| Author | Content |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO January 29, 2006 | Has anyone tried to use stained and varnished plywood as a finished floor? We want an easy-to-clean waterproof floor that isn't heavy like tile and would stand up to sand that is tracked in and dogs who may visit. Like the idea of using good grade 3/4" plywood with the edges slightly routed and a routed groove across the middle of the 4x8 sheets, to make the floor look like huge tiles or parquet. Might stain them different shades to make a checkerboard effect. Saw the posting with routed plywood that looks like hardwood boards and I like that, but the idea there was to paint the floor. I want the grain to show. Thinking we will glue and screw the plywood to the subfloor, then maybe countersink holes for ring washers and screws in the corners of the "tiles". Has anyone tried anything like this. Is this a crazy idea? Think it would work? Help! |
| Terry Murfreesboro, TN Zone 7a  January 29, 2006 | I've never tried it, but I saw an HGTV segment yesterday where they used 2x2 pieces of plywood, and they laid each square turned a quarter-turn to accentuate the graining. It was really interesting, and pretty in its own way! It was simply varnished (I don't think they even stained it), and it turned out quite nice - in a kitchen, no less. I didn't see how they attached it to the subfloor (sorry!) |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO January 30, 2006 | Hey, thanks for the clue! I'll go on-line and see if I can get more info on that segment. Appreciate the help. |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO January 30, 2006 | Terry, any idea which show had that flooring idea? I don't have HGTV and didn't have any idea how many shows there are in a week. Kind of hard sorting through them, even with a search engine. Remember which one it was? |
| Terry Murfreesboro, TN Zone 7a January 30, 2006 | I think this was it: [HYPERLINK@www.hgtv.com] |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO February 2, 2006 | Terry - Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I found it. And that floor looks just right to me. It even has some kind of fastener in the corners of the "tiles" as I anticipate using. I really appreciate your help on this. |
| Terry Murfreesboro, TN Zone 7a February 2, 2006 | You're very welcome - good luck with your project! (And be sure to post some before-during-after shots!!!!) |
| PeggieK Claremore, OK Zone 6a February 15, 2006 | What a cool idea. Let us know how it turns out. |
| CountryGardens Lewisville, MN Zone 4a February 25, 2006 | One thing I would not do is put a grove in the plywood. It will get into the plys & I smell trouble. Also that would be hard to keep clean. You could try oak or birch or some other species for your floor. Oak plywood has many interesting grain patterns. Prices are similar to good pine. If you did the squares I think it would look great. Oak has a tighter grain than pine plywood. It would finish smoother & be easier to clean. I would check with a good paint store about finishes for wood floor. A few more $ at the beginning may save lots of headaches later. Post a picture of whatever you do! Bernie |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO March 2, 2006 | Country Gardens, Thanks for the further advice about types of wood as well as the groove thing. Have used birch plywood before and love it. And I think I could still cut it in squares and turn them so the grain alternates. This project will start in the summer, and I'll post progress. Thanks again to all. |
| BriarRose74 Moon Twp, PA Zone 6a March 26, 2006 | That flooring looks cool! Can't wait to see your project!!! ~ Suzi :) |
| MaVieRose High Desert, CA Zone 8a March 26, 2006 | i did this years ago when i remodelled my house. what i did was sand the floor from rough sand paper till i reach the fine 320 grade of sand paper [3M brand. comes in a package for wet/dry sanding] clean the area thoroughly. sorry old age is slowly creeping on me, i can not remember the name of the product [it is what is used on wooden patio to prevent water from sinking into the wood, product is made by Thompson brand if not mistaken.] allow to dry over night. following day, apply walnut stain. lightly applied to reach the right color. allow to dry. next day apply Varathane [made the wood shiny like glass. apply 2-3 layers of Varathane, allowing to dry between application. when the floor get dirty, get a bucket of warm water and Murphy oil... damp mop. when it dries, the floor looks very shiny like it was brand new all the time. NO WAXING needed... just damp mop. my 2 cents worth. edited to add: i did it the old fashion way, on my hands and knees .... i used a regular sander. floor area was 15' x 30'. i did the same process on the front door. but much more detailed work to attain a glass appearance. dust hardly clinged to the door. no, i am not a pro, but a mere novice who love to experiment and find good results. This message was edited Mar 26, 2006 5:30 PM |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b March 27, 2006 | MaVie... Thompson's Water Seal? I love using it. |
| MaVieRose High Desert, CA Zone 8a March 27, 2006 | yes, Darius. thank you! |
| bessiemarie San Antonio, TX July 19, 2006 | Have you started the flooring yet? How's it going? I'm anxious to do the same thing but am not the 'pioneer' you are. Please post progress and pics if you can. |
| momtoboys4 Seabrook, TX July 27, 2006 | I think I am going to do the plywood flooring except I have an added problem and that is we don't have wood subfloors. We have concrete floors. I would think the only we could secure the floor would either be to glue them down or find some kind of fastener to concrete, which I have not researched. If you know of something I haven't thought about I would love to hear about it. I am not sure I want to glue it down but I wouldn't even know what kind of glue to use. Any information would be helpful, thanks! |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a July 27, 2006 | If you're doing engineered hardwood or laminate over concrete you can do a floating floor, where there is some type of underlayment/padding, then the hardwood or laminate pieces are tongue and groove and basically snap together and sit on top of the underlayment. I don't know how you'd do this with plywood though unless you have a router or something that will let you make your own tongue and groove to fit the pieces together. I've never heard of anyone gluing wood down to a concrete floor so I'm sure there's some good reason why that's not done. |
| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b July 30, 2006 | In most climates, moisture will condense on wood against a concrete floor. It could be done with furring strips of pressure treated wood laid on the concrete, then a subfloor of 3/4" plywood on that. To fasten wood to concrete, there are nailers for that purpose. Some brands are ramset, redhead, remington etc. They use hardened steel nails driven by a .22 cartridge. Any large building supply or rental store has them. Needless to say, it is loud and potentially dangerous... If it's a new concrete floor, you may be able to use 'cut nails'. This all would subtract a few inches of height from the room, maybe not an issue, maybe. It also creates issues with doors, stairs, etc. You get a little flex in the floor too, which is more comfortable to stand and walk on. (or lie on ;)P
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| pepper23 KC Metro area, MO Zone 5b July 30, 2006 | Your cat looks like a gray sphinz. |
| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b July 31, 2006 | He's a Maine coon or Norwegian forest cat, not sure which. His name is Norman, sometimes I call him 'Floorman' |
| pepper23 KC Metro area, MO Zone 5b July 31, 2006 | Put a harness on him and use him to dust the floor. Bet he would love it!! And make sure to have a video camera in place to catch him on film. |
| Msgriz Englewood, CO September 15, 2006 | Progress report on the plywood floor project: We have finished the floor in one room so far. Didn't try the checkerboard effect because we found some good 3/4" exterior grade tongue-and-groove plywood decking with one nice sanded side that didn't need a lot of sanding. But the T&G would have made it hard to turn the pieces 90 degrees, so we layed the stuff with the grain all running the same direction and drew on "planks with nails" with a fine point Sharpie marker. Seemed to work just fine. We glued the 4x8 sheets with construction adhesive, then screwed them to the subfloor with countersunk deck screws, then plugged the holes. We sanded the floor and drew on the planking, then stained it with watered down water-based wood stain to get variations in shades of the planks. We followed the lines of the planks when we stained so that the color would follow the planking pattern. We did a little sanding between 4 coats of waterbased urethane floor varnish. Because the ends of the 4x8 sheets were not T&G, we had to butt them together as closely as possible. But we still had a little bit of a crack there, so we filled the crack with clear caulk. The caulk cleans up easily off of varnished flooring, so method that seems to work. One thing that helped with the seams was to stagger the 4x8 sheets so that all of the butted seams don't fall in the same place in the floor. Also, using the felt marker along the seam made it easier to hide the clear caulk in the seam - you only see the dark marker line when the caulk sets up. Will try to attach a couple of pictures.
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| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b September 15, 2006 | WOW, Looks Great! |
| pepper23 KC Metro area, MO Zone 5b September 15, 2006 | Looks great!! You did a great job!! |
| ZenGirl227 Marietta, GA October 18, 2006 | HELP!!! Can you guys PLEASE tell me or send me a link to the HGTV website where the specifications of this design are located? I own a retro (1967) brick ranch and I want my kitchen floor to be the 16" by 16" plywood "tiles" but I need to know exactly how to do it. I vaguely remember watching them do this on the home improvement show, but I cannot find any information on the design project. MANY THANKS!! -Shannon |
| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b October 18, 2006 | Shannon, try this: [HYPERLINK@www.hgtv.com] Not sure if it's the same, but it does look great |
| kbriver Lowell, MA October 26, 2006 | I've been researching ways to create a flexible floor over concrete for a few months now. I zero'd in on a floating subfloor using a material called DriCore after noticing it in my local Home Depot (see [HYPERLINK@www.dricore.com).] I wasn't in love with any of the standard flooring ideas -- vinyl, laminates, engineered wood, and can't afford the pricier solutions like real linoleum or cork. My condo is in an old mill building, so I don't want it to look like a typical house anyway. One day I saw photos of finished plywood flooring in a book on loft living, so started researching, came across this site (thanks for the great ideas and for the HGTV Link) and wanted to give back by sharing the DriCore idea with you all. I haven't started the work yet, but I picked up a few DriCore tiles at the HomeDepot and have been standing on them at the kitchen sink to see how comfortable they are. They're not bad. I think I'd be very happy with plywood over that. I'll need a sound-reducing underlayment (I have neighbors below and beside me), so I'm conversing with various field experts to see what type of material they recommend. My condo association won't know what to make of it when I bring it before them for approval. Again, thanks for your great ideas. -kb |
| staceyp Swedesboro, NJ January 14, 2007 | I am so happy that I found your entry. Love the plywood floors. I am a single mother working on fixing up a house. I can't afford hardwood or laminate (actually it's the labor I can't afford). I saw the HGTV show and was really interested. I love how they came out on the show and how Msgriz's came out. Has anyone found out how to lay it down over concrete floors? My entire first floor is a slab. |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 14, 2007 | Do you need to use something like Dricore on a concrete slab floor? I am helping my daughter and part of her house has a crawl space and one room is an add on and only concrete slab. Some of the old part of the house w/ the crawl space has hardwood floors but since the house is probably a post WWll we will need a barrier over the crawl space dirt? |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b February 14, 2007 | You always need a barrier over a dirt crawl space. |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 14, 2007 | I read that 6 mil sheeting is what is put over the dirt in the crawl space. How is it secured? Has anyone used Dricore? Is there something else less $$$ This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 10:12 PM |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b February 14, 2007 | Most crawl spaces that have plastic sheeting have it just laid down with an excess kinda rolled at the edges, and some rocks to hold it down. I just read through the DriCore site... it would work well over the concrete as is (it creates an air space and a vapor barrier all in one), and then plywood over it if that's what you have in mind to do. [HYPERLINK@www.dricore.com] [HYPERLINK@www.dricore.com] [HYPERLINK@www.dricore.com] |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 15, 2007 | I found this info on a DIY discussion thread. One guy says he used something similar toDricore when finishing his basement called Delta Floor systems.Described it as a 4 ft wide sheet of dimpled plastic that is the under side of the Dricore system. They installed that and then screwed a sheet of plywood to the floor. they have been happy with it for over 10 yrs. So then another person chimes in that HD has these Delta rolls (grey) and normal house foundation rolls (black). The Delta is much more $$ but the black and much less $$ are identical. Interesting? |
| Jenta Cuyahoga Falls, OH February 18, 2007 | I was so happy to find this thread! I have been looking into this exact floor after seeing it on HGTV. But I don't see anything on HGTV that says how they secured it to the floor. I guess I'll just have to give it a go. I love the pix from those of you who have used the plywood. Nice jobs!!! |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 19, 2007 | Somebody out there, give me a ball park $$. Lets say laminate flooring will cost $2000 (not labor)to cover a space. What will be the diff (BALL PARK)for plywood in the same space? |
| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b February 19, 2007 | It won't work like that, there's not a fixed ratio in price between plywood and laminate. What kind of laminate? What kind of plywood? T&G? ACX? CDX? Birch, spruce pine fir hemlock mahogony luaun??? It's harder than apples and oranges. Nobody is in a better position to price their own job than themself, with the possible exception that a contractor could get a better price on materials, and a contractor might forsee things you might not. Also, lumber prices fluctuate a lot more than people realize - if there's a big hurricane down south, 'forget about it' for a month or two.... you seldom see lumber prices advertised because prices change faster than they can print them. Delivery charges? How far from a store? Do you have a truck? etc. Fasteners? Stainless, galvanized, steel? Adhesives, underlayment, repairs to sub-floor? Labor? Finish? Paint, poly, or varnish? I think it's fair to generalize and say plywood costs less than laminate, but there's some fine, costly plywood out there, too. |
| CountryGardens Lewisville, MN Zone 4a February 19, 2007 | I'll toss one in here, the laminate is already finished. How much will it cost to finish this plywood. Personally, I would never use laminate. That was a product of big box stores trying to get sales. There are many good flooring products around. If you want a wood floor look into prefinished wood flooring boards. They are about the same price per sq ft as laminate. You don't need a pad, but a good sub floor. You go to a rental place & get a nailer for the job. It is tongue & grooved. When it is done your floor will last forever. Bernie |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 19, 2007 | Well, if you cannot figure out what I am thinking as opposed to what I type. . . . .DUH!!!! You are just like my husband!! I was thinking of 'pergo' type flooring. This is not my home but rather a daughters who is trying to make a former rental into something livable. The cheap carpet was so dirty & much of that is pulled. The vinyl in the kitchen needs replacing. The same carpet in the add-on which I suspect is a concrete slab. She has youth on her side and strength. And she has a mother giving tons of free advice and directions. |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a February 19, 2007 | Personally, I would spend a little extra and get the prefinished hardwood floors. If you're going to do the installation yourself, I really don't think the prefinished hardwood will run you that much more than the plywood, and it'll look much nicer (in my opinion at least!). Plus it comes with a really durable finish that's applied in the factory, there's no way you can get that sort of finish on the plywood yourself so the finish won't hold up as well. I think the real hardwood looks better than Pergo too, and the price really isn't very different so I would go for the real thing! If you have someplace like Lumber Liquidators near you, they have really good prices. |
| Jenta Cuyahoga Falls, OH February 21, 2007 | ecrane3: I think if you want a floor that looks like everyone else's, then you should buy a pre-finished floor. But if you are creative, and want to make your floor something unique and special, and something you can honestly say "I did it myself" then I think this is the way to go. I've priced hardwood flooring, and I've priced plywood, and I've priced veneer. Plywood wins hands down. Plus, I live in a house that pretty much looks just like everyone else's in this neighborhood. If I can do something that gives it some personality, I'm all for that. :) If it doesn't turn out the way I'd hoped, at the very least, I'll have a great sub-flooring for my next project. |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 21, 2007 | Beautiful sub-flooring! lol |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b February 21, 2007 | Years ago I wanted to have cork floors before they became popular and expensive. (I didn't.) A few years later I wanted to have bamboo floors before they became popular and expensive. (I didn't.) I wonder what will be next? LOL. |
| anastatia Vancouver, WA Zone 8a February 21, 2007 | I still want cork floor, someplace. |
| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b February 21, 2007 | Jenta, the only difference between any hardwood floor and a pre-finished hardwood floor is you don't apply the finish after the floor is down. It's almost impossible to tell the difference. I have pre-finished oak in my house and it's not like everyone else's. I ran it diagonally to make the floor stronger, and it looks great. And it will probably look great a hundred years from now, too. I've installed dozens of floors, and believe me, you can get creative with any of the different kinds. Adding strips of blonde bamboo to a dark colored oak is simple and beautiful; you could make a detail to highlight a dining area, for example. Like I said earlier, it's apples and oranges comparing prices of plywood to other floorings. You can spend a lot more on 'plywood' than any laminate out there, if you wanted. Plywood is too broad of a term to generalize - look at some marine grade mahagony or teak plywood. You could make a gorgeous floor with it, but it costs a fortune. $$$ |
| Jenta Cuyahoga Falls, OH February 21, 2007 | I agree that plywood is too broad a term. I'm not real good with technical terms. :D But I know what I like. One thing I don't want to use is laminate. I have dogs and cats, and I'm afraid that scratches, or just the scoot of a piece of furniture will ruin the surface. I've also seen laminate that has peeled, and looks worn in spots. But with wood, there's always a fix. A light sand can fix just about any problem. I've found I can tackle just about any home improvement job as long as it doesn't involve heavy lifting! Darius, you sound like me! |
| mkecomposites Milwaukee, WI March 8, 2007 | I work for a company that supplies lightweight (1.7 lbs/sqft), firesafe, moisture resistant composite flooring that can be machined and built to sizes as big as 60"x115" and with standard thicknesses of 3/4" but also 1/2" and 3/8". The material can be bonded down to subfloors with the same adhesive that keeps your windshield in your car or screwed via countersunk fasteners if needed. Any type of finishing wood patern could then be applied to the top of these floors to provide your finished look. The floors have been installed in passenger railcars for more than nine years with snow, rain, salt, sand, dirt and cleaning solutions constantly being tracked into the cars by commuters. For more information go to: [HYPERLINK@www.milwaukeecomposites.com] The sales team will be able to help answer any other questions you might have. |
| soulgardenlove Marietta, GA Zone 7b March 8, 2007 | We cut grooves into the floor with a router and then we painted the plywood floor with porter floor and porch paint. This is my sons space room and I have done it in the race car room and my office and a guest bedroom... where the color is white and the effect is faux wooden planks. This room is missing the quarter round around the edges, and the other rooms have it and it is a nice finish. :) Susan
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| sbard1 Saint Joseph, MI April 28, 2007 | What kind of subfloor is necessary? I belive I have particle board and I'm not sure if you can just screw the plywood down. |
| redpainter Columbia, SC December 21, 2007 | I live on the second level of a three level condo building. I'm interested in the installation of plywood flooring. Does anyone know if putting some insulation material between the subfloor and the plywood would be feasible? I'd like to do it for both sound muffling and heating/cooling purposes. The family below me keep their unit way too warm in the summer and I thought the insulation may help with my energy consumption. Any ideas or advice is appreciated! |
| Bubba2001 Milwaukee, WI January 6, 2008 | we are looking to start this project for our house, any tips, suggestions, pictures??? Anything would be great. |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b January 7, 2008 | sbard1, yes you can just screw the plywood to the particle board. I'd be inclined to use some glue like Liquid Nails in caulking tubes just to prevent future squeaks. redpainter, the thin foam insulation like what's used under vinyl siding would work but not offer very much reduction in noise nor as a thermal barrier. To be more efficient, I'd lay 2x2's (or something similar, even 1x2's) perpendicular to the subfloor sheets and use fiberglas insulation between them before laying the plywood on top. One caution: If you have to compress the fiberglas to fit a space, it nulls any positive effect. If you own the condo, why not consider using 2x4's on edge and R-11 between them? Bubba, I removed the pet-stained carpet from this house... revealing particle board subfloors. Some of those have buckled from water leaks so now the floor is very uneven. We plan hardwood floors eventually, and the buckled sheets will have to be replaced. So... we're thinking to replace them sooner with nice-looking cabinet grade plywood sheets, and several coats of poly. When we do, I'll take photos. |
| redpainter Columbia, SC January 7, 2008 | Thanks Darius! That helps a lot. Yes, I do own my condo and will probably go with your suggestion of the 2x4's and R-11. Now, to get started! That's always the hardest part!! I'm a painter not a floor installer and this gets more overwhelming the more I think and plan. I'll be watching for tips and pics. Thanks again! |
| darius Marion, VA Zone 5b January 7, 2008 | Red... I'd also put down a vapor barrier over the 2x4's and insulation as added "just in case" protection. (But be sure the vapor barrier on the insulation is on the top of the space so you don't get trapped moisture.) Use a 6 mil or heavier poly and staple only on the 2x4's, stretching it tightly. |
| bradevans Macon, GA January 9, 2008 | Here is my question...The Plywood Floor Squares..obviously it's a lot of trouble to cut the squares "Square" but even then, isn't there a gap where they meet???? Do you have to tounge and groove the squares...I'm looking at the floors from this site... How expensive per square foot is this I wonder? ANyone know? [HYPERLINK@www.hgtv.com] |
| Bubba2001 Milwaukee, WI January 12, 2008 | WOW great turnout so far. THANKS. First we will have to rip out our current floor and replace the subfloor (I think) because over the last 90-80 years, the floor has become uneven in areas. I think the easiest way is to use self leveler, but I am worried about how much weight this will add to the house itself??? any suggestions. I am not too sure what our other options are, again any suggestions. I am a virgin DIY girl and need help. Anyone live near milwaukee and want to help LOL. Anyway, as for the gaps between the boards or seams, my husband remembers seeing the show and they used sawdust and some sort of glue as a binding agent. As for prices, Home Depot has 8x4 Oak plywood for about $35 (so about a dollar a square foot). The employee suggested that we go to a lumber yard for even better prices. In addition, it was also recommended that we do use a water barrier between the subfloor and plywood (as if it was any other floor). I really need help to get started and then should be good, UGHHH and YIKES Bubba2001 |
| redpainter Columbia, SC January 15, 2008 | Thanks Darius, that's good advice. Sorry Bubba, but I moved from Milwaukee a long time ago, otherwise I'd be happy to 'help'. I'm not quite the 'virgin' DIY girl, but this will be the first time I've tackled a floor. I'd rather pour concrete, but in as much as I am on the second level and the building is about 40 years old, I'd probably end up downstairs on my neighbor. That stuff gets real heavy! I suppose I will continue to scrape my popcorn ceilings and finish that mess before I begin the floors. I'll be watching to see if anyone else does this type of floor. I do like the finished look. Y'all keep the pics and advice coming.......... :-) |
| davery5872 Dayton, OH March 2, 2008 | I've been thinking about doing this for about a year. I have a seasonal use mobile home that needs new flooring. I was thinking about cutting 1/4 luaun plywood into 6 or 7" planks. Then glueing them to the plywood subfoor. Then if the joints were different heights, using a sander. The I was thinking of using several coats of poly. A couple of potential trouble spots: Getting the planks square and then laying them without any gaps. Anyone ever heard of anyone doing this? What type of glue would be best? Could this be done without any mechanical fasteners? Would the planks "pop up" after time? Thanks! |
| redpainter Columbia, SC June 2, 2008 | I recently found out that I have gypcrete under my carpet. Does anyone know if pouring a stained resin over it would work? I hate carpet and want something different and easy to maintain. I can't pour concrete because of the weight. I have about 1150 sq feet to attack. Any suggestions? Thanks! |
| mudrudd Tallahassee, FL July 5, 2008 | I landed on this site today, researching plywood flooring because I am going to do bamboo countertops and found that I will probably have enough left over to do the floor. Saving the concrete countertop for my "bar" I will be doing later. So I needed to find out how to install and loved the HGTV site, so have decided to give it a go. I know I said bamboo, and I know how much it is going for, but I was just in the right place at the right time and didn't pay anywhere close to that. Once it is done, will let ya know how much I paid per 4x8 sheet. You will not believe it. Can't wait to get started. |
| mudrudd Tallahassee, FL July 21, 2008 | OK. Picked up my 10 sheets of bamboo plywood. Enough to do my countertops and a floor (cut into 2x2 squares) from Lumber Liquidators. Cost was $35 for a 4x8 sheet. That's alot of kitchen surface for real cheap! Can't wait to get started. |
| summerkid Kankakee, IL Zone 5b July 21, 2008 | Go for it! And remember PIX PIX PIX! |
