We took our TV camera to Anderson Carpet & Home in Burlington and got some insights into what makes good and better carpets.The real measure of durability is the density of the carpet. With a dense carpet, you shouldn't be able to sink your fingers through the fibers right to the backing....
We watched some pros installing sheet vinyl flooring.First make sure that there are no cracks between boards in the sub-floor or they will show through the vinyl eventually. Do not fill the cracks with any kind of plaster product, it will break up under the vinyl and create bumps. Use a ceme...
Two viewers have linoleum tile floors. Jerry from Regina, Saskatchewan wants to put ceramic tiles over top while Roni from Bellevue, Alberta would like to cover them with vinyl. Any potential problems?In both cases the existing tiles must be stuck down solidly to the floor. And in both cas...
There has been a revolution in hardwood flooring with the creation of a wide range of thin laminate-style floors with either a real wood veneer or a photographic plastic veneer on the top. At first we called these floors "floating floors" because they were designed to be glued to each other ...
Carpet underpads or underlays have to match the type of carpet. That means that if you have too soft an underpad under a carpet that needs a firm backing, you can destroy the carpet by bending it too much.When an underpad has a gripping side and a smoother side, the gripping side goes against ...
Our cameras found Sean in the renovation store. He wants to know if it is a good idea to install pine flooring over existing laminate flooring in the kitchen.An interesting question. Pine is not usually used as a flooring material because it is so soft that if you push hard on a varnish that is...
There are many different ways to anchor things into concrete, each with its own distinct difficulty, cost and holding power.Concrete nails simply keep things from sliding, but have very little resistance to "pull-out".Tap Con or Grip Con screws actually cut threads into the sides of the pre-drill...
Laying out one large piece of sheet flooring to fit into a room that is not square is not always easy. I like to first find the wall that is the straightest, or the one that will be the most visible if there is a pattern on the flooring that will look crooked against an odd angled wall. Tha...
The famous outdoor second story steps in downtown Montreal, an area they call Balconville because of all the open balconies with stairways, presents a real safety problem in those icy Montreal winters. The most common anti-slip treatment is to install a jute runner, commonly called Tapis CoC...
Dale asks about hardwood floors over concrete.If the concrete floor is above grade, like is common in a new condo, no problem.If the concrete is in a basement, below grade, then you have potential serious moisture problems, and hardwood really doesn't like excessive moisture.Generally it is not r...
