LESLIE: John in Rhode Island has a flooring question. What’s going on at your money pit?
JOHN: The floor in the kitchen is hardwood. The house was built around 1930.
TOM: OK.
JOHN: The hardwood boards, you know, four inches wide approximately?
TOM: Yes, uh-huh.
JOHN: But there’s a seam every four inches.
TOM: OK.
JOHN: Now, I’m thinking of putting down quarter-inch plywood on top of that …
TOM: OK.
JOHN: … before I put down the vinyl tiles.
TOM: So you want to put vinyl tiles on top of a hardwood floor?
JOHN: Right. But not on top of the hardwood floor. First, quarter-inch plywood; 4×8 sheets.
TOM: Yeah, I know but I’m just saying why don’t you want to refinish the hardwood that’s there?
JOHN: It’s in the kitchen.
TOM: OK.
JOHN: And you know, the spillage and all that. You know?
TOM: Hmm. Alright. There’s a lot of very expensive houses out there, John, that have gorgeous hardwood floors in the kitchen. They just put good finishes on top of them.
JOHN: Yes, I’ve seen them and, you know, they’re – I agree with that. They look gorgeous. But over the long run, you know?
LESLIE: A better choice, John, over vinyl might be a laminate. This way you can choose a flooring product that looks like wood or tile or whatever it is that you want it to look like but it’s made, really, for moist situations like a kitchen.
JOHN: Right.
LESLIE: So it could work far better. And those are in a floating situation, so you could put that directly on top of this without damaging the hardwood.
TOM: Yeah, that’s a good point. You could eventually go back to it if you decide you want to have hardwood floors in your future.
JOHN: Hmm, now – oh, you could undo that, so to speak?
LESLIE: Oh, yeah.
TOM: Yes, you could undo it because it floats on top of it.
LESLIE: Because you don’t glue it down.
TOM: Mm-hmm.
JOHN: Oh, alright. Now, what about the – you know, a kitchen has quite a bit of foot traffic.
TOM: Right.
JOHN: What about that flooring?
TOM: It’s incredibly durable stuff. I’ve had laminate floor down in my kitchen for like 10 years now and you can’t wear it out.
JOHN: Hmm. It sounds good. Maybe I’ll just forget about the plywood.
TOM: Alright, John. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
Seems like such a shame to cover a hardwood floor. I can’t imagine – I’d have a hard time bringing myself to do that.
LESLIE: Well and especially if he’s going to put a plywood, you know, subfloor, essentially, on top of that. You’re going to have to drill it down. Screw it down.
TOM: Right. Plus he would run the risk of sort of flooring in his dishwasher and his refrigerator and things like that. (Leslie moans) Just not worth it. I think a laminate’s a good solution if you really don’t want to go hardwood, John.
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