The Complete Guide to Flooring Black and Decker
December 12, 2008 by Laminate & Hardwood Flooring
Filed under Book
The Complete Guide to Flooring Black and Decker
This comprehensive flooring book combines information on using flooring as a design element with complete step-by-step instructions for installing virtually any type of flooring. It covers ceramic tile, terrazzo, natural stone, terra cotta, hardwood, wood laminate, floating plank, carpet, vinyl sheet, resilient tiles, cork, carpet tiles, leather, and the new plastic laminates. In addition, readers will learn how to repair problems with all types of flooring, how to soundproof and insulate floors, how to refinish hardwood floors, and how to create decorative paint finishes on wood floors. Flooring is one of the most visible finished surfaces in a home, and serves to unify the entire interior design. With this in mind, this book opens with an exciting idea section that shows the many ways in which flooring can enhance the appearance and function of a home. Following this is a chapter that introduces all types of flooring, discussing their merits and limitations. Next, a planning section shows all the preliminary steps: measuring, removing old flooring, evaluating and repairing the sub floor, estimating and ordering flooring. Then comes the heart of the book – complete instructions on how to install all types of flooring, with complete, easy-to-understand, step-by-step details.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Too simplistic
I’ve bought this book for my laminate floor project. The book turned out to be a disappointment: it gives no more information than I found on a leaflet from a laminate crate. With great details and pictures it explains very basic things, like it targeted for a 6-years old doing his school science project. But it omits really important details and nuances: how to calculate a layout so you wouldn’t end up with the 1-inch wide last row, where to use which molding and how to install it, and so on. And if some unexperienced and not technically-inclined person starts his project using only this book, he very quickly may find himself in the troubles, with lot of materials and time wasted.
5 Stars Floor guide
This is a great book for the do it yourself person. Great full color pictures. Complete step by step details on how to do a particular job. Have looked at several books like this and the Black and Decker book was tops. Not only does this book give you step by step instructions for a project, it also gives you a list of items needed prior to starting project. FYI I am fenmale and feel I can do any floor job with the aide of this book.
3 Stars Helpful
I’m a novice DIYer and new homeowner of an old place, and I like to get all the help I can before talking to experts. This helped me get informed on some flooring options, and was certainly helpful with illustrating to my carpenter what I wanted in different areas of my current renovation project. I probably would rate it higher if I’ve had the chance to do the work myself, but that’s for later.
4 Stars Great flooring book
I’ve only helped a neighbour lay a wooden floor before so I needed all the help i could get. This book is informative with good pictures and ideas. It details everything from the tools you need to the different types of flooring and how to lay them
I now feel confident to embark on purchasing and laying my own wooden floor. Highly recommended for a beginner
5 Stars Something To Stand On
I suspect that one of the most insane decisions in my life is deciding to redo my kitchen – on my own. This makes all kinds of practical sense, given what labor costs. But I am incorrigibly un-handy. But in a fit of pseudo-parsimony (you never really save any money doing something yourself – you just buy tools instead of labor) and a determination to recover my macho I have sailed into the unknown of plumbing, cabinetry, plastering, tiling, and, worst of all, flooring.
No sooner did it become obvious that replacing the floor was inevitable than I realized that I was completely clueless about what to use and how to go about it. Of course there is no lack of people who will tell you what they would do, but this is one of those things that you live with forever and it needed to be wholly what I wanted. At this point I scanned the shelf of the local handyman’s heaven and found this little cheery volume.
For the most part it’s quite practical. Chapters on planning, design, and preparation nurse you through the start up and dreaded removing of the old floor stages. Then there are chapters on hardwood floors, ceramic and stone floors, resilient flooring, and carpeting. More follows on finishing and repair. More than enough to answer the basic questions of how to close the knowledge gap and make a sensible decision about how to proceed.
There are countless photos, and the writing style is clear, even if it is a bit dull. Of course, dull is a good thing when making a major household change. One gets excited when the day is over and the job done, not by unexpected drama in the kitchen. This seems as good a reference as any I’ve seen, and covers far more than I ever wanted to know. I expect that someday soon my cats will be walking on something entirely new. Complaining as they go, of course.
