Flooring: Vinyl, Ceramic Tile, Natural Stone, Hardwood, Carpet

The key to installation of any flooring is in the first step, how you prepare the underlayment to which the floor will be attached. Floors, in all cases, work out the best on a level, secure subflooring. The subflooring, if wood, should be nailed and glued and all cracks filled with the correct filler. A concrete floor should be level and cleaned thoroughly, all cracks filled and all bumps chipped off. The correct preparation will result in a better, more attractive flooring.

Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl flooring comes in all kinds of thicknesses and quality and the choice of material will determine the outcome of the floor. Vinyl is thought to be easy to install but in reality is the hardest installation if you use large sheets. The vinyl flooring sheets must be cut to fit the area that is to be covered and cutting it correctly so that it fits the space and the pattern is straight is an art. Professionals know how to make the cuts and lay the flooring without tears and they don’t walk in the adhesive. A professionally installed vinyl floor will look great and have a long life.
Vinyl tiles are a little easier but getting the pattern straight is still essential for the floor to look right.
Both types of vinyl require the installation of a vinyl base or cove around the edges once the flooring is installed. Cutting the corners of the cove or base can be tricky if you don’t have experience and the correct tools.

Ceramic Tile Flooring

Ceramic tile flooring has almost unlimited choices of quality, color and design. Installation of ceramic flooring is a very time consuming job and requires specialized tools. The very first rule in installing ceramic flooring is start in the middle of the area that is to be covered and to get the starting spot square. Professional tile contractors do this every day and they understand how important it is to get this calculation right if the floor is to look great when finished.
Cutting ceramic tile is a skill and if not done correctly there will be lots of waste and an unsatisfactory installation. Ceramic floor tile is glued down with mastic that must be applied correctly to have the tile adhere tightly to the subflooring or cracking can occur later. After the tile is laid and dry it must be grouted and this is where the professionals are worth their weight in gold, grout must be mixed to the correct consistency and pushed into the spaces between the tiles and then finished in a very short period of time.

Natural Stone Flooring

Natural stone flooring is the work for the professional installer who also has an artistic eye. Natural stone flooring is usually irregular and each piece is not the same thickness (marble and slate and granite are cut in almost perfect tiles and are laid in the same manner as ceramic tile). Skill and a good eye are needed in making the selection of each piece to make the floor look right and to keep the grout seams approximately the same thickness. Natural stone floor is in most cases laid in an adhesive concrete and the stone installer uses this to compensate for the different thicknesses of the stone to keep the floor walkable. Only professional installers have the tools and experience to do the cuts and adjustments that a great stone floor requires. Grouting is done with a concrete grout that dries to the hardness of stone and must be installed quickly and finished before it dries. After the installation, the stone must be cleaned by a professional so that the stone is not stained by the grout.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood floors are beautiful when finished correctly. Hardwood floors come in prefinished and unfinished wood. Big chain stores have huge selections of prefinished hard wood floors, veneered hardwood floors that are advertised as easy to install on a Saturday. These floors are supposed to float over a rollout sub floor often without glue. These floors can be installed by a homeowner but they had better have lots of tools.
Single board prefinished hardwood floors are also available. These floors are best installed by an experienced professional who understands the different patterns of hard wood floors (there are many different patterns and the patterns determine how the floor is laid) and has the tools to cut and nail the boards and force the tongue and grove pieces securely together.
An unfinished hardwood floor is laid in the same manner as the prefinished single board floor, but needs to be finished after it is installed. After the floor is laid it must be sanded with a heavy floor sander and only a professional should do this or disaster will strike and the floor will be ruined.
After sanding the floor must be stained and this too is an art. When the stain has dried numerous coats of lacquer must be applied and sanded to protect the finished floor. Finishing a hardwood floor is time consuming and requires the skill and experience of a professional.

Carpet

All kinds of carpet are for sale and a carpet installer needs to lay the carpet. Carpet needs to have padding and padding comes in different weights. Ask your carpet story or contractor which padding is best for the area and carpet you are installing.
Wall-to-wall carpet needs tack strips around all edges to pull or stretch the carpet tight. Most rooms are larger than the carpet roll and the carpet must be seamed together in the right direction to make it look like one piece. A professional installer will know how to do this. All openings (doorways) need to be terminated with termination strips and their installation is important to the feel of the carpet as the transition from one surface to another takes place.
Carpet looks fantastic when properly installed and makes a room look absolutely awful if done wrong. After spending a large amount of money on carpet a professional installation is a low cost investment.