Flooring Poll Do you think it's a dramatic change when people paint checkerboard over hardwood floor, or a tradegy? How do you feel about carpet? Have you ever tiled a floor?

answers 1. Depends on the house. I went to this party at a burner place one that had checkered floors. Went well with the acid :) 2. I love carpet. I know more people look for hard wood floors, but I enjoy carpet because it's warmer and the dust bunnies don't sneak up on me as easily. 3. I haven't done it by myself, but when I was younger, I helped my stepdad tile an entryway.

Responses It would depend, I suppose, on the context, but it sounds at least unfortunate. Not a fan of carpets because of allergies; I'd rather wood, with rugs. I have tiled a floor with slate--does that count?

it depends. What condition are the floors. i have seen some checkboard that actually has improved the home. I think that carpet is nice in the bedrooms and in some family rooms. I have tiled my kitchen,bathrooms and entry way. I think it is the best flooring for anywhere it gets a lot of foot traffic and moist areas.

floor poll It might be a dramatic change but not a tragedy. It looks cool some places. It can be stripped later, no? I hate vacuum cleaners. They never work right for me. I get one or two good cleanings and they never suck right again. So I prefer wood floors. The marble flooring in Greece is heavenly. I still need area rugs for dogs. No I don't think I have tiled a floor. I have tiled a table top once but it doesn't have to be a durable as a floor.

note- I don't know what a tradegy is.

IMO painting wood is always a tragedy But I say that as someone who renovated a prewar apt. with a heat gun. Inevitably paint leads to more paint until one day there are 20 crumbly bumpy layers of paint. Even special paints and enamels for floors just can't stand up to high traffic and inevitably wear down unevenly.

Never again I tried to be careful and tossed clothes and rags every day and wore a mask but lead paint is scary. Some tips: -Get a heat gun with multiple heat settings (x-x) and switch between them while working depending on paint age, thickness etc. I used a Wagner gun. -There's a magic moment between when paint starts to bubble up and when it gets so hot it is too gooey and sticky. -I never left the gun on . I would heat, get that perfect moment, set it down then scrape rather than trying to work with both hands. -Have different scrapers including some small, pointy ones. I used artist's palette knives for details. Don't use those wire brush thingies. -Don't aim to get all the paint off. Get most of it off. Then use chemical stripper for tough spots and then denatured alcohol for the whole thing. A thin final layer of paint can protect wood from the heat and the oldest, driest bits of wood probably sucked some paint in so you don't want to get all the paint off with the gun. You also don't want to gouge areas of small detail. Use lines of stripper for those little bits. -Be patient and calm. Work alone. It helps if you are one of those folks who likes addictive, destructive things like biting your nails or picking scabs.

CH, if there's lead paint on there, please hire a professional!

not keen on carpet now although it's in the flat I rent. I like to walk barefoot at home so not sure if wood would be good for me Syd painted his floorboards

Plus, you can get carpet skates. And who doesn't love the idea of carpet skates :)