Floors To Go

We wanted to rip out the laminate pergo-​like floor in our kitchen and were interested in wood, cork or bamboo. I did lots of homework on all three and understood the pros and cons of each. We considered places such as Lumber Liquidators, Home Depot, various online retailers and some local places as well. We stopped by Floors To Go one weekend and met with Matthew, an incredibly helpful, honest, and knowledgeable guy. We discussed the problems associated with a shiny dark hard wood floor in a high traffic area like the kitchen and realized it was not the best thing to do. He told us about a product called Congoleum DuraCeramic. The name did not inspire confidence at all, it reminded me of nasty linoleum floors from the 80’s. The more we learned about this product, we realized it fit our needs exactly.
From Congoleum website:
Warmer and More Comfortable Underfoot than Ordinary Ceramic
Limestone Composite Construction Resists Cracking
Install Full Tiles With or Without DuraCeramic Premixed Grout
Durable and Easy to Maintain
Lifelong Limited Warranty against Fade, Stain and Wear Out
My wife always wanted a classic black and white checkered floor and but we do not like the look of a single sheet of vinyl flooring and we did not want traditional ceramic tile. We took home some sample tiles and I thrashed on them, dropping knives, forks, and hand tools on them, scraping them, really trying to destroy it, but I couldn’t. Not only were they very durable but comfortable too! They are seriously warmer than traditional ceramic tile which eliminates the need for radiant floor heating; they are much softer on your feet and back without feeling mushy. Don’t get the wrong idea, these aren’t those pre-​glued cheap tiles you find at Home Depot which shift around and end up popping up, they are installed the same way as normal tile.
Enough about DuraCeramic, so we had Matthew come by the house to examine the existing floor and take measurements. That weekend my brother and I ripped out the old pergo-​like fake wood and the underlayment, which was actually a lot of fun and only took 30minutes since it was a floating/​interlocking floor. We scheduled our appointment with Matthew to have the installers come after our new counters were installed and the appliances would all be removed from the kitchen. His workers showed up at 8:00am on a Saturday and immediately got to work cutting and nailing down a new plywood-​like underlayment which would provide a smooth clean surface for the DuraCeramic. Once in place they used some quick setting plaster cement type stuff to seal in all the seams of the plywood underlayment. While the Floors To Go guys were working on that, my brother and I ripped out the kitchen island, made some new bracing for it and re-​attached it on top of the new plywood underlayment. The amount of prep work done to ensure a good base for our new floors did not go unappreciated, I can tell that this floor is going to last.
About 5hrs into the day, they were ready to line up the first row of tiles; we would do a black and white checkered pattern of 16″ tiles at 45 degrees to the room. I discussed tile placement with the crew and they immediately got to work, laying down the adhesive glue then putting down tiles with a 1/​8″ spacer for the charcoal colored grout we selected. It took about 5hrs to get all the pieces in place. By now it was around 8:00pm and the guys had been working for 12hrs. Did I mention it was the hottest day of the year, hitting about 103 degrees in the shade, and about 130 degrees on the driveway/​car port where they were working? I kept offering the guys water, restroom, anything I could to keep them comfortable. At one point in the day Matthew from Floors To Go stopped by to see how the job was going, later in the day I spoke with him about the guys coming back on Sunday to finish do the grout work. I was pleasantly surprised when I poked my head in the kitchen Saturday night and saw the guys had already grouted! This meant they would not have to come back on Sunday and I could enjoy the rest of the weekend! I really must give Jamie and his crew a lot of credit for how hard they worked 14hrs straight on the hottest day of the year.
The end result is stunning; a black and white checkered masterpiece to go with our white cabinets and black quartz counters, the island is black cabinet with a white quartz counter. The combination is amazing. The floor has a wonderfully solid yet comfortable feel to it; the grout looks fantastic, good choice going with the charcoal grey at 1/​8″
I couldn’t be happier with the service we received from Matthew and the hard work from the crew, I strongly recommend Floors To Go on Industrial Road. We are already planning our next Floors To Go project, grey carpet for the kitchen stairs leading to the garage and some dark carpet for the home theater as well. Five Stars!