Q. Willing to pay 200 dollars for the best/most creative name. VIA Paypal

A. Mahogany Rush..

Q. I purchased a new home that came with hardwood floors. They are traditional 3/4 inch oak floors that were installed, stained and had two layers of polyeurathane applied. I selected a very dark mahogany stain. The floors came out with some streaks and discoloration in the stains. The floor contractor then sanded the floors and reapplied the stain and the 2 layers of polyeurathane. The same result has occurred with the streaks and the discoloration in some spots. The contractor claims the problem is with the color of the stain that I selected and he can't guarantee that he can redo them without this result. The home builder has now offerred to intall prefinished hardwood floors. Is the a decent alternative? Should I be concerned about this for any reason? The wood flooring does extend into the kitchen. I paid a lot of money for this house and don't want a cheap alternative but I need the floors to look correct. Please let me know any thoughts.

A. It would be hard to determine the exact cause of the streaking, but having a lot of experience with staining wood I would say the person applying the stain is not doing it correctly. It could also be contaminated stain or something on or in the wood (oil or grease of some sort). With a dark stain like you describe, problems should be easily to see before the finish is put on and therefore easily corrected. Stick to your guns! You did pay a lot of money and should get the quality and workmanship you paid for.

Q. I just bought this house in New Orleans. I'm from here, but I've always hated how old and antique-ish everything is. So I now have this old house, and I'm in the process of having it modernized with hardwood floors, recessed lights, granite countertop, stainless steel appliances, smooth textured walls/ceilings, etc. I'm just getting out of a really dark place in my life, and this house is supposed to be a new chapter for me. I want the place to be bright, airy, positive, etc. The problem is that I am definitely leaning towards a dark stain called "red mahogany" for the hardwood floors. I am an extremely indecisive person, and unfortunately the time has come for me to pick a stain color to give the contractor. I think the red mahogany would be beautiful, i'm just not sure how much it would darken up the place, and what effect that would have on me, compared to a lighter, sunnier, happier pine or natural stain. What do you think? Also, would the dark floor make the place seem smaller? TY

A. OMG GO DARK!!!! Stainless steal appliances, white wash cabinets, light granite (like a sand coloured rock colour) and some hip lighting is going to look amazing. Dark floors is going to draw your attention to the floors first but then will make the rest of the house POP! The lighter contrast of things especially the stainless steal appliances will look amazing. If you do a light colour like that hideous bamboo crap it's going to look washed out and dull and your house will loose it's hip modern vibe. Plus it won't match and you'll regret it. Then go for an absolute amazing wall colour and some great art work in a straight line and you'll reach the modern feel. Rooms with dark floors look great with like one or two pieces of really great furniture. Like have your couch be the focal point of the room and decorate around that. Plus if you have windows and lights in the room it's going to be bright enough... the dark floors will bring in a nice contrast and balance it out. Otherwise you're going to need sunglasses in the room! It's going to make the rooms bigger and feel more open. Plus it hides dirt!

Q. We are considering laying hardwood flooring in the living/dining room of our new house. The floor is concrete and we have been told we need to wait for a period of time before laying wood flooring. The time period varies with who we ask, but we've been told anything from 3 months to 2 years! Does anyone have any direct experience of this? Is it a load of rubbish or is it genuine?

A. Would have thought that after a week or so when the concrete was set it would be ok to lay flooring. Maybe the flooring contractors are trying to put you off until they can fit in the job!!

Q. Im a flooring contractor looking for massive commercial flooring accounts

A. Lodi - Tracy - Stockton - Manteca area has tons of home building going on

Q. I am about to have some vinyl flooring fitted in my kitchen and would grateful for any suggestions as to what I can use for cushioning and to try and keep the floor as warm as possible under foot. I have had vinyl flooring before and it is still hard and cold when standing on the flooring. I have even tried cork tiles and this did not seem to make a huge difference. Would a laminate and wood flooring underlay be suitable or would this be a waste of time? I should add that I am in the UK.

A. An idea, There is a product by DRIcore subfloor which is designed to be put over concrete floors in basements, playrooms etc, this may be something you would want to look into, it would serve all your needs. Lowes carries this by the way, here's a link to the DRIcore website http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx

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. On a recent episode of Greenovate, a television programme aired on Planet Green - episode title Eric R. The contractors used a stone pebble flooring throughout his home. They used the tool you'd normally use to spread concrete around, to spread this mixture of a epoxy and stone pebbles. It hardened and looked beautiful. I've searched the internet and seem to come up with results geared towards stone TILE flooring. Can someone shed some light into this type of flooring, where I can get more information about it, etc ? I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

A. You may be referring to Epoxy River Rock. A common flooring used in Florida around a pool. Here is a link to get you started http://mckinnonmaterials.com/our_products/epoxy_stone.html