House Progress + Flooring Decisions

By Kate Riley July 22, 2014

It’s a busy week for us with our Las Vegas renovation project, we’re in Official Demo Mode and much is changing! The good kind of change…

We decided to hire two handyman helpers that came highly recommended to assist us this week to speed up the demo process. We have high pitched ceilings in three spaces, the dining room, living room, and master bedroom so yesterday our handyman helpers brought their scaffolding and scraped that popcorn ceilings. Today they will be patched and they await priming and painting. Even though we’ve scraped popcorn ourselves, we dreaded the idea of scraping those high ceilings so it was money well spent!

entry and living room

 

master bedroom popcorn removed

 

We are moving a few electrical boxes for better lighting placement and spent the morning moving a HVAC duct (I mentioned here how I hated the location of it). Just those 3 feet make a difference and now it won’t be right up next to the new fixture.

moving hvac duct

We have one more to move and then I’ll share the steps on how we accomplished it, it wasn’t too difficult!

Also the improvements to the fireplace I mentioned last week have begun…. attacking it with a hammer and crowbar is quite therapeutic… we’re saying goodbye to the sheetrock mantel and filling the niche, yes! That brown tile is next….

fireplace reno

We debated what kind of flooring upstairs, more carpet, hardwood, vinyl plank ? We decided on carpet for the hallway and in the bedrooms upstairs, it’s more affordable and easier to install quickly. Something light with a subtle geometric print is what I’m thinking of.

carpet samples

This house has three yes three different kinds of carpet inside, all of them are pretty cruddy, stained, torn in places, and none of them match so we will be removing it all and replacing the baseboards too. 

Another major issue is the random divide in two spaces between the existing tile (which isn’t bad) and the three varieties of stained carpet (so icky), here it is in the family room and breakfast nook…. 

 two kinds of flooring

… and the entry and living room.

different flooring

** light fixtures for sale!!!  any buyers?  Bueller ?

I know this look is common in a lot of homes, but we decided if we’re replacing the carpet we decided we might as well replace the tile too for that seamless look we’re going for. For the downstairs flooring, I’ll be partnering with Daltile™ and installing porcelain plank wood tile. We’re really excited about it! This house is in the desert so tile floors make so much sense and since there is a pool in the backyard, we won’t worry about water damage as people go in and out all day. 

The flooring downstairs will be the same throughout in the bathroom, kitchen, dining, living and family room. It took me months to decide but we’ve settled on the Daltile™  Forest Park collection in the Sugar Maple Color Body.

daltile sugar maple

It’s a mid tone color, not too dark, not too light, which will be really lovely against all the fresh white walls and trim. I almost went with the Timberland (darker color) but thought it would be too dark if installed all over the entire downstairs and in this home we’re going for light and bright so Sugar Maple won.

daltile forest park floor samples

 

We debated whether to do a herringbone pattern (left) which would be fab but decided instead to install it in a classic brick joint pattern (right) with 9" x 36" planks right up next to each other for the thinnest grout lines possible.

patterns for wood plank tile

     

Here’s a picture I found of the same product we chose installed in the same pattern in a bathroom, I love it! 

forest park sugar maple porcelain tile flooring

cederberg kitchens

If you’re in the market for a similar product, check out Daltile’s ten different porcelain wood tile options like the Season Wood line for a weathered look. 

daltile seasonwood

 

Acacia Valley has gorgeous variegated tones designed to replicate acacia wood.

daltile acacia valley

See all of Daltile’s wood porcelain tile looks here. Find your local Daltile dealer here to see the products for yourself! I’ll be posting about the installation of the porcelain tile flooring in our house when it happens.

The best news is when we arrived yesterday the pool wall had been repaired and it is now safe to swim in…. so nice to take a dip between all the hard work in 100 degree weather! Oh yes the tile doesn’t match but the plan is to replace it all the winter (see the broken glass block wall before here, ew). Baby steps… baby steps…

pool after

Lots of decisions and trips to the home improvement store this week, more progress updates coming soon. Back to work I go….

..

20 comments

  1. Loved reading about your demo progress! It’s going to be beautiful when you get done with it!! I love the tile you picked out–it’s just right. If you get to ripping out the old tile before mid August I would love to hear how it goes. I will be ripping out tile in my home next month and am not looking forward to it!

  2. Love the sugar maple! Great choice. I’m a huge fan of the herringbone pattern, too… gets the wheels turning as I frown over my own floors!

  3. Love the color of tile you choose. It was so funny, but when I first saw the picture of the tile, I immediately thought that it would look gorgeous in a herringbone pattern. Then I scrolled and saw that you had considered it too. If I ever have to replace flooring in my home, I am definitely going spend the additional money to do the herringbone pattern.

  4. My sister just installed wood tiles in her house (in a herringbone pattern) and it looks AMAZING, I’m sure you will love them in your house too!

  5. FLOR carpet would make sense in this house…easy clean up and/or replacement via individual tiles. FLOR has styles similar to the product you’re considering. We have it in our house and really love it. They have brick and mortar stores in SF and Palo Alto.

  6. Our townhome has almost the exact same entry….ugly thick carpeted stairs, butting up to Saltillo tile, that EXACT builder-grade light fixture hanging down the 3-story stairwell…’SO 70’s!! Can’t wait to see what you do …inspiration needed!! Of necessity, we’ll keep the stairs carpeted…but in something much more elegant. And paint?! I’d better love the color because there’s no pomace to stop it, really.
    I’m sure your home will look fabulous!

  7. i live in Las Vegas and have been struggling with flooring choices. when it is this hot, your feet drag in black from outside and stain carpet. i think tile (or leaning to cement floors) would be a better choice. it keeps the house cooler,(reducing a/c needs) and for warmth u can add rugs. My question to you is how u found your retailers used. there are so many here and i don’t know where to start
    can’t wait to see results

  8. Hi! I live in Las Vegas and I would love to get the names of those handymen! I am always looking for great help.

    • Send me an email Lindsay! I’ll hook you up with their number!

  9. So exciting to see the formation of a blank slate! Looking forward to future progress posts.

    We just put porcelain wood lookalike tile in our house and LOVE it. Seriously. Love. One major recommendation I would make — on top of really thin grout lines — is to use dark grout. Find the darkest shade in your tile, match it to a grout color, then go at least one shade darker. If the grout is too light, it won’t look like wood, it will look like tile, which spoils the whole point. ChrisLovesJulia has great tips on this issue, too.

    Good luck! Can’t wait to see.

  10. Wow that’s a lot of work! I just bought a house and we have popcorn ceiling all over too! We’re planning on getting it removed but are having trouble deciding what finish to get. We wanted smooth but it’s pricier and our walls are orange peel. Were not sure if the different textures will conflict. Are you doing a smooth finish? Do you have any tips for the first time home remodeler?

  11. Great tip Cindy! I agree, I’m going with a grout slightly darker, I saw it in the showroom and you’re right, it looks so close to real wood plank when done that way!
    Kate

  12. Maybe it’s just me or maybe the photo but I think the replacement tiles in the pool / spa look perfectly fine even though they don’t ‘match’. They are in what I would call a decorative pattern and I personally wouldn’t do the time and expense to make all the tiles matchy matchy.

  13. The virtually non-existent grout lines will look fantastic! We just installed Daltile wood grain tile in our basement and our installer left 1/4″ grout lines. It’s not as nice as smaller grout lines. Oh well. Not ripping it out and re-doing – we’re grouting as close to the tile color as possible so the grout isn’t as obvious. The brick joint pattern is great for those tiles.

  14. i was very flattered to see that you are tiling your entry with a similar color and wood plank style of ceramic tile that we just had installed in our kitchen. (Kindred spirits?) Our last floor came from Daltile but this go-round, we selected Eagle Tile. We also considered the herringbone pattern but settled for the brick pattern. I wasn’t sure at first but I’ve repainted the walls a lighter color and absolutely LOVE it! I’m feeling a sort of silly “giddiness” that I have some decorating style in common with the fabulous “Centsational Girl”!

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