A viewer asks if she can put peel-and-stick tiles on a painted concrete floor or whether she has to build a sub-floor.If the paint is intact, that means that there is no moisture problem pushing up from below and that the paint will work as a primer for the glue. As long as the surface is smoo...
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....
One of our viewers had removed a stair rail and the absent newel post left an ugly hole in the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs. How to patch it gracefully?You will probably never get an exact match with a small patch. So I recommend cutting out a full board in front of the steps, a...
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 ...
Adrienne from Nelson, B.C. wants to build a full sub-floor in her basement, but has a problem with the door that leads to the outdoor steps. "Is there an alternative to reframing the doors or removing and recutting them?"Not that I am aware of, if that floor is to be several inches higher. ...
Rose & Donald in Aurora, Ontario had a sewer back-up a while back. They cleaned up and then redecorated the basement, laying cushion flooring directly over the concrete. Now they have random spots coming through the vinyl that won't go away.If good cleaning products can?t remove the spot...
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...
