My Industrial Cabin Build

[MoKelly]

So, just a thought from someone who knows little about this subject.

Why can’t he finish the floor then protect it with ram board? Wall-to-wall and seal all joints. Won’t that fully protect the finished floor? Especially since it’s stained concrete.

How is that different from protecting the unfinished floor now with ram board, sealing the joints and then removing it all when drywall is done then finishing the floors?

Like I say, I know very little but his approach seems reasonable to me.

MoKelly

 

[EddieWalker]

Ram Board is a heavy duty paper that you tape together. It's a nice product for basic protection, but it tears easily enough, especially if it's down for awhile. The longer it's walked on, the weaker it gets. It does not stop something from falling on the floor from denting, breaking, or damaging the floor. When wet, it holds moisture and you have to remove the wet area to minimize what is happening under it. It will stop paint drops, but not a spill. The tape will come off on high traffic areas. It comes away from the walls, and if anything gets under it, you grind it into the floor beneath.

I have never used it on recently finished wood floors and I don't know anybody that is still doing stained concrete floors, so I can't comment on how long you have to wait before you can put it down. I would probably give it a few extra days longer then recommended before laying anything on top of it.

I get a lot of jobs to floor over stained concrete, it's one of those great ideas that doesn't remain a great idea once you've had it awhile.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I get a lot of jobs to floor over stained concrete, it's one of those great ideas that doesn't remain a great idea once you've had it awhile.

It's really something you see in retail stores mostly. But... God bless the OP if that is what he wants; you can always change down the road.

 

[MoKelly]

It's really something you see in retail stores mostly. But... God bless the OP if that is what he wants; you can always change down the road.

Yep - only diamonds and death are forever!

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree he should go for it. It's his house and the only way to really know if you like or hate something is to try it for yourself. I tried it when I built my house 15 years ago. Five years was all I could take before I covered it up with a floating engineered wood floor.

 

[dstig1]

Curious Eddie, what turned you off on stained concrete? We love the look of ours - ~7 yrs now since that was done.

Oh, and you nailed it on why covering up after finishing a floor doesn't work. At least if it is unfinished you have a chance of evening out any new problems before finishing. Afterwards, that is very hard to do.

You can lead a horse to water... We tried!

 

[EddieWalker]

At first, it was how hard it was to clean. Seems like dust just stuck to it. Then it started to wear from my chairs moving around on it. I have a chair with wheels on it at my computer and a couple of bar chairs at my kitchen counter. You could clearly see the marks from the chairs wearing the finish away. Then it got worse and I could see the path from where everyone walked on it. I had to put rugs down everywhere and I hated the look of rugs. The path from the front door, the work area in the kitchen, and then the path to the toilet.

I loved the way it looked when I did it. The sealer made it look shiny and very nice. I redid the sealer after 2 or 3 years, I forget exactly. It was a pain moving everything out of there and waiting for it to dry. But it just got worse and worse, and that's also when I started getting jobs to tile over it, or install some other type of flooring over it like snap together floating wood flooring, and lately, the snap together vinyl flooring. There used to be all sorts of people advertising to do this, now I'm trying to remember the last time I saw it.

I think it was a thing that ran it's course and now it's kind of like glass tile, or a bright primary color on a wall. Homes are like fashion. Things come and go. If it's on HGTV, everyone copies it for a few years, then it fades away to whatever comes next on those shows.

Right now, it's white subway tile, cheap flat panel cabinets painted white or grey, and marble counters. It will pass and I'll make money on installing it for awhile longer, and I'll make money on replacing it when the new trend comes along.

This is the ugly shower that I did last week. I hate white subway tile with grey grout, but my clients all love it!!

 

[deezler]

Noooo! Don't do the floors yet, man. After drywall, after!

We did our stained concrete floors last. I'm not sure I'm understanding why you would hesitate to do it later? Nothing about the flooring job should hurt anything else in the interior finish work. The only thing you should do after floor finishing, is of course the baseboard trim.

Just passed 6 years in our on-slab house with exposed stained concrete floors, and we still love it. Never plan to cover it up.

 

[MoKelly]

At first, it was how hard it was to clean. Seems like dust just stuck to it. Then it started to wear from my chairs moving around on it. I have a chair with wheels on it at my computer and a couple of bar chairs at my kitchen counter. You could clearly see the marks from the chairs wearing the finish away. Then it got worse and I could see the path from where everyone walked on it. I had to put rugs down everywhere and I hated the look of rugs. The path from the front door, the work area in the kitchen, and then the path to the toilet.

I loved the way it looked when I did it. The sealer made it look shiny and very nice. I redid the sealer after 2 or 3 years, I forget exactly. It was a pain moving everything out of there and waiting for it to dry. But it just got worse and worse, and that's also when I started getting jobs to tile over it, or install some other type of flooring over it like snap together floating wood flooring, and lately, the snap together vinyl flooring. There used to be all sorts of people advertising to do this, now I'm trying to remember the last time I saw it.

I think it was a thing that ran it's course and now it's kind of like glass tile, or a bright primary color on a wall. Homes are like fashion. Things come and go. If it's on HGTV, everyone copies it for a few years, then it fades away to whatever comes next on those shows.

Right now, it's white subway tile, cheap flat panel cabinets painted white or grey, and marble counters. It will pass and I'll make money on installing it for awhile longer, and I'll make money on replacing it when the new trend comes along.

This is the ugly shower that I did last week. I hate white subway tile with grey grout, but my clients all love it!!View attachment 704915

That is great work.

Sorry - but I like how it looks!

MoKelly

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Eddie, you just described the entire look of our house. White subway tile and white shaker cabinets. Stained cement floor. My wife hates dirt. Just crazy hates it. If I let her, she would paint every single thing white. I am not kidding. She wanted to paint the beams white. I put my foot down.
We are proceeding with the floors. If they get scuffed from the drywall, then I will re-coat them. I will be crossing my fingers.

Btw I like the way that shower turned out with the niche. I will be trying a similar look, using a schleuter (sp) kit.