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Tell me about your floors

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  JohnFreese 
#1 ·
We are planning a garage conversion in the PNW. We will be turning it into a family room / study. I want warm tones and as much of a "wood" look as possible. Main goals are safety (non-toxic for my three young kids), durability, and affordability. I don't care too much about appearance other than having a warm / wood tone.

I have been trying to research hardwood, engineered hardwood, cork, bamboo, and linoleum. My head is spinning from the options and pros / cons. I would appreciate any insight / experience anyone could give!

We plan to float the flooring over a concrete slab with some kind of moisture barrier in between. I have also looked a little bit at radiant heat but I'm finding it intimidating. The house has electric heat, but the garage is not currently heated.
 
#2 ·
Bamboo. We have one room that has bamboo flooring with the rest of the house having wood flooring original to our home. I would do bamboo flooring on any new project. It has held up PERFECT for five years, tons of wear and kids who beat the hell out of it and were sloppy and messy. No stains, no marks that would easily be removed.
 
#3 ·
We had linoleum over concrete in our lower level and put wood laminate flooring we bought at Habitat for Humanity Restore right on top of it. It's been about a year now and we still love it. We have two dogs, regularly drop weights on it, it's had nail polish and nail polish remover on it.

I have no idea what I'd do if I were going to pay full price for something.
 
#4 ·
Someone did our garage conversion years ago without carefully considering the concrete temperature below the cork floor. In summer it's really great but in winter it's frigid. Definitely make sure that part is done by a really experienced contractor to avoid mold buildup and losing all your heat in winter. Cork has been pretty forgiving on kids running around and crashing into the floor. Cork can chip and wear away in high traffic areas - like most wood flooring - so use some doormats if you have an outside entrance going into that room.
 
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