Hardwood flooring choice.

14 years ago

Hi,

I am planning to get solid hardwood flooring installed in my living room by either loweÂs or by Home Depot. Although I hate it, I have Natural Oak kitchen cabinets, oak fire place mantle, oak stairs railing. Now, when I am shopping for floors, wood that attracts me is

1. Maple CinnamonÂBruceÂbut only a width of 2 1/4 inch. Thick 3/4 in.Âis this too small a width for living room?

2. Santos Mahogany-Exotic collection. Pre finished ÂRed CabreuvaÂFamam companyÂwidth 3in, thick 3/4in, but it is very dark, very heavy in weight, and absolutely does not match with oak. However, my whole familyÂmostly men love Mahogany.

Along with this I am planning to get entry foyer tiled. According to sales person, porcelain is best for heavy traffic. Now again I am not sure of the color. Right now I have wall to wall carpet in living, dining and the entry foyer.

I am confused. Can anyone suggest any other color, company, any suggestions is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Anna

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Comments (6)

goodbyekitty
14 years ago
I remember when I first started to look at hardwood flooring I didn't know what I wanted. At first we thought we wanted Maple or Hickory (which is still beautiful), then we switched from 2 1/4 in to 3" to 4", because laying down 4" is less tedious than laying down 2 1/4". Then I realized I would like the look of longer planks rather than shorter planks. Then of course cost. A lot of companies mark up products they don't even manufacture. I decided I wouldn't spend more than $6.50 a sq.foot based on what I found.

Now my husband is set on Brazilian Cherry, when before he really liked Amendoim. All of these "realizations" brought us to one source of the product we want. Keep researching, and you'll figure out what you want most.
boxers
14 years ago
there is a design element involved. Normally smaller width floors evoke a more formal look and wider planks evoke a more casual style. Its personal preference as well. Also don't forget to check avg board length. People get all caught up on the width but never inquire about avg length.
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What color, sheen and texture are your own floors? We have Brazilian Walnut low sheen, no bevels in the kitchen & dining room and a Gun Stock Oak w/bevels and high gloss sheen in the living room and remainder of the first floor. Did you choose them yourself? Yes, we chose two different species because the oak has too much grain and it would have been too busy with our oak cabinets. How do you like living with them or what would you prefer? We love our floors. We installed our own and it was definitely worth the effort and expense. I think there are pro's and con's to both types. Oak hides dirt better, but it's stained and scratches can cut through the stain and show more. If we ever sand them, it's nice that we have the option to choose a different stain color. I also love that the Brazilian Walnut. A plus to me is that it's different and not many people have it. I also like that it's dark. While it does not show dings and/or scratches, it does show dirt a little more than the oak which is something to consider. The cool thing about the Walnut is it's solid Walnut with no stain. The planks are the same color all the way through and no matter how many times it's sanded, it will always finish with the same beautiful look. It's also one of the hardest woods there is (comparable to teak) and was harder to install. Oak may be more common but it has a timeless look to it that most likely will never go out of style. Our oak floor looks like other pictures already posted and I have pictures of the walnut flooring posted in this thread. What is your decorating style? Here is a link that might be useful: Brazilian Walnut
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Your cabinets are quite warm in tone. I worry that a "cement gray" wood is going to clash with the kitchen elements. You've already stated that the original hardwoods have faded. You MUST expect the same to happen to the next wood floor you install. This fading tells me the windows do NOT have the UV blocking protection needed to prevent the fading. So... you may want to pick a floor that looks good as-is as well as what it will fade to over time. Sadly (in my case) the gray will stay true to colour much longer than any other of your choices. The mid-tone brown will probably lose as much as half it's colour. The SUPER DARK floors (ebony, etc) will maintain most of their colour as well. For these reasons, I would highly recommend a natural colour (no stain) white oak or even European Oak (which will turn silvery-gray over time) over any of your choices. Your windows will give you headaches with mid-tone stains. Only SUPER LIGHT (like the gray) or SUPER DARK (like ebony) will maintain their colours. That's quite limiting. So the suggestion for a natural finish (I would stay away from maple as it turns a STRONG margarine-yellow) is a great one. If you want a floor that is more modern, then have a look at European Oak (it naturally turns silver-gray when exposed to sunlight). It is the SUPER START of hardwoods right now.
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This is dependent on how THICK the existing hardwood is. A floor from the 1940s *might be at the end of its natural life. The average life-span 3/4" hardwood is 60-80 years of service. That puts your hardwoods towards the end of their natural lifespan. BUT...they are sitting under carpet! Oh goodie! That means it is entirely possible they have 20-40 more years left! And if they do, it is a TOTAL score! Refinishing EXISTING hardwood is the CHEAPEST and the most ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly way to 'floor' your home. A well educated floor refinisher will charge (roughly) $5/sf to sand/refinish an existing hardwood. Even a low-priced laminate is hard to have installed for $5/sf. So keep that in mind. The easiest way you can do your own check is to find a floor vent and measure the THICKNESS of the wood ABOVE the tongue. It can take as little as 2 minutes to find your answer. To achieve a full sand/refinish you need a MINIMUM of 3mm of wood above the tongue. If you measure more then you have MORE life in those floors!!! Let's play the 'what if' game. What if you have life left on those hardwoods. I would personally match the hardwoods and continue them into the addition. The wood will probably be an inexpensive 2" strip hardwood. The ONLY thing you need to do is match the species. Do NOT let the flooring people assume anything. Different areas of N. America received different species of hardwood because mills were local and they used to supply the local builders. Now, remember that it is SUPER hard to match floor heights from one space to another when dealing with an addition. Your choice for flooring MUST be made BEFORE the addition has begun - or at least by the time they throw down the subfloor. The builder needs to know what HEIGHT the subfloor needs to be to acheive the floor you want. As for the upstairs, you can do whatever you wish. Two different flooring choices on two different levels is completely acceptable.
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My question is: do you want DARK floors or do you want "light" floors? Red Oak has red/cinnamon undertones. Those undertones have been 'out of fashion' for a few decades. A SUPER PALE Red Oak (ie. the 'raw' look) is a very pretty floor so long as the grade is high enough. Red Oak is relatively abundant so sourcing it is less costly. The narrower width is also a more common width to find and therefore easier to source if anything goes wrong in the future. The dark floor will look very dark once it is in the home. It will suck the light out of the rooms because it is so dark...thereby making it look and feel DARKER in the home. White Oak is slightly harder to source AND it is the "upgrade" material everybody wants so the price doubles simply by the concept of 'supply and demand'. The wider planks of the White Oak could mean a more costly form of install. As soon as you hit 5" width, you need a full spread glue or a glue-assist install. That INCREASES the cost of the LABOUR. So now you have a double hit to the budget. Personally I would prefer a white oak in a natural finish in a narrower plank (4" is fine). These trendy colours can be just that...trendy. I do not like dark floors - and I know the darker one will turn DARK inside a home. Only a SUPER WELL LIT HOME (ie. 3 walls of windows) will lighten up a floor like that. The lighter plank is a pretty product, but we've seen horror stories of these floors showing 'cooking oil stains' that seep through to the wood = disturb the stain = super ugly = super upsetting for the homeowner.
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jrdwyer
14 years ago
I will make one suggestion. Get your own certified flooring installer and don't use big box subs. You really have no recourse with them (the subs) if they mess it up.

We used a Lowe's sub-contractor to install a new electric water heater and he dumped water all over the basement floor when he attempted to drain an old water heater that had sediment into a basement floor drain (BAD IDEA). Of course, the floor drain quickly clogged. In midstream, he then quickly moved to the sump pump well and water was everywhere. He borrowed our towels to clean it up and forgot to return them. I was not home at the time and my wife was busy with our son and it all happened very quickly (high speed is due to low rate paid by the big box store).

The only thing Lowe's apologized for and returned was our towels. We were left with drying out the laundry room with fans and a dehumidifier. Never again.
jeri
14 years ago
GoodByeKitty - who are you going with?
goodbyekitty
14 years ago
We decided to go with Brazilian Direct in about 4 or 5 months. I like the board lengths they offer and our sample pieces are really nice. I really really love the hand scraped look, but wow, that is way over my budget.

We were going to install ourselves, but I think I'd rather pay someone to do it. We're not spring chickens anymore. It would take us several weekends to do that and I'd rather just stay in a motel for a couple of days instead and let someone else do the work.
jeri
14 years ago
I have samples of Brazilian Cherry and Brazilian Teak from Brazilian Direct. BEAUTIFUL stuff! Everything I get now just doesnÂt compare. :-( Unfortunately, I canÂt go with solid because I am installing on concrete and I do not want to add a sub floor.

Have fun!

Hardwood flooring choice.

Comments (6)

goodbyekitty

boxers

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