Q. For tile and wood flooring? What are their prices?

A. Www.lumberliquidators.com for wood and wood laminate floors... Tile.. gosh google it ...for ceramic tile....a bzillion of tile places.

Q. I am redoing the tile in my entryway and installing hardwood flooring adjacent to that. Which do I do first? the tile or the hardwood? And why? Ive had conflicting answers from installers. Also, the tile was installed directly onto the floor, no subfloor. Im sure its best to remove it (im dreading that!) and redo it properly onto plywood or any other options??? Thanks for any input.

A. Remove the tile first and make sure that you have a fairly smooth surface to deal with. Some wood flooring will have a foam pad on the back of it so you can put it directly on the exposed ground. If not they make a pad to put down first. Then start to measure and cut your pieces to fit. Its easy but time consuming. I just did my neighbors living room and dining room.

Q. I have an invalid living in my house. He sometimes cannot control his bowels and makes a mess in the floor. I currently have carpet over hardwood floor. I need the carpet to be taken out and want to find some sort of flooring that can be mopped with Clorox or Lysol in water to destroy odor. I would like to avoid any type of flooring that would have to be glued to the hardwood. It appears that all vinyl flooring has to glued down. Does anyone have any idea what I can put over the hardwood that will stand up to some serious cleaning?

A. Try laminate flooring, it is easy to install by locking the pieces together like a puzzle and it floats(needs no glue). It also cleans like a dream, we just got it and love it. You can get the kind that looks like wood or tile. We have the ceramic tile type and it really looks like tile. GL!

Q. I am having a house built, and trying to see what is more economical and durable, carpet, tile or wood flooring or which combination

A. Tile for bathrooms and high traffic areas for sure, You may pay more but properly installed it will far outlast any other surface. Carpet over all is the cheapest floor covering.But you ll also replace it twice as fast. Tile is the most expensive but last 3/4 times any other flooring so in the long run its usually better. 99% of the new builds I did in the past had ceramic in the entry ways, bath rooms and laundry rooms. Then it switched to hard wood in the kitchen ( I d like to see a more durable tile there) and then carpet every where else ( bedrooms living areas etc) to help keep cost down. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar. GL

Q. We have tile looking vinyl flooring right now. I love my floor but it has to go to add new cabinets, extra wall cabinets and a middle cabinet island. What have others did for their flooring that is easy and not too expensive. We have a good solid wood surface under (1) layer of vinyl flooring to work with. Thanks for any help and answers......

A. Dont go too cheap.....home depot or lowes has closeout tile (usually less than 1$ a sq.) really east to install and will last forever, and when you do a project like that yourself you will be proud!

Q. Should you remove the tile first and install the wood flooring?

A. An engineered wood floor can be glued to the well bonded ceramic. Tile must be well cleaned and if you have a cushioned edged tile, they must be filled in. You can t glue down a true ( 3/4" ) wood floor, these must be always nailed. There are a few floating or lock type engineered wood floors. So you have your choice of just two different type systems and ways to go. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar. GL

Q. My sister and I wanted to buy new flooring for my parents 12 x 12 foot kitchen. It is currently linoleum in hideous condition. My parents insist on doing every project themselves, but they are way too busy so they've put it off for years... So, my sister and I can't stand looking at this floor anymore so we'd like to buy them new flooring. However, we don't want to force them to put it in themselves so we'd like to employ professionals to put it in. We were wondering if anyone could help us roughly estimate cost of what laminate vs tile would cost and then how much professional would roughly cost. Obviously there is a huge price differential depending on the quality of the flooring. In general we would like to go as affordable as possible without compromising in quality greatly. My second question as what are some good places where we could find great deals on professional flooring. Thanks for your help!!

A. A laminate of any kind of quality will start at 2$ a s/f and up. Installation of laminate goes from 2$ to 2.50 a s/f.Plus the cost of 2 rolls of a special underlayment which will be 50/60$ So you can ballpark 5 $ ( and up depending on material) a s/f for laminate installed. Tile and I assume you mean ceramic tile will be 3/4$ a s/f labor plus tile 1$ a s/f and up and the cost of a backer board or sub flooring for tile if you don t have cement floors. So your starting out at 7$ a s/f for tile. Realistically closer to 9$ a s/f installed for a decent tile. This doesn t include rip out and disposal of the old vinyl , moving appliances etc. This you can do to save money. You can get the best prices at the big box stores but not always good labor of professionals. You ll get better service and installation usually at the smaller mom and pop flooring places. You get what you pay for generally. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar. GL

Q. Need to know how long it would take to tear out tile and install wood flooring assuming I already have the materials for a 1,277 sq. ft. house.

A. If the crew has a machine to break the tile, it will take them no more than one day. If not, it will be longer. To install the wood I'd give it a week. People say a few days, but then the transitions have to be put in, and the baseboard comes in last. If you live in a moisture problem area, and it's a glue down product - GET THE MOISTURE BARRIER - which is pretty much cheap vinyl.