Hardwood Flooring Dilemma

10 days ago

Hi there! My husband and I have been wanting to do a renovation on our house for years (opening the kitchen by removing a wall to the dining room/living room, new kitchen, new flooring and paint throughout the entire house, lighting, etc). It was built in 1993, and we purchased it in 2017. Last year we finally decided now was the time, however we just cannot pick the hardwood flooring and this is causing everything else to be at a standstill! We love that our house is traditional so we want to keep some traditional elements, but it definitely needs to be updated - especially lightened throughout as everything looks dark and heavy! Some people are suggesting a very neutral floor (light, brushed white oak), but my gut is telling me it's not the look I want for our house and something a smidge darker (but not too dark) with a sheen (I guess, more traditional) would suit it much better. I picture a white dove or swiss coffee throughout with medium brown flooring. I would love to hear any thoughts or recommendations on flooring as we're open to suggestions. Maybe some ideas or suggestions will help open my eyes! Am I too afraid of a big change?!?!

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Comments (8)

deegw
10 days ago
last modified: 10 days ago
Have you decided on your cabinets? Will the hardwood flooring be installed in the kitchen? If you are doing stained cabinets, that will impact your floor choice. A painted cabinet will give you more wood floor choices.

I like a medium-toned brown, wide, long boards, not too knotty or grainy.

This is calming tea hickory from Bruce.
Renee Bursey
Original Author
10 days ago
@deegw Sorry, I should have touched on that in my original post. We havent fully decided on our cabinets, but we're thinking again white dove or swiss coffee cabinets with a dark wood island. The hardwood flooring will be added in the kitchen as well though. But again, nothing is set in stone! Hardwood just feels like the first (and biggest) step for us, and we can't figure out a direction!
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Laying the new floor in the same direction as the old floor is not the normal way to go about this. In the building industry, it is more common to see layers that are staggered or "bricked". In other words if layer #1 is laid in a North-South direction, then layer #2 (the top layer) is laid perpendicular to it in an East-West presentation. If you want to run the new flooring in the same direction as the old, you will want to use some underlayment (plywood) over top of the old floor so that you can maintain the "staggered" or "bricked" layering system. That is one way to maintain the North-South presentation. Please work with hardwood flooring professionals who have some experience renovating these old gems. They will have seen what worked....and what didn't. Their experience will be invaluable on a project like yours.
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Photos of what the floors CURRENTLY look like (and ones of your attempt to refinish) would be appreciated. Here's a hint about what to do: a full sand/refinish for hardwoods = $4-$5/sf. It is one of the most cost effective ways to "refloor" a home. Even a low-grade laminate + low grade underlayment + low grade "professional" installation can be $4/sf (after all the bills are paid). Adding more of the same is usually pretty easy to do. A competent wood flooring company can do this with a few more dollars to source the wood and install. The sand/refinish is done all at once. Again, this is one of the most cost-effective flooring options we have. A little bit of money "up front" for the wood = 60-100 years worth of "life" with the wood floors. And I agree with the "probably never been refinished" statement above. If you assume the carpet is from the LATE 70's (or a cheap arse who put in outdated/cheap shag in the 80's because it was on sale) means the floor from 1963 was NOT refinished. It probably looked 'nasty' in late 70's and because someone didn't want the cost/hassle of refinishing they covered them up. That's a GOOD thing. You have 55 year old hardwoods that don't look a DAY over 20 years! Awesome. You have even LONGER life expectancy than anyone else in the same boat! Total Score! Go ahead and bring in a hardwood flooring company to assess the situation AND offer a quote for A) refinishing existing wood and B) adding in new/matching wood and refinishing all at once. I think you will find the quotes to be more than acceptable.
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Yikes... that's quite a herd of pups! Sorry you're having problems... but I'd have to agree with anyone who suggested removal, replacement of the area involved... With any luck (and a bit of expertise) either the people who did your prior "refinish" will have the stain brand & or formula, and can PERHAPS blend in the new material to match (close) to the original... however, there aren't many of us willing to assure a perfect match. Floor looks like 3/4" x 2-1/4" Oak (although if it's actually very old, the material was milled to 25/32" thickness, and in that pic, I'd say Red... but possibly White oak)… Point is, that product is quite readily available UNFINISHED, from most local flooring distributors, (but there may be some slight differences in milling, lumber appearance, etc..) The "old growth" lumber definitely looks a bit different in comparison to the more modern stuff... but as I said, a guy who knows what he's doing should be able to get you back to where you were. One last suggestion... should you try that approach, consider using a water-based poly finish... there are many on the current market that afford the "user friendly", almost odorless, less toxic results in a fraction of the time needed for oil based finishes... and one that comes to mind (which we use regularly) is Emulsion Pro by Basic Coatings. It's an oil emulsion, water-based product which ambers slightly to give the same rich, golden tone associated with oil based products. And, it's easy to maintain & or repair (if needed), although, once again, I don't recommend having someone who isn't "qualified" jump into the picture... experience may come with a slightly higher price tag... but it's typically well worth it in the long run. Sorry to "drone on"... best of luck, and if you have any questions, we'll try to help.
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OK...so the existing wood is from 1996 or OLDER. Right. The finish is working on needing a full sand and refinish in about 5 years. Please keep that in mind. It looks great right now, but it will soon require a full sand/refinish in a short while. If you are unhappy with the options given above (ie. add in solid unfinished hardwood and then sand/refinish EVERYTHING) then you have a few options. #1...Add in MATCHING solid white oak and stain it a STRONG dark colour. This will do both things you are looking for RIGHT NOW. Right now you ONLY want to do a room of wood. If you HAVE to, you will stain on site via DIY style. OK. No problem. Just match the species, width and cut and lay the floor. Should be pretty cheap and pretty easy. Stain in a colour you would LOVE to see throughout your house at another time (ie. 7 years from now). Use a HIGH GLOSS finish (match the same gloss level you have right now...or else you will be cussing a blue streak). At a later time, you finally make the decision to do the full sand and refinish of all the rest of your floors. You can decide to match what you have or go a different direction. The choice will be yours. Personally I have seen this WIDTH (cut is a bit dicey) at Home Depot. Most of it is Red Oak but you might just luck out with white oak in a width very much the same as what you have.
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PRO
Debbi Washburn
10 days ago
I have always found the early american and special walnut stains to be very nice

In this picture , the 50/50 mix is really nice too.
deegw
10 days ago
Have decided anything about the staircase? It looks like the treads and banister are the same stain color as the floors. Do you plan on leaving them as is, restaining or painting?
AnnKH
10 days ago
What kind of flooring do you have now? What flooring will be replaced?
mcarroll16
10 days ago
I think your instincts are good--pale white oak would be an awkward fit if you are trying to stay traditional in overall fit. A medium brown like Special Walnut, Provincial, or Early American will be classic, fit with many styles, and play nicely with lighter wall colors.

Are you refinishing and extending the wood you have, or replacing all of it?
Renee Bursey
Original Author
10 days ago
@deegw @AnnKH @mcarroll16

Right now we have cherry hardwood floor. We are replacing all of our hardwood (and adding it to the kitchen as well). As for the stairs, we’re not sure what to do as we are on a budget and staircases can get quite expensive. Someone suggested we keep the majority as is and do some minor adjustments instead (replace spindles, paint, new runner, etc). Nothing is finalized! We’re obviously still trying to work through everything, hence why I’m looking for all the help anyone can offer! 😊
Renee Bursey
Original Author
10 days ago
I should also note that while we have cherry everywhere throughout our house right now, there is multiple different types of cherry flooring - the stairs/hallway is a different cherry flooring than in the family room vs the living room/dining room.

Hardwood Flooring Dilemma

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deegw

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Hardwood Flooring Dilemma

Comments (8)

deegw

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deegw

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