Despite my long standing love for hardwood floors, I extolled the virtues of carpet in Monday’s post. This mystifying self revelation came about when I started to calculate potential renovation expenses, because carpet be cheap. True, carpet can be crazy ass expensive (Camilla from Designalogue wrote in to say she installed wall to wall ALPACA freaking carpet in a client’s home), but if you’re a careful shopper, it can also be quite reasonable. Although I’ve never had carpet installed, Collyn of ModFruGal has, and she quotes her price for hardwood flooring plus installation as being around $10 (our cost was similar when we redid the kitchen floors), vs carpet at around $4. So, if you’re covering a lot of sq footage like The Hunny and I may be in our new/old dream home, that is a HUGE difference. Still, I’d like to explore all possible cheap flooring options, and lovely reader Michael pointed us in the direction of plywood floors.
Say what???? First I wax poetic about carpet, and now plywood?
No really. It’s kind of awesome.
I mean, would you be mad if your floors looked like this? (Thanks to Michael for the image!)
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at this woody turn of events, since this isn’t the first post I’ve written about how chic plywood can be. But it is interesting to see it used as flooring in homes where hardwoods or concrete would traditionally have been the materials of choice.
Marine plywood in a super modern Italian designed house. via Dezeen
And of course you could always paint your floors, like this plywood floor in an art studio. Since it’s plywood, you don’t have to feel bad about covering your beautiful hardwoods.
These plywood floors were painted to look all rusticky and stuff. Via Coastal Living
Perhaps imperfect floors would give you the perfect excuse to experiment with designs. Although the next set of images are traditional hardwoods, these ideas could work equally well on inexpensive plywood. via Design Sponge
I always like a good checkerboard. In muted tones, the pattern remains very neutral.
This room isn’t really my style, but I like the idea of painted stripes.
These are marble, but there’s no reason you couldn’t inject some hot geo drama into your floors, as in this Miles Redd designed home.
But of course, white painted floors are always a popular choice. Check out Door Sixteen for excellent info on how to paint your floors white here. Image via Living Etc.
Although an opaque paint would most easily disguise flooring imperfections, a nicer plywood floor would look awesome with a translucent stain that allows the grain to show through.
Stenciled and stained chevron hallway via Alicia B Designs.
This room is a little too country, but the floor rocks. via Country Living
This diagonally stained room by Mark Cutler is AWESOME. He explains how to do it here.
The simple, ebony stained floors in this home designed by Sabrina Bignami could still be gorgeous in plywood.
So I’m thinking plywood sounds like an interesting flooring option, but I’m a little concerned about installation. Do you glue the boards to the floor? Nail them to each other somehow, so that they float? What happens when the boards expand and contract? Does anyone have plywood floors, or have experience installing them?
Inquiring minds need to know.
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hmmm no idea how to best install it, but I like that its inexpensive- it gives you more freedom to experiment. I vote to paint the plywood white! Those the diagonal stripes are close runner up though.
I suggested this idea to some friends and they installed plywood in their kitchen/dining/bedroom. They screwed each corner down and glued the plywood to the sub floor. The exposed metal screws gave it an industrial look. Although it looked AMAZING when finished, they don’t wear very well (they looked dirty rather quickly) and had to be completely sanded and sealed at least once a year. Just a heads up.
There was a house recently (maybe on AT?) that had done their bedroom in plywood, including the headboard and bedside tables. It was so cool. Anyway, I vote for painted. The muted checkerboard and Miles Redd are my faves.
One big advantage to paint: If you paint, then you can countersink the screws, putty over them and they disappear….Redd is certainly a winner.
nice title!
great post — so many options….but i think the pattern on the marble floor is my favorite.
can’t wait to hear what you choose.
several thoughts- one- with plywood and a router you could route stripes, chevrons etc into the wood surface prior to installation. COOL.
umm- i am pretty sure that plywood flooring is GLUED down. similarly to a composite wood flooring.
i have always wanted to do a white gloss epoxy surface over concrete. materials is under $600 for about 4000 sq ft of product and labor is well, uh labor.
PS went to la condesa while in your town last weekend and it was fabulous!
http://hindsvikvintage.com/ did their room with plywood floors. It was very DIY. Also very cool. They are the people who did the headboard and bedside tables.
I’ve no personal experience with this, but I have seen it in person in a retail installation and I thought it looked pretty freakin’ awesome. I like the idea of a dark, almost black stain that would still allow the grain to come through. Fabulous round-up of inspiration!
Ebony-stained floors, yum.
doesn’t flightpath have plywood floors? Not sure how they maintain them, but it’s definitely high traffic.
Sorry for taking a little mental vacay on you dudes yesterday!
Hello there, stephanie, nessa and raquel! Welcome
Thanks, everyone for all the great info — sounds like there are multiple ways to install plywood floors. I’m a little concerned about durability and warping in our crazy Texas weather. I suppose if you had pros install and super seal them, they may stand up to some pretty heavy wear.
Susan, I’m jealous. Been wanting to eat there for a while now…
Cassie, I think the ebony stained floors are where it’s at for me personally. I love the white floors, but I know they’d never pass muster in my house.
Stephanie, super special thanks for the link! What a great, cheap solution for that space. Those guys rock!
Oh, and Raquel, are you talking about Flightpath in Austin?
Ah, I didn’t check back to see your comment and questions, but I see you have been researching painted and stained stenciled floors, with wonderful results for us.
I’m afraid I don’t know much about the best base for flooring, but I would be wary of plywood. What I usually do in these situations is get on the phone and talk to people–Home Depot, Lowe’s, contractors, installers. Eventually you’ll get enough information to find the cheapest solution that will last.
I’ve only seen stenciling on real flooring. You often see it in show houses. So if there is one this spring, the name of the stenciler will me in the booklet and you can call them for information. They will be top quality. And there are very good books available.
Here! Call this good lady. she did the amazing stencils for Peacock Pavilions, of My Marrakesh fame.
http://designamour.com/category/designing-stencils/
[...] I got a nice mention in the fantastic design blog, Design Crisis. [...]
We did plywood flooring in our bedroom and throughout the whole upstairs in cut planks. It turned out really great, modern looking and cost $200 for the bedroom and hallway. We’ve got the before/afters, procedure and step-by-step tutorial on our blog here: http://hindsvikvintage.com/?p=1839 – hope that helps
Oh! Forgot to mention we liked it so much we made a matching headboard and side tables too! It was so easy.
Diane, I think you’re right about calling around, but I’m guessing Home Depot won’t install plywood flooring. I’m not sure I would install it throughout my entire home, but I think it would work well in contained rooms.
Valeria, thanks for stopping by! A reader left us a link to your AMAZING renovation and I checked it out. It seriously looks great! I am curious as to how well it’s holding up now? Any cracks in the flooring? Have you had to reseal it? What did you use to seal it anyway?
an old boyfriend installed plywood floors in his studio apt. and had a conniption fit if I so much as flicked water onto the floor when washing a dish. so I would definitely pony up the cash for marine ply and research the heck out of sealing the joints so that you don’t become equally nutso.
dwell had a project where someone used hardie siding for their floors, and I think there was another house in the nyt where they used skate deck material as an inexpensive floor sheet choice…
I would also consider resale value on plywood flooring. If you want to sell, will this be a detriment?
One more option for you: I believe there’s something called multi-ply plywood. I don’t know too much about it other than it is a higher grade of plywood. And from what I know, I believe plywood is glued down. I love the idea of painting it!
Diane and anon, you have definitely given me food for thought. I probably wouldn’t install plywood flooring throughout my own home unless it was being installed and finished by someone who had experience flooring modern homes.
That said, I think that Valeria did an insanely great job, and for a nominal fee. True, it may not last 20 years, but it cost them pennies. A great idea for a small space in need of a quick and dirty redo (that doesn’t look quick or dirty).
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/how-to/how-to-repaint-and-stencil-ugly-rental-vinyl-tile-home-hacks-109905
Maybe this is the answer to something inexpensive and stencilled–easier to change down the line when your ship comes in??
Some really good ideas for interior design, thanks.
I think I will use some of these ideas for my customers. Thanks again
[...] think it looks great considering the inexpensive material. (If you don’t believe me check out this post by Erin of Design [...]
I installed plywood flooring in my kitchen and it is AWESOME! But, like all flooring options, it’s as only as good as the quality of the install. Here’s what I did with mine: my sub-floor was already level and solid, so I cut 4×4′ sections of 1/2″ birch plywood, glued it to the sub-floor using a high-quality wood flooring glue (there are quite a few), then for an industrial look, countersunk stainless screws at each corner so they were flush with the top of the my birch “tiles” but left them visible, sanded the floor and then sealed the floor with 3 coats of hardwood floor polyurethane. Five years later they look great, are easy to clean – same as a regular hardwood floor – and I get nothing but compliments. They look just like pic one from this site except with screws at the corner: http://design-crisis.com/?tag=painted-floors Have fun!
plywood? who knew?
I had ceramic flooring installed throughout the entire house and I have to say this company’s work is absolutely fabulous.mike was so meticulous with every detail.
[...] all of these. I think that floral painted rustic floor would be so awesome in a studio. Found via Design Crisis. This entry was posted in Interiors/Exteriors and tagged flooring, inexpensive, interiors, [...]
What a great idea! I bought a (very) small condo a few years ago and it has unfilled, white(used to be, anyway), fake travertine tile that I hate, hate, hate. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do until I have time to bust up and remove this atrocious tile and I think plywood might be the perfect “idea for a small space in need of a quick and dirty redo (that doesn’t look quick or dirty).”
Hello and welcome Mouglette!
If you do it, please send it pics! We’d love to see how it turns out.
Hi!
I was here looking for ideas on designs to paint on our floors. We have gutted our house, and it will probably be another year or two before we get around to putting hardwood on the floor of our livingroom-diningroom. Since I now have a baby crawling around, the bare plywood is a real nuisance. Terribly difficult to keep clean, etc. So I’m going to paint it! It never occurred to me that people would actually use it as their final flooring, but it does make perfect sense if you’re going to paint the floor.
My husband has been putting down plywood throughout our upstairs to strengthen the subfloor, and he has done a combination of glue and screws. Make sure to get the screws into the joists, though!
Kristina, shoot us some pics to show off the final product, pretty please.
Good luck with the renovations!
Can you send a link to the 5th photo down, with the black cat sitting on the white stencil? I have a the perfect kitchen and bath floors to do this – ripped off the linoleum and want to make the floor look more purposeful as the glue residue that simply won’t come off and with the stenciled look, makes the imperfect so perfect. I can’t locate it from either link above or below the photo and would love to find the stencil resource!
Thanks.
[...] source That’s a plywood floor. Utilizing my amazing research abilities (Google!) I found these sites about plywood floors: [...]
Fabulous article! Going through a divorce and am left with a house in need of many repairs and much upgrading – but a budget so small it is almost nonexistent. Need to get creative with my remodeling solutions and love the idea of a plywood floor.
Johnny, you said you created a plywood kitchen floor (how brave!) that looks very like the birch floor in the first photo. That is the look I am going for. Was there much seaming or gapping between tiles? I’d like something sleek and modern, rather than rustic, and prefer a smooth seamless finish. How long did the project take to complete? Any additional tips you wouldn’t mind sharing?
Many thanks!