DIY Network

Apartment Makeover: Hardwood Flooring Installation A dated apartment gets the Sweat Equity treatment with hardwood floors and granite countertops. Check out more projects from DIY's Sweat Equity. From "Sweat Equity" episode DSEQ-307

	Before
	After

Project Overview: "Goodbye Pink!"

When Mike Stone's grandmother moved into an assisted living apartment, she left behind a fully furnished 1990-built town home with a sea of pink carpet and floral wallpaper borders. Mike was ready to invest his money in a home, so he jumped at the chance to own it. Mike wants to make the right updating decisions so he sets his new home apart from the others—but keeps the expenditures in check so he can get his money back when it comes time to sell.

Mike is overwhelmed with a sea of pink carpeting. He is hoping his $6000 budget will stretch far enough to update the living room, dining room and kitchen and distinguish his town home from the rest of his neighbors'. The big projects are adding hardwood flooring, replacing laminate countertops with granite and painting the entire space.

Hardwood Flooring Installation

The pink carpeting is removed, and Mike opts to install engineered wood throughout his living space. Having the same floor throughout all three rooms gives the space a much larger feel.

Following is a brief recap of the basic steps as seen in this project, as well as a list of tools and materials used.

Sweat Equity Tip: It's good to talk to a professional before embarking on a renovation of this size. There's big difference between making neighborhood-appropriate upgrades and doing something that you might think is great, but for which you'll never recoup your expenses when it's time to sell.

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Materials and tools:

utility knife
duct tape
prybar
underlayment
duct tape
circular saw
miter saw
glue
tapping block
flooring mallet
safety glasses

Tips:

• Wood floors are extremely desirable. When you add wood floors, it will never be considered an over-improvement.

• For all floors, but especially concrete, the type of underlayment you use is very important. It makes a solid surface under your floor and it dampens the sound.

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Steps:

• For easier removal, cut carpet into pieces with a utility knife. Roll it up and secure the bundle with duct tape.

• If you are saving the existing trim-work to reinstall, carefully remove it using a small prybar.

• Start on the longest, straightest wall. Roll out the first two rows of underlayment and connect them along the edges using duct tape (figure A).

• Make any necessary cuts in the wood flooring pieces using a circular saw or miter saw.

• Apply glue to the seams and connect the adjoining pieces together (figure B).

• Use a tapping block and flooring mallet to ensure the seams are tight together (figure C).

RESOURCES :

Lapacho flooring and underlayment — SimpleFloors.com
Website: www.SimpleFloors.com

granite countertops — The Stone Company
Website: www.thestoneco.com