"Tim S" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:56:32 +0000, Mary Fisher wrote:

I'm not fashion conscious! I couldn't give a damn about what's in and out
or
what you or anyone else considers to be bad taste. I probably wouldn't
like
what you have in your house but it's not important.

Couldn't agree more. Talking of objectionable fashions, what is it with
carpets everywhere these days? The *last* place carpet belongs is in the
hall, bathroom and toilet (yuk). Especially with a little 'un. Yet
everywhere I've been that's a post 70's build has it, sadly including our
rented house. Takes me a full day with a Rug Doctor to get everything back
to vaguely decent, lasts a month and it's back to yukville.

I agree. When we got our caravan the first thing to come out was the carpet.
A shag pile carpet in a caravan! Goodness knows what lived in it - the hens
certainly found munchy bits!

We love the laminate we put in our previous flat. Took minutes to clean,
spills wiped off and it looked bright and airy. Really cut down on the
dusting too. We did use a decent make (Pergo). I suppose the same could
all be said of parquet or other wood finishes, only we couldn't afford
them.

The only thing I would criticise it for if it's damn slippery with bare
wet feet from the bathroom (the bathroom and kitchen we did in vinyl).

We did our bathroom about thirty years ago when we had no money. We used
oblong cork tiles in a herringbone pattern. Someone had given us a pile of
waste from the manufacture of head gaskets, we made a jig and cut our own!
It's still going strong, unbelievably. The lavatory was done with one pack
of proper cork tiles, they were even better but we could only afford one
pack and didn't have enough of the others to do even that small space.

The bathroom floor isn't slippery but if it were I'd put down a mat. We do
anyway, come to think of it, a simple cotton (washable) thing from Ikea I
believe. Plain white. Nothing objectionable.

We'd already sanded and polyurethaned the dining room floor and it took
such
a long time to do a fine job, it caused a huge amount of mess all round
the
house (that dust gets everywhere) and to get that superb finish with top
class varnish was expensive. We thought that laminate would be cheaper
and
quicker and less mess. It wasn't any of those things but I'm not sorry
that
we did it.

Just out of interest, what make of varnish would you recommend, Mary, and
how did you apply it (thinned first coat, or any other tips)?

I can't remember the make, it was years ago. It was a high spec, heat, cold,
grease, acid, alkali, everything proof, recommended for industrial use I
think. After sanding (with a hired machine which was worth every penny) we
wiped down the boards with white spirit to get all the dust off then used a
10% varnish solution, brushed on. Then about three full coats, lightly
sanded between. Each coat was allowed to dry absolutely thoroughly between
coats and we didn't use the room during that time. When we did go in to
paint another coat we had bare feet covered with tea towels. We could have
used socks if we'd worn them! We used a matt finish so while the colour was
brought out and it's a smooth finish it's not shiny. The room faces due
south and there are enough reflective surfaces in it, we didn't want to
attract attention to the floor.

That was the dining room. My workroom/office was done a couple of years
before, using a high gloss finish. It hasn't been as durable as the dining
room - which gets more wear. The varnish under my wheeled typing chair has
worn off. I should re-do it but there are always more interesting things to
do ... Spouse's wheeled typing chair hasn't damaged the dining room floor at
all.

I've got some rotten broken chipboard to replace in my Dad's house, and
having noticed that new pine floorboards are coming in at a similar price
to decent old hardwood boards from the salvage yard, I'm intending to
relay with old boards and do exactly as you did. The mess isn't a problem
as I'll be making a right mess in several different ways at the same time
;-

Good luck to you, it was just the all pervading dust even though we kept all
doors shut. It's so fine ... it seemed to go on and on ... although masks
were used when actually sanding I'm sure what we breathed the rest of the
time wasn't healthy. There were no children around though.

Our floors are pine and acceptable but if we had to replace them we'd go to
the reclamation yard.

We have to replace the 30yo vinyl in our kitchen. I don't think I want
laminate in there but I'm not looking forward to replacing the old stuff.
Spouse built a unit on top of the vinyl :-( I've worn through the pattern
in front of the sink and my chain is getting a bit thin too but I daresay
we'll continue until I get right through the vinyl ... Perhaps we'll use
floor paint. There are some very durable ones in attractive colours. He
could simply cut through the vinyl leaving the unit undisturbed ...

Mary

Thanks

Tim