The chore of selecting your materials can be perplexing. It can also be a lot of fun.

There are so many types of materials competing with each
other in the field of remodeling that even professionals have trouble
keeping up with what’s available and what’s best. For the average homeowner,
trying to tell the difference between four different windows that
look the same but have huge differences in cost can be all but impossible.

The decision on whether to use wafer board or plywood for a subfloor
can cause hours of troubled thought. Asking yourself which type of faucet
will give the best service and appearance for the least amount of money
can drive you crazy. All these questions and more can arise when you are
trying to decide which materials to use. This chapter is going to show you
some simple ways to sort through the maze of products available.
The proper selection of materials can save a lot of money on the
overall cost of large remodeling jobs. There are some situations where
buying the best materials available will pay off and other occasions when
less expensive materials will get the job done and save you money
without sacrificing appearance
or durability.

Knowing how to pick the proper materials is a skill remodelers
often learn from trial-anderror experiences. While learning
from experience is an effective method, it does get costly. And
for homeowners it is unlikely that they will ever do enough
remodeling to benefit from lessons learned the hard way.

SUBFLOORING
Subflooring is the flooring between the finished floor covering
and the floor joists. The subflooring in most remodeling jobs
does not need to be replaced, but there are times when it does.
If the subflooring has been damaged by water or other causes,
it may be necessary to replace it.

The three most common choices for subflooring material
are plywood, wafer board, and a newer product that is much
more resistant to water than either of the other options. This
product goes by different brand names and comes in standard
4-x-8-foot sheets. If there will be only one layer of subflooring,
the material should be of a tongue-and-groove (T & G) type.
Some people install two layers of CDX plywood as subflooring,
and others install one layer of tongue-and-groove plywood. If
only one layer is being used, it is frequently 3/4-inch T & G plywood.
Most codes require this standard.

Wafer board is much less expensive than plywood—often
half the cost. For this reason many professionals install a layer
of wafer board and cover it with a thin layer of underlayment.
By the time you add up the cost of the two layers and the time
it takes to install them, one layer of T & G plywood is often
less expensive. However, working with T & G materials in the
confined spaces of a bathroom or kitchen can be troublesome.