Next Generation of Luxury Vinyl Flooring Will Blow Your Mind

Forget everything you know about vinyl flooring. The next generation of luxury vinyl flooring offers high performance, lots of color and texture options, and a great price for the product and installation.

Our 100 square foot stand-alone studio space has ugly and worn out square plastic floor tiles. They are dirty and stained beyond repair, so we never cleaned our floors as they would just remain dirty looking. We’ve always wanted to update the floors in the studio, but the costs and time involved always kept us from doing it. A couple months ago Shaw Floors reached out to us about their Floorte luxury vinyl flooring line and asked if we were interested in checking it out. Immediately we thought of our studio space and how we’d love to upgrade the floors and give the room a makeover. The space needed a fresh coat of paint and a reorganization that just wouldn’t work without new floors, so we jumped at the opportunity to try Shaw’s new flooring.

We chose a floor from their luxury vinyl flooring line called, Floorte, which offers 71 different styles and colors. We requested three different samples and quickly settled on Mantua Plank in Elba. Mantua Plank is available in 9 different colors and we wanted a light neutral color that would work well with our white walls and light colored furniture. The wood pattern and color would add more depth to our room and a touch of sophistication our space has been lacking.

In addition to finding a design that we loved and could both agree on (that can be tough), we were really sold on the ease of installation and waterproof feature of the floor. Its Fold-N-Tap Locking system is precision-engineered with the most advanced technology possible-making it easy to use, strong, and durable. Floorte is also flexible and is installed as a floating floor. It conceals imperfections of the floor beneath-so less floor prep is needed. Our floors were in pretty good shape but not completely smooth, but Floorte covered them up nicely and the install left no gaps. The waterproof feature is a huge one, as we’ve spilled drinks on occasion and don’t want to have to freak out about stains or other issues.

Preparing the Room

The first step before installing the new flooring was to remove everything from the space. We’ve been in the space for 8 years so stuff has piled up. But this gave us an opportunity to purge and only keep what we really needed. Once we removed all of the furniture and office supplies, we chose to paint the room before laying down the new flooring. We went with a Behr paint and primer and gave the room two coats of fresh paint.

Because we were going to be pulling up the old tile we didn’t need to put down drop clothes. The walls are in rough shape but we’ll have to save any serious remodeling for another time. The next step was to pull up the old tiles, which was easier than expected. The glue holding the tiles to the floor had mostly dried up, so by using a demolition bar we were easily able to pull up all of the old tiles and there was very little residue left on the bare concrete floor. We used a broom and a Shop-Vac to clean the floors as much as we could. It felt so good to remove years of dirt that had built up and know that we were going to be putting down fresh new floors. Be cautious when pulling up old tile as there could be asbestos in the glue. If you have concerns, get it checked out by a contractor.

Check back soon to read about how we installed the Floorte luxury vinyl flooring, which ended up being one of the easiest DIY projects we’ve ever tackled.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Shaw Floors. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Get Your Vehicle Road Trip Ready

In our family, summer equals road trips. We spend a good part of the year planning our road trips, from weekend jaunts to week long excursions. Our goal is to make sure our vehicles are in top running condition year-round, as we never know when a last minute trip to San Francisco, Las Vegas, or Tucson is in the mix. Besides changing the oil and making sure the air cleaner is clean and the tire pressure is right, it’s also necessary to take a peek at your brake fluid and window washer fluid. These fluids should be replaced as needed and here’s how.

Window wash fluid is specially formulated to clean your windshield of all types of dirt and grime, and in all weather conditions. Prestone has three types of windshield washer fluid that are made for three different applications ( De-Icer, Bug Wash, All Season 3-in-1). For our needs, the bug washer works best. The climate in southern California is mild year-round, and bugs are prevalent on the many road trips we take.

Refilling the window washer fluid is one of the best car DIY projects you can share with your children. There are no hot or toxic liquids to deal with and children can test their pouring skills so they only fill the washer fluid to the fill line. We’ve designated this task for our son to keep an eye on and it’s his responsibility to fill it when the washer fluid gets low. This duty helps him take ownership of the vehicle and understand that owning a car comes with the responsibility of maintaining it. He’s still a bit young to assist me with changing the oil, but when the time comes he’ll be doing that as well.

Wiper washer fluid is important, but arguably the most important system on your vehicle are the brakes. Regular inspection of the brake pads and rotors is important, but almost equally important is checking your brake fluid and making sure you replace as needed. The best way to check your brake fluid is by doing a visual inspection.

Good brake fluid should be clear, so if your brake fluid is a dark caramel color it’s time to change it. You can opt to bleed your brake system, which removes all of the old fluid, or simply replace the fluid in your master brake cylinder. You can remove the old fluid using an old turkey baster, then wipe the canister clean, and fill with new fluid. Follow your vehicle’s owner’s manual so you know how often the brake fluid should be changed and what type of brake fluid it requires. Prestone has every type of brake fluid you’d need, including DOT 3, DOT 4, or DOT 5. This type of project isn’t for kids, as brake fluid is toxic. You’ll want to make sure none of spills on your paint and if you have some left over, seal it up and dispose of it properly.

Working on your car is a great way to bond with your kids, while doing something constructive on the weekends. Everyone knows that regular maintenance will extend the life of your vehicle, so check out Prestone for all of your car fluid needs including anti-freeze, triple seal stop leak, and de-icer.

Check out all of these automotive products and more from Prestone.

This is a sponsored post from Prestone, but all opinions are 100% from Timothy Dahl of Charles & Hudson.

from http://bit.ly/2ugX0X0

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Tiling the Shower – Bathroom Update

I was looking forward to tiling the shower after installing the shower pan and waterproof shower wall board. I thought it would take a day or two.  It might have –except for the fact that I installed 100 niches!  Madison is really excited about all the storage in those niches though!  No more shampoo bottles, […]

The post Tiling the Shower – Bathroom Update appeared first on Sawdust Girl®.

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Waterproof Shower Wall Board Installation

Bathroom progress… Slow and steady wins the race?  After letting the mortar set up on the tile ready shower pan, it was time to move on to the waterproof shower wall board installation. I’m using HYDRO BAN board from LATICRETE.  It’s a high-density, reinforced polystyrene core with waterproof membrane on both sides.  It is lightweight and cuts with a […]

The post Waterproof Shower Wall Board Installation appeared first on Sawdust Girl®.

from http://bit.ly/2tXg3Gs

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Tile Ready Shower Pan Installation

When I started this bathroom remodel, I knew I wanted a tile shower including the shower floor.  My choices were to either build my own mud shower pan, or find a tile ready shower pan.  I didn’t want to try to build a mud pan so I quickly began the search for a tile ready shower […]

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from http://bit.ly/2trzL9Y

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Plywood Plank Walls – Creating V Groove Planks

I’m installing plywood plank walls in the Jack and Jill bathroom as well as both bedrooms in my current remodeling project.  I’m using the same technique I used on my studio ceiling to achieve the look of 3/4″ V groove, tongue and groove, Pine planks. The underlayment was about on fourth the cost of the actual Pine […]

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How to Make Stars and Stripes Bean Bag Toss Boards

Bean bag toss or cornhole. Regardless of what you call it, this lawn game is popular across the country. From tailgating to backyard BBQ’s, cornhole is a game anyone of any age or athletic ability can play.

We built these cornhole boards in honor of the 4th of July by adding some “Stars and Stripes” flair to them.

Estimated Project Time: 3 Hours
Challenge Level: Medium
Tools & Supplies:

4 – 48” 2×4 pieces
4 – 21” 2×4 pieces
4 – 12” 2×4 pieces
2 – 48”x24” birch covered ½” plywood sheets
Box of 2” deck screws
4 – 3/8” carriage bolts with washers and wingnuts.
Sandpaper 180, 220 grit
Drill/Driver with Phillips bit or screwdriver
¼” drill bit
Circular Saw or jig saw
Measuring Tape
Pencil
Red, White and Blue Paint
Stencil Kit

1. Assemble all tools and materials in a clean and clear work area.

2. Measure and cut all wood pieces using your jigsaw or circular saw.

3. Sand the edges of each cut piece and sand the birch plywood sheet.

4. After sanding the edges of all of your cut plywood and 2x4s you are ready to cut the holes into the boards. The hole in the board should be six inches in diameter and be centered nine inches from the top and 12 inches from each side of the corn hole platform edges.

5. Find your center and use a compass to draw your circle. We simply took a string measured at 3” and pinned one end to the center and tied a pencil to the other end to draw our circle.

6. Drill a starting hole for your jigsaw then cut along the circle line.

7. Sand the inside and outside edges of the hole.

8. Build your corn hole board frames by aligning the sides and ends and pre-drill holes

9. Attach sides by driving your deck screws into pre-drilled holes.

10. Your corners need to be perfectly square so the platform fits exactly over the frame.

11.Attach the platform placing it onto the frame and align each edge so it sits evenly over the frame.

12. Pre-drill holes in each corner

13. Drive your screws to secure each corner and drive additional screws along the sides, top and bottom to ensure the platform is firmly attached to the frame.

14. Before attaching the legs you need to round one end off so you can loosen and fold the leg for storage.

15. Measure the center point of the board and take that measurement and mark it from the end down. Place your compass here and mark your half circle.

16. Use your jigsaw and cut the end and sand it. Drill a hole through the center point of your board using a 3/8” bit.

17. Hold the leg against the outside of the top part of your corn hole board (the end with the hole) and using a pencil mark the center point through the leg onto the frame.

18. Then drill your hole through the frame and attach your leg to the inside of the frame using your carriage bolt. Use a wingnut so you can easily loosen and fold down the legs for storage.

19. Print a star pattern and use that as your template for your stencil kit and cut out star stencil.

20. Paint one board Red and the other board blue.

21. Tape the red board and paint the open areas white

22. Use your stencil and paint white stars on the blue board.

23. Wait for the paint to dry and grab your bean bags and have fun!!!

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