House: Flooring (Concrete and IKEA)

Since our house is pretty much open, our flooring options are pretty simple.

With the exception of some cool tile in the bathroom, the second floor is entirely from IKEA and their Tundra laminated flooring.  It was super cheap $1.20/sqft and easy to install - and considering we just aren't up there enough, it's perfect.  A proper wood floor would have run at least $6/sqft, and we had other places to put our money.

The first floor was a little more interesting, since we had some overriding requirements.

First, the first floor had to be all one level - I'm talking no bumps more than 1/4" even coming in from the front door, going out to the porches, or going into the shower.  Why?  Physical access.

   I've had elderly family members that have or had issues in mobility - so that little bump is a huge hurdle for them.  My sister also did a lot of work with people in wheelchairs, and it just made me realize how challenging just one step can be.  And I plan on dying in this house ... so now changes in elevation at all.  That's a really challenging requirement, if you don't know your flooring when the founding is being dug (literally) - everyone needs to get on the same page, because it is something they are just not used to thinking about.

Second, since we had radiant floor heating, we didn't want anything to insulate the heat - so wall-to-wall carpets were out, and wood wasn't a very good option either.

Third, we needed something durable ... we have dogs ... with claws ... so a soft wood would look like crap in a few years - you should see my old house.

Fourth, we wanted something cool ... ever fearful the timber beams would make the house look like a cabin in the woods, we needed something a little more modern - not cold, but modern.

So what did we end up with?

Well, with the exception of a cool tile in the shower, the entire first floor is concrete.  We were initially hesitant ... Patrick wanted a wood flooring, but we just kept asking ourselves, would the covering really be worth the extra $10K ... so let me deal with the reservations, since I had all of them.

CONCRETE IS TOO HARD

    Yes, concrete is hard ... I prefer solid, but I get your point.  I can certainly go barefoot in the house, but if I'm walking around for 4+ hours, I'll feel it in my heels.  And probably when I'm 70, I'll feel it in my knees and hips.  

   Solution: Use rugs and slippers.  I only have one large 12' X 15' rug in the open plan house, but it's enough of an island to take out the concrete hardness.  The slippers also soften anything better than the top of the line carpet pad - so if I do start feeling it - rarely now, it just reminds me to put on slippers.

   But here's the dirty little secret ... most people in the US who don't have a basement are essentially living on a concrete slab anyway.  Most starter and track homes that are not on a basement don't have a carpet pad at all (the carpet is actually glued down), and the few that do are of such a low quality that there is no shock absorbing power - a pair of socks would do a better job.  Yes, you might have a quality pad, and it's probably doing the job, but if you are on a slab and you didn't put in your carpet, you might be shocked to pull it up.

CONCRETE IS TOO COLD

   It is, when left to its own devices, which is a great thing in the summer, when a cold floor actually feels good.  But in winter it would suck - unless of course you have radiant floor heating, which we do.  Again, can't go back to forced air.  If you are thinking of concrete and not radiant floor heating ... it'll still work, just try real hard to insulate the slab underneath if all possible with several inches of rigid foam.  Might not be possible, but you want to avoid those finished breezeways between a garage and main house that is essentially uninsulated concrete slab - yikes.

CONCRETE IS TOO MODERN

   Which most people associated with 'cold'.  It can also be warm with the right stain and treatment.  Suffice it to say you can make concrete floors look like ANYTHING ... wood, tile, marble, sand, whatever ... it's all in the stain and artist.

   In our case we just went with a nice soy-based concrete stain ... do NOT pay anyone to do this for you, since it is way too much fun to do on your own for $30 per 1000 sqft.  Since you're looking for an interesting texture and uneven appearance, you just need to basically apply it to the floor like a 5 year old would ... the more uneven splotches, pools, and drips the better.  If you have this urge to roll straight lines like you would when painting a wall - call in your dog and 5 year old to get the job done - I'm serious.

CONCRETE IS TOO UNFINISHED

   Uh, stain is a beautiful thing ... go find real life examples (not just pictures), and you'll be surprised.

   We did make the mistake of not putting on a heavy gloss sealer, and now it's extra work to move furniture around, but that totally glosses up the finished look.

CONCRETE WILL CRACK

   Yup ... part of the charm, and get used to it ... again, if you're going for pristine, then get rid of the kids, the dogs, the cats, any plans to eat or cook in your house, and wear sterile lab jumpsuits with fluffy slippers.

   I'm not saying this is 10 year old sidewalk cracking with chunks ... I'm talking about a fine line of cracking is likely in one or two places.  In our case the guys who did the concrete for mudroom is perfect with no cracks.  The main house has two cracks, but I think the guy kind of sucked and didn't put in the stress lines like he should have.  No one notices them.

That's all the negatives I could think of ... here are the positives.

THERMAL BATTERY

    It is by far the best material for the regulation of temperature (both hot and cold in your house).  Next to our air tightness, it is probably the #1 reason why our house can stay warm without a furnace during the coldest winter days (-25F) as long as the sun is shining.  And it is also the #1 reason why in summer, we don't need air conditioning.

    Again, if your house leaks like a sieve, then this is probably less of a bonus - but it's worth something.

AESTHETIC

   It is a very cool look ... not cold modern, but very simple, clean, and warm (our color is a brownish orange adobe).  Since it's all one solid pour, it just brings the whole house together.

ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND

   The stain itself can be very earth friendly ... I used a soy-based one, and it was very easy to work with ... like water.  Some of the muratic acid stains basically make you throw away your clothes once you're done, but this was very nice.  Can't speak to the high gloss finish - although a soy-based one exists, it didn't get the job done.  So I'm on this new one, that I don't wanna do until I can open the windows ... it melted the plastic container already.

   Although concrete is not the most sustainable material, it is recyclable, it doesn't require an additional floor covering, and it lasts long enough to pay back it's environmental costs (that floor ain't going anywhere).

CLEAN

   Quick cleaning is dumb easy with just a broom - since the surface is so smooth, it's faster than pulling out a vacuum and plugging it in.

   Super cleaning a concrete floor is dumb easy ... throw some hot soapy water down, scrub, and then suck it up.  Yes, you need to avoid the couch, but still.  But let me tell you, once you clean a concrete floor, you'll never have wall-to-wall carpet, because you just wonder at what must still be left in the carpet.  Granted we have two dogs, that have outside access on demand, so they bring in some dirt during certain times of the year.  But I'm still amazed at the dirt I pull up each week on a floor that looks pretty clean.  This isn't an exact science, but I'm talking dark brown to black water from a 200 square foot area that didn't look that dirty to begin with (and we don't wear shoes in the house at all).  

   The key with concrete is that once you clean it, you know it's clean (if I were to go back over it, the water would be crystal clear) - whereas carpet has just too many places for dirt to clean to despite the best carpet cleaning commercials.

COST

   Again, I'm cheap, but this is a big deal.  Since flooring comes in at the end of your project, and it's something that you could skimp on - most people forgo that $20/sqft Brazilian exotic wood and go for something simpler ... and they probably should.

   This is where you get into a little game of the chicken or the egg ... do we have concrete because we wanted passive solar and radiant flooring heating, or do we have concrete because we liked the look or it made it easier to do one level on the first floor?  Who knows, all I know is that I don't have a significant expense of floor covering ... we're talking anywhere from $6-$20/sqft for a decent floor covering (we couldn't do $1.20 IKEA laminate on our first floor - it just wouldn't make sense).

   Bottom line: Although you can always do a laminate and that would probably win for most affordable floor covering.  If you want something more substantial, then concrete with a DIY stain finish is perhaps the most cost effective floor finishing available to a home owner.  You figure a cubic yard of concrete costs about $300 around here, and it'll cover 108 square feet 3" thick ... that's pretty cheap compared to some crazy Brazilian exotic wood.

Again, none of this is going to mean anything unless you like the look, and you really can't tell what it'll look like unless you see real life examples.  The online resources are OK, but many remind me of that textured wall painting that was big in the late 80's ... go see examples, order some samples, and take your time.

House: The Kitchen

Back in a previous life I was a caterer, so in addition to being able to make a nice lunch for 100 of my closest friends, I also ended up seeing a ton of kitchens ... mostly in 10,000 square foot abominations on the north side of Indy.

   Some of them were really funny (or sad depending on your perspective) ... one kitchen had an island the size of a small room, so that most of the space was unreachable ... the cleaning woman needed to actually climb up on the counter and clean it like a floor.  Another had huge Viking commercial appliances, which wasn't so bad until you realized she hired a caterer like me to cook her weekly meals every night.  Another kitchen was in a huge 1000 square foot open space, but the usable counter space to actually prep meals on was about 2 linear feet.  Finally ... the best ... one house had actually two kitchens - one bare bones, austere thing where real cooking took place, and then an entire show kitchen that no cooking was actually done in, so when people come over for parties, the "kitchen" was NEVER a mess ... bizarre.

   Not to say I haven't seen my fair share of poorly design kitchens on the more modest budgets.  Most of my friends track home kitchens lack a drawer big enough for silverware.  There is a love affair with Lazy Susan's, which might as well be called black holes.  And the use of granite ... people, it's not the only stone in the World ... and quite frankly, it's not even close to the most interesting.  In general there's a theme where they look big, but the actual work space is either limited or the work triangle is too inefficient.

So what were our requirements in the kitchen?

   I don't think they were significantly different than what other people want, but here are some of odd ones.

   We like the idea of people being able to talk to me when I cook (and see them), but I don't like the idea of them actually being in the kitchen while I cook.  Not only are they usually in the way, but I don't like people seeing my dirty dishes.

   Space needed to be very efficient - usually for one person cooking, but easily expandable if I was doing canning or group cooking things.  Since the entire first floor is only 1200 and had to accommodate a master bedroom, space was tight.

   Since it was an open house concept, I didn't want the kitchen to be so dominant that I'm sitting on the couch watching TV, and I'm thinking - ugh, there's that huge kitchen over there.

   For the cabinets I didn't want any Lazy Susans (which meant no corners), little to no overhead cupboards (they are just wood boxes shoved on a wall), and all solid drawers (no pull out shelves).  Cabinets needed to be solid and last.  Any loss in cabinet space would be made up from a walk pantry nearby.

  Since there was no gas coming into the house, the appliances needed to be all electric, but I really didn't care for electric stoves.  There were other little requirements on appliances, but that's mostly personal preference.

So what did we end up with.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but essentially the house is a long galley kitchen in the middle of house.  The kitchen is basically divided into two areas ... dirty and clean.

   The dirty area is only about 7 linear feet and consists of a big farm sink flanked by two dishwashers, and the other side has the double ovens, frig, and a bit of long shelving.  It is all concealed from the open concept of the house by the staircase to the second floor that forms sort of a roof, and a half wall and hanging ceiling cabinets that provide a small bar area on the other side.  The design was actually kind of inspired by Panera ... where they have the kitchen and a half wall hiding all the activity and mess.

   The clean area is right next to the dirty area and consists of the induction cooktop and open countertop island and back countertop - total square footage of this countertop area is about 50 square feet - so there's a lot of work area.  There are no overhead cabinets ... everything is just big drawers.

   The end result is a very efficient kitchen - it's only 4' X 15' of actual floor space (the area that gets mopped), so very easy to move from one side to another.  Since it's hard to see typical kitchen equipment (the induction cooktop is all flat and blends with the countertop), it's easy to make the kitchen blend in even when it's essentially right in the middle of the house.

So what were some of the lessons learned?

  - GET TWO DISHWASHERS

      Best idea ever !

      This sounds crazy, but think about it for 2 seconds.  Not only is it usually cheaper to put in a $300 dishwasher, than another 2 linear feet of cabinets.  The best part is that you never need to empty a dishwasher ... once the dishes are cleaned, you just pull out the dishes as you need them.  By the time the other dishwasher is ready to be washed, you've unloaded 80% of the clean dishwasher over the last several days.  As far as storage ... the extra dishwasher is essentially storing dishes for you anyway, so you don't lose anything - you actually gain quite a bit actually.  Added bonus when you are having a big party ... make sure both dishwashers are empty, and you have a super easy cleanup after the party.

   - GET HEAVY DUTY DRAWER HARDWARE

      Drawers are all about the hardware (on the inside of the drawer) ... if you're planning on putting heavy pots and pans like we did, make sure the drawers are rated for that weight.  It's usually only about $20 for the weakest to the strongest, so you're not talking a huge additional expense to put it in a bunch of drawers.

   - SHOP AROUND FOR CABINETS

      We ended up going with some Amish cabinetmakers - but we looked all over including the big box stores.  I'd give you the name, but so much of a quote depends on how badly they want or need the work, it's too variable.  Suffice it to say I got high quality (3/4" plywood) hickory front cabinets for way less than a big box store (they were pricey).  The price ranges for essentially the same plywood box was kind of astounding.

    - GO WITH SIMPLE AND BASIC CABINETS

     The simpler and more basic means that you won't tire of these cabinets and want to remodel in 10 years.  Ironically the cabinet that looks worse in the store is probably the best from a cleaning and "I won't get tired of it" stage.  We just went with very simple hickory and straight lines.  If you're doing a lot of rope work trim and filligree doodads, you're going to find it dated and need a redo too soon.  Nothing wrong if you want that look, just put that in your financial calculation that you'll remodel sooner.

    - GO WITH A PANTRY

     Basic quality cabinets can easily run $250 a linear foot - that adds up REALLY fast.  Throw in some cool doodads and before you know it, you've spent more on this kitchen furniture than all your other furniture in your house combined - and the kitchen furniture is just storing cans of tomatoes and pasta.

     A cheap alternative is to make sure a nice pantry is next to the kitchen.  A run to IKEA for some shelving, and you've got a place to store food like a Mormon household for pennies on the dollar to the full on cabinet solution.

     - TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT LIKE SOAPSTONE

      Granite is actually common now, but there are a ton of cool solid surfaces you can try.  We ended up getting slabs of soapstone and cutting them on site to fit (they are soft enough to cut, but I would still keep the cuts to a minimum).  Looking back I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, because it was a lot of work and risk (esp to my back) - but we did pay $40/sqft as opposed to $130/sqft.

       The look works better for our style house, since it's more modern rustic - whereas the high hard gloss of granite might be a bit too formal for us. Quite frankly, I found granite to be too hard in our old house - and I didn't like it that much.  Bottom line: there are options.

      - THINK THROUGH HOW YOU COOK

       I know books have been written on kitchen designs, nor is there a lack of people willing to design a kitchen for you.  But for me, cooking and living is an extremely personal thing, and I don't think a stranger can really compensate for an hour of thoughtful reflection on how you cook.

       Yes, they will help you make your kitchen triangle small (ours is the smallest possible, I think, at 4' X 4' X 4', but you need to do a lot of thinking on your own too to stay away from trends and things you don't need.

        For example, everyone seems to like stations ... some are great, some are not so great - depending on your needs.  If you are a master pastry chef and regularly use specific tools for that work different from other cooking, then by all means setup a pastry station.  But in reality, I cook in the same 3' wide area most nights - with the exception if there's a big party, and I need to spread out a lot of different dishes.  Since the entire kitchen is small to begin with, it's not big deal to reach for what I need.

        Another example ... the trash can ... where is it going to go, where does it need to go?  Most commercial restaurants have it VERY close to prep work.  It would be a shame to plan this beautiful kitchen, and you end up with a plastic bin sitting in the middle of those $250/lf cabinets.  But then on the other hand, do you want to spend $500 for a cabinet to store trash?

       In our case we took a high but narrow (8") restaurant trash can and made a gap between the dishwasher and cabinet.  It's totally hidden, holds a large amount of trash, and basically didn't cost us a thing.  I'm amazed when kitchen designers don't suggest even this most basic option.

       - CHECK OUT RETURNED APPLIANCES ON EBAY OR SEARS OUTLET

        I saved a fortune by buying my appliances on EBay.

        Even with the shipping, I was able to get "unsuccessfully delivered" appliances that had a minor scratch or dent for huge discounts.  How much?  Let's just say retail, I would have paid $15K (they were mostly Bosch), and I ended up paying about $3K.  Yep, they usually had a dent in the front (sometimes in the back where you'd never see it), but I told myself I would first pull out the dent with a special tool I got online, and if it still bothered me, I'd buy the replacement panel.  I haven't even bothered to pull out the dent yet, since it's not a concern.  For the dent on the fridge, I just covered it with a $1 magnet.

        I did have to setup searches for what I wanted, so it took a couple of months, but it's not like I needed them right away anyway.

        There's another trick for induction cooktops (which deserve their own post for how well they work) ... the model I got is about $2000 retail, but I ended up paying $800, and a tank of gas.  Why?  Basically people don't understand induction cooktops, so they buy them without knowing they won't work with some pans (e.g. copper, cheap pans) - so they return them.  Since our country has no patience for an open box - they have to discount heavily in order to resell it.  Considering you can always buy or extend the warranty - this was a no brainer for us.  Just look on various outlet sites, and you'll eventually find what you need if you patient.