W is for Wood (or not)

We're closing in on the end of our A to Z Blogging Challenge. Boy, April has gone by fast! For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

If you've kept up with my postings, you know that we just completed a home renovation. Supposedly, our job would last four to six weeks. Yeah, right! It lasted a year. Mr. Contractor didn't show up for work half the time, he postponed things and lost cabinet doors, lost his truck keys and a number of other things. Unfortunately, he didn't lay our wood laminate floors right. There's a procedure--and he didn't know it.

In all fairness to Mr. Contractor, not EVERYTHING that happened to our wood floors was his fault ... but almost. For sure our concrete wasn't treated or prepared correctly. Because of problems that would take too much space to explain, we had the moisture level in our concrete tested (especially when it started growing fuzz) and this was AFTER we had to take up our beautiful wood laminate! The risk was too great to put down wood laminate again. Such a long, horrible sad story, I won't bore you with it.

We investigated ceramic tile and even concrete floors, but because we're getting older, we didn't want to risk falling on a concrete floor. I think concrete floors can be beautiful, but I'm not sure they would be comfy if I stood at the kitchen sink for two or three hours.

There are so many things to consider when renovating a house! Or maybe we just drive ourselves nuts trying to consider too many things.

At any rate, we ended up going with the wood plank vinyl flooring. It's very similar to the wood laminate, it comes as planks that are joined together with a tongue and groove cut. You just click them in place. The good thing about them is they're easy to install, very durable and water resistant. It won't chip or warp and it's easy to remove. It's considerably cheaper than wood laminate too. Still, I prefer wood laminate.

If you're thinking about new floors, consider all your options. And if you're like me, you'll also consider your age, the age of your home, resale value, potential falls, spills, and ... well, my list goes on and on... Don't be like me! Get what you want, enjoy your choices and live with the consequences.

Happy Monday!