BobVila.com

Bob and Howard Brickman begin the installation of the old-growth pine plank flooring in a second-floor bedroom of the modern Colonial's sister house. The Eastern White pine flooring, which was supplied by Carlisle Restoration Lumber, is newly milled from select old-growth trees from New England. The boards project measure 17-inches wide, and up to 14-feet long. Brickman first lays down a 15-pound felt paper to cover the subfloor. The felt paper acts as a moisture barrier and reduces the amount of movement in the floor over time. After laying out the entire floor, Brickman marks the location of the floor joists beneath the subfloor. Using cut nails for an authentic period appearance, the floor will be face nailed. Each nail must be driven below the surface of the floor with a nail set. Once fully secured, the floor will be sanded and finished with a tung oil coating.

Old flooring can be easily removed to make way for new flooring. Follow the preparation steps to save on cleanup time.

Bob meets up with Fred Giuggio in the former barn where the crew is installing QuickStep wood laminate flooring. QuickStep is a glueless flooring. It's engineered using an 8-millimeter board. The boards just click together on all four sides. It has a 25-year stain, fade, wear, and moisture warranty and comes in 25 different colors including the "bianco" selected for the barn/studio. The crew puts the QuickStep Unisound 1/16 sound attenuating floating pad on top of the concrete slab and lays the QuickStep on top of that. It's quick and easy to install and since its uses no glue, post-installation cleanup is a breeze. During installation spacers are placed around the perimeter allowing 1/4-inch for expansion. Boards are staggered to prevent joints from lining up. A board is locked in on one side, positioned as close as possible to the next board, locked in and then tapped from the end to secure the mechanism. If a board is damaged it can be easily removed and replaced. The product has a vapor barrier on top with removable tape on the edges. The installers peel away the tape and stick the edges together so that they butts rather than overlap creating a uniform vapor barrier throughout the space. The product can be cut with a crosscut saw for installation around columns, etc. It cleans up with a damp or dry mop.

The old flooring has been removed and Bob outlines the process of installing the new. LVL supports allow a restructuring of the house with larger rooms. Plumbing and plastering work are also covered.

In this segment, Bob looks at the click-together beech flooring from Kahrs in the key hall. Gary Johnston from DuPont meets Bob in the media room to discuss new innovations in carpeting. The homeowner chose carpeting for its comfort level, which is ideal for a media room. Gary explains that DuPont Stainmaster is ideal for such a high-traffic area because its advanced Teflon repel system keeps the carpet 40 percent cleaner. Gary goes through the installation process and points out the carbon core in each tuft of carpet that cuts down on static electricity, not unlike a miniature lightning rod.