Flooring Pickle

[mkiehn20]

Well...

You have to know whether or not you are willing to take the risk of working with a hazardous material for the sake of restoration. Our asbestos floor is not something I am willing to take on myself, as I said in my original post.

I plan to put in a floating floor to encapsulate the asbestos. That way when/if we have the means to either abate the vinyl or replace the floors with reclaimed oak, it will be there for us.

Back to my original question, which is one of design/aesthetic: what would you choose for the floating floor? Try to match the oak, or go for something else?

[Gothichome]

Mkiehn, I would try to follow what was originally there. By the way, another option is the 3/8 inch oak flooring. You can get it unstained or pre finished. A bit expensive but solid oak. If you use it, buy the transition trim you'll need it. Another bonus is if you use the unfinished it is repairable.

[mkiehn20]

Gothichome, are you talking about engineered hardwood?

[Mick_VT]

I would try to match what was originally there, though I might go for a contrasting shade or something that means a color difference would not look out of place. I would chose a floating floor as it wont disturb or damage the original in any way.

[Gothichome]

No, not engineered, solid tongue and grove, gets toe nailed. Installed some on our modern home, although we went with the pre fished stuff.

[mkiehn20]

Interesting. Any chance you could shoot me a link to something similar to what you used?

[Gothichome]

Thttps://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.2-1 ... 18204.html
Sorry I lied, it's 5/16. The stuff we used had a darker stain than this link.

[Gothichome]

Here is the 3/8 stuff we actually used.
http://t.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/But ... W/10036829

[JacquieJet]

Maybe it's just because I am a bit adventurous when it comes to decor choices, but I would do something totally different if you end up going with a floating laminate. If you don't love it years down the road it's an easy fix to rip it up and do something else. You'll never match your existing floors with a laminate, it will only emphasize that they are in fact not real wood if they are butted up against something similar. There are a lot of great laminates out there- there are "slate" looking laminates, and there are also fairly realistic hickory or acacia looking click flooring that you can get either a satin or glossy finish on. We used some of that in our last house, it was a new build but it still looked amazing. When we went to sell, our realtor didn't believe us at first that it wasn't real wood.

Best of luck with your project.

[lovesickest]

This is a thread about asbestos tile removal. Expert opinion is that the asbestos is firmly encapsulated within the tile. The only risk would be if someone was sanding the tile, causing the particles to become airborne:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/23 ... s-the-deal