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Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Gorson posted:

Should I use moisture resistant drywall for the ceiling (or walls, for that matter) of an insulated, heated, detached garage?

It won't hurt, but it's intended for use in places where the moisture is *inside*, like bathrooms.

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eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber

Gorson posted:

Should I use moisture resistant drywall for the ceiling (or walls, for that matter) of an insulated, heated, detached garage?

Green drywall is quite a bit heavier, and if your jurisdiction requires 5/8" for firecode, that's double-heavy. Be sure to up your screw spacing if you put that weight on the ceiling.

I only did green for the lower wall sheets in my garage. Green isn't waterproof, but I figured I'd spend the few extra bucks to minimize mold if there's ever standing water from tire snow or a busted water heater wicking up. Paint should protect the rest.

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006
We're converting the cursed ~10x20 room behind our garage into an office and craft room. So rolling chairs my fat rear end will sit in daily, potential for paint/glue/razors/whatever spills, etc. I understand nothing is perfectly stain proof, but we would like to be able to clean stuff off of it, and not have it rut-out with daily use. Right now it's bare concrete and we're thinking of putting in a vinyl floor. Anything specific I should look for? Is vinyl even the right thing? We have the name of an installer, it's not someone we've used but the people recommending them have done good work for us. Any specific advantage of going with Home Depot's check-box-sub-contracted-out-to-desperate-installers installers?

This is what my wife came home with, along with 2 lower grades which get thinner and thinner as you go down:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LifeProof-Fresh-Oak-8-7-in-x-47-6-in-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-06-sq-ft-case-I96711L/300461638

The price seems fine enough at ~$660 for 220 sq ft.

BigFactory
Sep 17, 2002
If you don’t care wha it looks like, there’s heavy vinyl flooring that you just cut and it lays flat. If the room is really 10x20 you might not even have to cut it really. You just kinda lay it down, doesn’t need glue.

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber
Stick-on vinyl/linoleum tiles are cheap as poo poo and pretty durable. If you damage one, just pull it up and replace.

Vinyl plank is kind of like laminate, but less-terrible and waterproof. Can be installed as a floating floor or glued. Usually looks like wood floor.

Both options are easily DIY. You can score with a straight-edge and utility knife, then snap at the score. Quarter-round will hide the edges if you’ve already got baseboard trim installed.

I guess sheet vinyl is still a thing, but why?

eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Oct 26, 2018

mutata
Mar 1, 2003

Just seal or epoxy that concrete bish bash bosh.

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

Please don't use floor stickers. Removing those from my basement was a nightmare.

I had vinyl faux-wood planks put down to replace it and I'm really happy. Just make sure to put underlayment down to avoid issues with moisture coming up through the concrete and to make the floor a little more comfortable to walk on. The fancy stuff doesn't cost much extra.

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

eddiewalker posted:

Vinyl plank is kind of like laminate, but less-terrible and waterproof. Can be installed as a floating floor or glued. Usually looks like wood floor.

Fallom posted:

I had vinyl faux-wood planks put down to replace it and I'm really happy. Just make sure to put underlayment down to avoid issues with moisture coming up through the concrete and to make the floor a little more comfortable to walk on. The fancy stuff doesn't cost much extra.

This is what we were thinking, but I'm not really sure how to know which "grade" of plank to put down, or how to choose an underlayment. For example, the one I linked claims "Pre-attached underlayment provides a floor that's warm, comfortable and quiet underfoot" - does that mean I'm good to go, or should I use one that is one step down where I get to choose the underlayment? Or do both?

I realized I didn't state a goal previously, but we want it to be nice living space more than something that is behind the garage. We're thinking long term on a durability of the floors, I would rather do it once and not have to think about it again. I'm assuming a 20+ year lifespan, and that either our kid(s) (currently one 2.5 y/o) will be doing sex/drugs/rock-n-roll as teenagers in this room, or we will be avoiding their sex/drugs/rock-n-rolling in this space.

We're probably not going to DIY it due to timing issues. I haven't seen most of the floor in a year+ but I think there is some non-trivial prep work that should be done to it first. Potentially pay someone to do that, but I imagine the spread in cost between the prep and prep+install is fairly small.

BigFactory posted:

If you don’t care wha it looks like, there’s heavy vinyl flooring that you just cut and it lays flat. If the room is really 10x20 you might not even have to cut it really. You just kinda lay it down, doesn’t need glue.


eddiewalker posted:

Stick-on vinyl/linoleum tiles are cheap as poo poo and pretty durable. If you damage one, just pull it up and replace.


mutata posted:

Just seal or epoxy that concrete bish bash bosh.

We do care what it looks like, and want it to feel like comfortable living space rather than garage-adjacent. I feel any of these options keeps it feeling more like a "garage" than a "cozy space."

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

H110Hawk posted:

This is what we were thinking, but I'm not really sure how to know which "grade" of plank to put down, or how to choose an underlayment. For example, the one I linked claims "Pre-attached underlayment provides a floor that's warm, comfortable and quiet underfoot" - does that mean I'm good to go, or should I use one that is one step down where I get to choose the underlayment? Or do both?

The pre-attached stuff is extremely thin and won't cover the seams. Might as well do both and gain the slight bit of extra padding.

I'm not sure about the grades. I bought my flooring at Lumber Liquidators where they had all the varieties marked with a 1-5 scale of durability and I chose something on the high end so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Enos Cabell
Nov 3, 2004


Rolling chairs and vinyl plank are a no good combo from everything I've read. If you need to roll, I think tile is your best bet.

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber

Fallom posted:

The pre-attached stuff is extremely thin and won't cover the seams. Might as well do both and gain the slight bit of extra padding.

The install instructions for the Shaw LVP I just installed said absolutely never add a second underlayment if one is already attached. I imagine it's too much flexing for the joints.

Just follow the directions.

tetrapyloctomy
Feb 18, 2003

Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.
Nap Ghost

H110Hawk posted:

This is what we were thinking, but I'm not really sure how to know which "grade" of plank to put down, or how to choose an underlayment. For example, the one I linked claims "Pre-attached underlayment provides a floor that's warm, comfortable and quiet underfoot" - does that mean I'm good to go, or should I use one that is one step down where I get to choose the underlayment? Or do both?

I realized I didn't state a goal previously, but we want it to be nice living space more than something that is behind the garage. We're thinking long term on a durability of the floors, I would rather do it once and not have to think about it again. I'm assuming a 20+ year lifespan, and that either our kid(s) (currently one 2.5 y/o) will be doing sex/drugs/rock-n-roll as teenagers in this room, or we will be avoiding their sex/drugs/rock-n-rolling in this space.

We're probably not going to DIY it due to timing issues. I haven't seen most of the floor in a year+ but I think there is some non-trivial prep work that should be done to it first. Potentially pay someone to do that, but I imagine the spread in cost between the prep and prep+install is fairly small.




We do care what it looks like, and want it to feel like comfortable living space rather than garage-adjacent. I feel any of these options keeps it feeling more like a "garage" than a "cozy space."

I really like the Mannington Adura vinyl plank that we got for our basement. Some vinyl plank is a lot shinier and has zero texture. This won't fool you into thinking it's real wood, but it's pleasing enough to the eye, and would be more convincing if they'd taken more care about how they staggered the available patterns. Ours is pretty sturdy and scratch-resistant (definitely attack a sample of whatever you choose, because some vinyl plank has zero durability; ours has had poo poo dragged over it repeatedly with no wear noted), and it looks like they have a tougher line available now as well.

If we were doing it over again, I'd redo the floor first. It's a sloped concrete slab with a wood platform to level out a portion of the floor; it originally was carpeted but I had to rip up a corner when we got some water in the basement and I didn't want an more carpet down there in case it happened again. The wood platform could be done better, especially where it transitions to the slab. In any case, I'd redo the floor and use something like WarmBoard for the subfloor, then use porcelain faux-wood planking on top. You can use vinyl plank but it limits the temperature of the radiant heat, and using regular wood is dodgy.

HycoCam
Jul 14, 2016

You should have backed Transverse!
You can get pretty fancy with the epoxy finishes. Pure white with black streaked through it does a great faux marble. Diamond Crystals are my personal favorite, but too 70's for lots of people. The fancier epoxy finishes are not something you'd want to DIY on a large space because if you screw up the epoxy it is really hard to fix after it cures. Also, because of the prep and multiple coats involved, epoxy will take longer and cost more than many floor finishes. Acid stained with a top coat is the place to start if you want to DIY an epoxy floor.

Schluter underlayment with porcelain/ceramic tiles gets my vote. I'm partial to the Schluter floor warming--uses electricity instead of hot water to heat the floors. The heating systems don't fail or they wouldn't be sold. But with that said, I like the system that spews electrons all over the room instead of H2O molecules if something were to go bad.

Area rugs for the bare feet areas. And adding a water alarm in the areas that might see water problems is a good idea. The Flo (https://meetflo.com/) available from Home Depot seems too good to be true. Waiting for someone else to drop the $500 first though. :) From what I know, I don't think Flo works with SmartThings or Home Assistant, which has kept me from trying it out.

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

tetrapyloctomy posted:

I really like the Mannington Adura vinyl plank that we got for our basement. Some vinyl plank is a lot shinier and has zero texture. This won't fool you into thinking it's real wood, but it's pleasing enough to the eye, and would be more convincing if they'd taken more care about how they staggered the available patterns. Ours is pretty sturdy and scratch-resistant (definitely attack a sample of whatever you choose, because some vinyl plank has zero durability; ours has had poo poo dragged over it repeatedly with no wear noted), and it looks like they have a tougher line available now as well.

If we were doing it over again, I'd redo the floor first. It's a sloped concrete slab with a wood platform to level out a portion of the floor; it originally was carpeted but I had to rip up a corner when we got some water in the basement and I didn't want an more carpet down there in case it happened again. The wood platform could be done better, especially where it transitions to the slab. In any case, I'd redo the floor and use something like WarmBoard for the subfloor, then use porcelain faux-wood planking on top. You can use vinyl plank but it limits the temperature of the radiant heat, and using regular wood is dodgy.

Good call on attacking a sample. I'm using it as a coaster now. We'll see if it's indeed waterproof. Would you still use porcelain if you didn't need radiant heating? Our lowest lows are rarely even freezing, and generally only overnight. Our minisplit heat pump should be more than adequate.

Enos Cabell posted:

Rolling chairs and vinyl plank are a no good combo from everything I've read. If you need to roll, I think tile is your best bet.

Hrm. We have two rolling chairs and I don't see us getting rid of them. This is more compelling if we're going to have to just put down floor protectors. Right now I have one of those plastic mats to keep our hardwood inside from getting gauged up, and why cover half the visible workspace in mats. I'll probably convert to a standing desk, but I won't not have a chair. My wife will be doing a lot of sewing, painting, and similar crafts so I imagine she will also have a rolling chair.

Fallom posted:

The pre-attached stuff is extremely thin and won't cover the seams. Might as well do both and gain the slight bit of extra padding.

Can you quantify this somehow? This top end one is a 1/4" thick, compared to the construction paper like thickness of the cheapest one. Regardless we will be installing to manufacturers spec so we can get the warranty honored.

Thank you everyone for their input.

H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Oct 26, 2018

tetrapyloctomy
Feb 18, 2003

Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.
Nap Ghost

H110Hawk posted:

Good call on attacking a sample. I'm using it as a coaster now. We'll see if it's indeed waterproof. Would you still use porcelain if you didn't need radiant heating? Our lowest lows are rarely even freezing, and generally only overnight. Our minisplit heat pump should be more than adequate.


Hrm. We have two rolling chairs and I don't see us getting rid of them. This is more compelling if we're going to have to just put down floor protectors. Right now I have one of those plastic mats to keep our hardwood inside from getting gauged up, and why cover half the visible workspace in mats. I'll probably convert to a standing desk, but I won't not have a chair. My wife will be doing a lot of sewing, painting, and similar crafts so I imagine she will also have a rolling chair.


Can you quantify this somehow? This top end one is a 1/4" thick, compared to the construction paper like thickness of the cheapest one. Regardless we will be installing to manufacturers spec so we can get the warranty honored.

Thank you everyone for their input.

I'd probably go vinyl plank again if no radiant heat were involved. A lot would depend on how it looked and felt, and what was on sale. =) Don't go by the samples your installer has, those sucked. I went to a flooring store and found what I wanted. Both the vinyl plank in the basement and the vinyl tile in the kitchen (they refused to reinstall regular tile, it's a long story) are waaaaay better than what the contractor wanted to offer (I'm sure because he gets it at a huge discount).

I regularly drag a futon over this stuff and it doesn't scratch, by the way. You can get hardy vinyl plank. I don't see a rolling chair being a problem. Too bad you're not in the Philly area, I have a few extra boxes laying around; you could lay down a small area and see how it wears.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


We have some rooms with cheap vinyl over the concrete slab at the kindergarten I work for. It's soft enough to reduce injuries so furniture fucks it up, but whatever we'll just buy another roll in 10 years.

I scrub it with a deck brush and soapy water sometimes because dust gets trapped in the fine fake wood texture. Then soak up the dirty water with a dry mop. Of course, it gets a lot more foot traffic (150 kindergarteners/week, crayons, etc.) than your basement…

You might want a layer of thin office carpet in your computer chair zone, and a fluffy but washable carpet in the kid zone in winter.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


AHHHH one of my spooky steel can lanterns went super saiyan and melted a ring into the deck. It's a depressed ring with raised edges.

Does anyone have advice on filing and filing a gash in composite decking? What's a good filler? :ohdear:
P sure it's from this series https://www.ykkap.co.jp/products/ex/item/series/rewood/

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Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

peanut posted:

What's a good filler?

A new plank.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Nahhhh ain't gonna!!!

But painting a compass, maybe....

immoral_
Oct 21, 2007

So fresh and so clean.

Young Orc
Yeah, I'd say just turn it into some kinda feature.

Slugworth
Feb 18, 2001

If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!

immoral_ posted:

Yeah, I'd say just turn it into some kinda feature.
Yeah, like some kind of lantern holder or something.

n0tqu1tesane
May 7, 2003

She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone.
Grimey Drawer

peanut posted:

AHHHH one of my spooky steel can lanterns went super saiyan and melted a ring into the deck. It's a depressed ring with raised edges.

Does anyone have advice on filing and filing a gash in composite decking? What's a good filler? :ohdear:
P sure it's from this series https://www.ykkap.co.jp/products/ex/item/series/rewood/



Sand down the raised areas, save the dust created from the sanding, mix it with a silicone caulk and fill the depressed area.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


n0tqu1tesane posted:

fill the depressed area.

not enough caulk in the world, my dude

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


n0tqu1tesane posted:

Sand down the raised areas, save the dust created from the sanding, mix it with a silicone caulk and fill the depressed area.

It's a good suggestion!

tangy yet delightful
Sep 13, 2005



Sanding composite decking sounds like a lung or eyeful of problems. I vote put a potted plant over the spot, or new plank, or rotate the plank with another so you can put the potted plant in a different spot.

NoSpoon
Jul 2, 2004
Can you just flip the plank upside down or is it asymmetrical?

n0tqu1tesane
May 7, 2003

She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone.
Grimey Drawer

Jaded Burnout posted:

not enough caulk in the world, my dude

Not all of us are bottomless pits of hopelessness and despair.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
It's such a perfect circle (obv) that I love the idea of making it a deliberate feature. If it were on the railing you could do a sundial, but if it's on the floor, I think a compass would be cute. Add little bonus direction headings for your parents' house or where you always go on vacation or something.

Subjunctive
Sep 12, 2006

✨sparkle and shine✨

Anne Whateley posted:

It's such a perfect circle (obv) that I love the idea of making it a deliberate feature. If it were on the railing you could do a sundial, but if it's on the floor, I think a compass would be cute. Add little bonus direction headings for your parents' house or where you always go on vacation or something.

I love that compass idea.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


NoSpoon posted:

Can you just flip the plank upside down or is it asymmetrical?

The planks have a tongue and groove kinda edge that lets water drip down, but doesn't let small objects disappear under the deck forever. So I don't think it can be flipped.

I will do something cute in a week or two after I finish all this dang work!

Attire Irony
May 5, 2009
Hi DIY,
I’m in the process of fixing up a dumpy house in a neighbourhood that’s nice but not nice nice.
The floors squeak like a motherfucker since the house is 50, and I’m working now to fix this.
I pulled up the cheap vinyl the PO laid down the weekend before listing, and it turns out I have old 1.5” plank hardwood underneath.

My question: how much of a monster would I be to remove this old floor?
Legacy neighbor tells me the original owner installed carpet almost immediately, so it’s likely still thick enough to be refinished.
We have a baby and another on the way though, so we don’t really have any interest in the mess and smells of sanding and sealing.
Current plan is to remove the 1.5” planks, screw down the 1x6 subfloor, add plywood and re-floor on top of that.

Am I doing the flooring equivalent of throwing out a crystal chandelier to install a boob light?

Ebola Dog
Apr 3, 2011

Dinosaurs are directly related to turtles!
If it's nice old hardwood then definitely don't get rid of it! You may want to take it up so you can secure it better but I would really recommend putting it back down again after and not getting rid of it.

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

Attire Irony posted:

The floors squeak like a motherfucker since the house is 50, and I’m working now to fix this.
I have old 1.5” plank hardwood underneath.
Am I doing the flooring equivalent of throwing out a crystal chandelier to install a boob light?

If the hardwood is in good condition other than ":cry: it squeaks" then I wish you a floor made of boob lights if you destroy it.

Attire Irony
May 5, 2009

H110Hawk posted:

If the hardwood is in good condition other than ":cry: it squeaks" then I wish you a floor made of boob lights if you destroy it.

Seen.

I’ve just started the pulling up of the cheap laminate, and I’m already talking myself into keeping it. I’ll post pics when I’ve uncovered a decent section of floor, and we can all have a good laugh at how insane I was to even consider removal

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Attire Irony posted:

Seen.

I’ve just started the pulling up of the cheap laminate, and I’m already talking myself into keeping it. I’ll post pics when I’ve uncovered a decent section of floor, and we can all have a good laugh at how insane I was to even consider removal

If it helps, these are pretty good at stopping creaking

https://www.screwfix.com/p/spax-flooring-screws-4-5-x-60mm-pack-of-300/88716

Also replacing an underfloor is a lot of effort, only worth it IMO if you're making serious structural changes or your boards are well hosed.

Queen Victorian
Feb 21, 2018

Attire Irony posted:


Am I doing the flooring equivalent of throwing out a crystal chandelier to install a boob light?

Yes. I don't think I understand how tearing out the existing floor, laying subfloor, and then installing new flooring is going to be less of a pain in the rear end than just sanding and refinishing the existing floor.

If the floor is in good condition and hasn't been messed with much (other than having had carpet laid on it), then you won't have to sand much (definitely not as much as we did to remove six layers of floor paint from our attic floor).

If you are worried about fumes around the baby, consider finishing with shellac, which is naturally derived and nontoxic (it's the only approved finish for wooden children's toys, I believe). It's not as durable as polyurethane and more involved to work with, but zero fumes. I, for one, am highly sensitive to fumes, so next time we refinish a floor in our own house, we are using shellac because I can't deal with the polyurethane fumes. Also period appropriate for our house.

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

Does anybody know how to identify a baseboard end cap? I'm only missing one in the entire house and it drives me a little crazy. There's no maker's mark on the inside.

BigFactory
Sep 17, 2002
That’s probably all of 40 years old, right?

Tiny Timbs
Sep 6, 2008

BigFactory posted:

That’s probably all of 40 years old, right?

I wouldn't be surprised given how thick the paint is on all of the covers. I'm thinking the easiest thing to do would probably be to find a cap approximately the same size and chop it up with a dremel to fit.

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BigFactory
Sep 17, 2002

Fallom posted:

I wouldn't be surprised given how thick the paint is on all of the covers. I'm thinking the easiest thing to do would probably be to find a cap approximately the same size and chop it up with a dremel to fit.

Or scour eBay, or buy some kind of standard cover that kind of fits and swap them around until the weird one is in the least obvious place.

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