Well, our Trafficmaster Allure floor installation is complete.  If you aren’t familiar with this plank vinyl flooring product you can find it at Home Depot.  The product is a fantastic alternative to a peel and stick vinyl tile.  At the end of the installation, the product acts as a sheet vinyl would rather than free floating pieces that will gap and slide over time. Any movement should be covered by your final molding piece.

We wrote our initial review of the product here: http://www.wnyhandyman.com/trafficmaster-allure-plank-vinyl-floor-review/

There are a number of videos regarding the installation of the TrafficMaster Allure product. Here are a couple that we found useful prior to installation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuez7u7Mvw (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khXeJ0E8-Do (part 2)

Installation of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl from HomeDepot.com (PDF file)
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/72/72845250-3948-4c77-824f-50f17da70f63.pdf

Summary of Allure Trafficmaster Plank Vinyl review:

Pros:

1. Price
   At less than $2 per square foot, this is a good value for the money.  In fact, you can run over to Ebay and pick up a Home Depot or Lowe’s coupon to save an extra 10%!
2. Ease of install
   No special tools are needed. Similar install to a peel and stick tile without the slippage and separation. Cuts with a razor knife and detailed cuts can be made with shears. Since this is a floating installation, you don’t adhere to the sub floor making it a much cleaner DIY floor.
3. Durability
   The product has a thickness to it that won’t allow it to show many imperfections through.  With many vinyl flooring products every crack and void in your subfloor will show through. The vinyl planks are about 2x the thickness of an inexpensive sheet vinyl product. This will help with durability and smoothness of surface

Cons:

1. Errors aren’t simple to correct
   If you make a mistake when applying this product, you are not going to be able to pull a single piece out with ease. The adhesion achieved when placing the pieces is nearly impossible to undue. If you make a mistake, you might have to backtrack quite a bit.
2. Instructions don’t fully cover the detailed steps
   As with other laminate installations undercuts should be made at door jambs and molding should cover your outer gap for the best result.  This isn’t covered in the basic instructions that come with the product.  To achieve a professional looking result, this should be done.  If you don’t have one, consider a Factory-Reconditioned Dremel Multi-Max.

I would absolutely use this product again or recommend it to any DIY’er.  Easy and a solid looking end result.

When I have a design idea in my mind, I tend to get stuck on that as an only option. Especially if it is an economical one that will save me quite a bit of time.

I went to the Horizons Home Show and found a newel post that I really liked (pictured below).  I decided that I had to have those posts in my latest fixer, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble to fabricate them.  Lucky for me, I was able to locate the posts at Home Depot for about $65 each.  The time savings in fabrication were well worth spending the $65.  I could have purchased some 4×4 and then trimmed it out in poplar or MDF.  I would still probably have been into it for $40-$50 per post without accounting for labor.  To top it off the labor cost would have been higher and the quality of a site built post wouldn’t have matched the tight construction on a factory built post.

Box Newel Post

I did have an issue when trying to locate the posts at Home Depot. They were not listed as in stock ANYWHERE.  To top it off, similar posts from other manufacturers ran about $160 each.

As an avid web user, I am always surprised by a large company who hasn’t yet embraced what technology can bring.  When the post wasn’t in stock, I had to check the stock at each local store via the Home Depot web site.  This was an in-store item only.  None of the local stores turned up with a stock item for me.  Worse than that, it displayed as in stock “at my local store” until I logged into the homedepot.com site.  I called my local store and was essentially blown off. Called another and was basically told to come in and that they couldn’t check if an item was available elsewhere.  Not too helpful.

As the title mentions, this was a bit of a quest after I determined that I had to have the posts.  I then called the Home Depot customer service line. They put me on hold and called a couple of local stores.  The rep came back and told me that they pretty much blew her off as well and she couldn’t check inventory other than store by store.  WTH?  Can you believe that?  She did ask if I would like to be transfered to “customer care” (she was “customer service”).  ”Why not”.  The rep at Home Depot customer care was terrific.  He let me know that their systems don’t allow a wide search, but that he can search within my city/region with a SKU. The item didn’t have a SKU on the web site (that was actually the primary issue with checking stock online).  He went to the trouble to look up the SKU in their internal system and, with that, was able to search my region.  He located my 3 posts at a local store and had them moved from the shelf to the customer service desk.  My quest was over. I located my posts and picked up my posts at the Home Depot that happened to be the one closest to me.

The customer care rep that helped me was awesome.  I wish that more people at that company had the same attitude and willingness to help.  His name was Charlie and he was located in Atlanta.  Charlie’s direct number is 800-654-0688 x: 76503.  Charlie, if you ever read this, sorry about the additional calls you might receive.   Thanks for your help!

My precious newel post:

Box Newel Post

A lot of people ask me about the real estate market, home prices, how to find bargains, etc. I tell them that I am a real estate window shopper and by doing so, I am able to keep a handle on my local market. You can do the same. When I start my day, I generally do a search at my local MLS site for homes in my area that have been added to the real estate listing service in the past 7 days. This can be automated, but I usually head over to a site provided by one of the local real estate companies or the BNAR (Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors). Most people aren’t aware, but nearly every local real estate site is displaying their listings from the same database.

On to Lancaster. I have been saying this for a solid 6 months. If you have a decent home under $150k in Lancaster, it won’t last long. There are still qualified buyers and the $8k tax incentive is a nice bonus (discount).

Recently, prices in Lancaster have appeared a bit inflated to me. I am not saying that these properties are not going to sell, I am just taking notice of pricing trends in our town and village.

Here are a couple of examples of houses for sale in Lancaster that appear to be a bit inflated:

House 1:

Lancaster House for Sale

The number 1 thing that this house has going for it is location (Village of Lancaster). This illustrates that location trumps most other factors in real estate.

This is a ranch house that is built on a slab. A home in WNY built on a slab is a huge negative in my book. The loss of basement space is a big issue in this area where items need to be stored in the off months. The home itself is decent size, but looks like it is a double wide and could be located in a trailer park.  There aren’t too many updates to the interior of this house..

If you had asked me to price this home, I would have pegged it at about $119k. They have it listed at $142,900.

Look for yourself: Lancaster house for sale

House 2:

Lancaster NY House for Sale

The second home is something that I often see when someone has a home that is on the edge of rural and developed areas.  The people who own these homes often feel that having 2 acres on the edge of town should have the same value as having 2 acres in the middle of town. Not so.  Head 1 mile further outside of the heart of the town and you will find 5 acres with a property, in many cases.

This home is a good size, but seems like it is price above the market for homes in that area of that style.  It is a split level home which isn’t for everyone.  The asking price is $259,900

As with the first example, this home does not have many interior updates or upgrades.  A house in this price range is expected to have newer appliances, perhaps new countertops, fresh walls (not wallpaper everywhere). This home screams early 80′s update.  You would have to put $40k – $60k into this to do a decent update to flooring, walls and kitchen.  But, at that price, you will start saying to yourself “we might as well build”.

Take a look at the property for yourself: Lancaster NY home for sale

I guess I should hope that the real estate market in Lancaster continues moving up.  I live and work here and will benefit if that is the case.  However, these 2 examples seem a bit out of line to me.

10% Off Appliances & Cabinets.

This home depot sale is a common one for appliance, but I don’t usually see cabinets tossed into the mix. If you are shopping, now might be a good time to look to Home Depot for your cabinets and appliances.

10% off at Home Depot