New LVT floors

Today the crew from Northport flooring was back to replace the luxury vinyl tile (LVT). We really liked the style of floor we put down.

This is the Konecto Exotic Woods Bamboo in Caramel.

 

Apparently, we got a bad batch, because almost immediately, the planks started coming up, like this:

It was most noticeable in the laundry room, but the planks were also starting to come up in D's bathroom as well. Our builder called Northport, and the owner came over and took pictures. A few days later, he called us to say that he would be replacing both floors. He suggested we go with the Armstrong line of LVT instead. We still liked the bamboo look, so we choose National Creations ArborArt, Bamboo Caramel. 

Two days ago, the replacement planks were delivered so they could acclimate to the house before installation.

The crew arrived promptly at 8:30am, and after laying down lots of drop clothes, got right to work pulling up the old planks.

The other issue we had in our laundry room was the drip pan for our washer. When MAS came back with our right-sized dryer and installed it, they cracked the drip pan.

We've been leaving messages for them to fix it, but to no avail. (We loved MAS for the selection and price of our appliances, but the customer service we've received since then has been frustrating).

I had suggested that the flooring crew work around the washer and dryer, but to their credit, they insisted on replacing the entire floor. They took out the drip pan because it was useless anyway.

Once the drip pan was pulled out, we saw that they didn't seal the drain, either.

They took a break from the laundry room as I was consulting with Todd, our builder.

When I brought our son up to see what was causing all the racket, he was very perplexed to see his toilet in the hallway.

The new floor looks almost exactly like the old...but is nice and flat.

Here you can see the difference between the old floor (far) and new (near). The pattern is exactly the same. The old floor was slightly thicker, and the new floor has a slight texture to it, which makes it less slippery, which is good for me!

After talking to Todd, we decided that I would run to Lowe's for a new drip pan and Northport would install in. We're very grateful for this because that washer and dryer are HEAVY!

The new drain was securely sealed. 

The new drip pan is actually a better fit, and the plastic is much thicker (that is, harder to crack).

They guys finished up at one, an hour sooner than they predicted. They cleaned everything up and vacuumed the new floors, the hallways, the stairs and the entire path to the front door.

 

D was very excited to check out his "new" bathroom.

And he immediately started getting bathroom back in order. 

He was not as excited to take a nap, but after a short obligatory meltdown, he was asleep within ten minutes. 

It feels good to know that we have the floors replaced. We continue to be grateful for Charis' ongoing help with the last few punch list items. There are still a few little things we've noticed since we've moved in that are getting worked on (that may be our next post), but mostly they are minor, and if we were more handy, we could fix them ourselves. But even with the occasional hiccup, we are so happy that our house is home.

Lighting, LVT and loving our tile.

Today I had two sick boys with me all day. (Shocking that Niels got sick after sleeping with Typhoid Daniel the last four nights). After Niels got up, we headed to the house so D could sleep in the car and we could watch the progress.

In-Law Suite:

Jim Duffy hung the lights this morning so the tile guys could work on the floor. The bathroom is nice and bright now. 

Making progress.

All done!

Artsy shot to show off the subway tile set.

Mudroom:

Another light up. These Maxim Malibu lights were such a good choice. They provide a ton of light and are quite a bargain. We used daylight CFLs and love the bright light they provide.

We found these hooks for our mudroom cubbies at Lowes.

Now to decide between three hooks or two.

Office: 

Niels and Jim ooh and ahh over Niels' Dutch light fixture.

 Stairs and Hallway:

Our stair lights have been installed. These will be very nice when my vision is wonky.

The upstairs hallway lights are in. These are the three-light version of our ubiquitous Maxim Malibu light.

Laundry Room:

Putting down the luxury vinyl tile: Konecto Exotic Woods Vertical Bamboo (Caramel)

First peek at the floor by the wall.

And the floor with the maple cabinets.

And done. It went really quickly. It's a stick down plank tile.

View from the window.

All three of us were on the floor today. We'll put a tension rod between the closet and cubbies if we need to hang anything.

D's Bathroom:

Jim hanging D's vanity light.

D's bathroom is nice and bright. The vanity is the Urban from Menards.

We used the same Konecto LVT in D's room.

Close up of the LVT with SW Solaria paint and espresso cabinets.

View from the tub area.

Master Bedroom and Bath:

Our ceiling fan is up! This is the Craftmade Fifth Avenue.

Our water closet with SW Sensuous Gray and the newly grouted tile.

Close up of the grouted (but not yet cleaned) tile. The grout color is Natural Grey, and I think it's a great match for the tile.

We really like how the tile surround turned out. 

This tile didn't have any matching trim, so the tile guys cut full pieces for trim.

Close up of the tub surround. Love it!

What a great week of progress it has been! What a difference from last Friday! Work will slow down over the weekend--the tile in the foyer and mudroom will get done. Then, on Monday, the frig and oven will get placed, I think our quartz countertop for the kitchen and command center will be installed Monday or Tuesday, along with the River White granite in the in-law suite. Also, to the delight of everyone, the toilets are coming!!

Up next: flooring!

With the painting winding down, we're coming up on a really busy week. The floors are going in!

The cork floors arrived this past Thursday and I couldn't help but peek. I'm so excited for those soft, quiet floors! When I put them down against the newly painted kitchen floor, D immediately sat down and took off his shoes so he could stand on the planks. He had a huge smile on his face.

In fact, he thought they were so comfortable that he could take a nap on them:

So, so pretty.

Yesterday morning, Todd came over while we were talking to Joe about the command center, and we were able to talk a bit about the flooring. Since all of our non-carpet flooring have linear patterns, we wanted to make sure that we talked about which direction we wanted the flooring to go to minimize any visual issues for me.

For the porcelain tile, we knew we wanted the lines to be perpendicular to the entrances, and all facing the same way. (With this type of tile, often the tiles are set at opposite angles). We also wanted them off set, like subway tiles, not in squares so the grout line doesn't create a visual issue for me. Originally, we wanted 12"x24" tiles to reduce the amount of grout, but we couldn't justify the extra cost.

 

I wanted the lines of the cork planks to run the same way as the porcelain tiles, but unfortunately, we need them to go the opposite way to get the most support out of the floor joists. (This is why we pay Todd, our GC, the big bucks). Niels pointed out that our cork pattern actually had vertical and horizontal lines, and next the espresso, the less dominant lines actually come out, so it'll all be okay.

We luxury vinyl tile (LVT) for the laundry room and D's bath was easy. We wanted to use the lines of the bamboo to make the rooms look longer. 

Our house is going to look so different next weekend! Can't wait!