Got some weird questions, need a contractor's opinion

I have been thinking of doing a remodel of my house, and I really like the "modern" look. I have been searching the internet to get ideas, but there area few things that confuse me. I am not trying to necessarily copy these styles, but I would like to know how they are achieved as they seem different from normal home building. I'll post pics of what I am referring to. First,
is a bathroom floor without any baseboards. How are these installed? Second, is a wood-look interor wall, I am assuming it just replaces dry wall, but seems like it would be really difficult to attach. My third question is, how crazy would it be to try and replace an older homes walls (exterior) with that "glass wall" style that is used in lots of newer homes? Is it even possible? What would have to be done? Thanks for any help guys.

 

OZ should be here any minute

 

Actually i can answer some of these, you don need baseboards, just have the finisher finish the drywall to the ground and coat the factory edge, many homes do this nowdays
secondly ive seen a lot of the guys just using the wooden floor panels on the walls and ceilings, now the glass wall, thats expensive, i did one house where the lady had her whole living room from floor to ceiling with glass, had it special ordered from somewhere on the mainland, it was in the 10`s of grands and i believe to ship it to Hawaii was about 10 grand also! she had i believe 12 or 14panels that were like 9 feet tall by like 10 wide, someting like that

 

Oh another thing about the glass walls, depending on the span of the glass wall your house would have to be re structured since their wouldnt be no real walls underneath to hold up the weight of what ever is above it(glass walls are not supportive and cant be used as a shier wall(sp)). The wood walls would be held on same way as wood floors are put down(not the floating type) nailed in the tongue and grove so no nails are visible

 

Hey Tigahshark, thanks for the replies. I kind of figured the wood was some sort of flooring just used on the wall, but it still seems like there are other materials people use, they look like plastic or laminates. As far as the glass walls, what is used to support them? Say a house has one entire side of the house made of glass, where does the load bearing wall go? Thanks again.

 

I agree with tigahshark's responses. You don't need baseboard, you just have to finish to the floor and be careful when you lay your tile. It's difficult (unless you're a professional) to finish the bottom edge of the drywall to a perfect straight edge. If it's just a little off, it's more pronounced without the baseboard because you'll see the drywall 'waves' when you look down a wall, especially when next to a straight grout joint.

Next, the wood attached to the wall, you can either do an overlay which is the cheapest way to go, or, if you want real wood, it's like applying a wood floor to the wall. You could have it take the place of drywall but that would mean you'd have to hit a stud everywhere. If I were to do it, I'd sheath the wall with plywood and attach the wood finish to that (I'm sure someone else will chime in on other ways to do it, it just depends on the system you're using). You might be able to find pre-made panels for something like this.

Window walls can be added to any house, it's just a matter of re-supporting the structure. To add a window wall, you need a very stiff header and side supports to support the load of the wall where the window is now going and you need to make sure you have enough support below the side pieces to handle the weight. Depending on how big the window wall will be, or where it's going on the house, this could entail adding a footing or column in the basement. If you're not comfortable with this, I wouldn't recommend taking on a project like this on your own.

 

Pretty much been covered above .

You can get tongue and groove panelling for the walls , depending on the orientation you run it ( vertical or horizontal ) you may have enough nailing surface from the drywall / existing framing .

Glass exterior walls are a huge can of worms , and site specific .

If you are removing large portions of walls and replacing with thermopane units , an engineer should be consulted not only for structural support but lateral restraint and wind loading of the glass .

 

Thanks for the replies gents. I am definitely not considering doing any of this myself, I just really like the styles and it got me curious as to how it's built. Especially the glass walls, I know how regular walls are constructed, but even when I examine glass walls, I wonder how they were built, supported etc. They definitely look like a pain to do, which of course means they're mad expensive, but I kinda already figured that part out.

 

Many modern style homes that are predominantly glass walls have a skeleton of steel to carry the loads and provide lateral restraint to the building , the glazing fills the " field " between the columns etc