller base in order to find the 19/32″ thickness I want.

At this point we are only considering replacing the base in the rooms that have hardwood, which means about 70 lineal feet. (There are heat registers along the walls that take up over 30 feet and then the kitchen cabinet bases occupy about 25 lineal feet.) At least that keeps the cost down.

The same 3 1/4-inch wood base currently lines all the other rooms that are carpeted, plus the basement area that is tiled. Not only would the cost go up (substantially) if we did the entire house, but the project would take us a LOT longer to complete.

I personally LOVE the look of a solid oak hardwood floor; it is something that can’t be duplicated by tile, carpeting or even the new laminated stuff that “looks” like hardwood.

My spouse feels the same way, and believes that wood really adds something intangible to a home’s environment, or “feel.” She likes to find nice rugs to place in strategic places to absorb the punishment of wood rocking chairs, of which we have two, and the dining table legs, and, or course, the coffee table.

So we looked at the cost of a complete refinish of the hardwood and found it to be a little over $3.00 a square foot, that is $9.00 a square yard, and probably HALF what we would spend per yard for fairly good carpet.

We hired a wood floor contractor and this is his week. After sanding, sealing, and applying a couple of coats of polyeurethane over a period of four days we have a like-new floor! We think it looks terrific and tomorrow we begin to move EVERYTHING back into the house.
Above: the New Floor. Below: the Old Floor
What an Amazing difference, huh? Wow! I can say that we are very pleased with the results. Additionally, we think that we must be helping out the economy by spending money. What a wonderful new excuse!

The shopping part of the project, as always, was the worst part for me. We looked at so many different products, each one seemingly more difficult to work with and costing more and more. Ceramic tile, grout, adhesives, patterns, saws, chisels, and more hassle that I ever bargained for.

In the end, my wife discovered a product that is made of vinyl, comes in sheets that are 12 inches by 36 inches, has a base layer that overlaps each tile and contains sticky stuff that holds them in place. The finished product just lies on top of the existing tile floor–NO ADHESIVE NEEDED!! What holds the tile in place is the weight of the product itself and the fact that each 12 inch x 36 inch piece is staggered as they are laid in place, just trimming at each end, and contain a one-inch wide glue strip on two sides, that adheres to the next adjacent tile. The most difficult part of the entire project was removing the toilet and then setting it back in place.

I am going to include a couple of photos here, on the left is a thumbnail of the project in process and the other is a thumbnail of the finished project. Both of them will open up to large-sized photos.

We think the pattern and color of the new tile goes well with the paint colors and we are really happy with the project.