Engineered wood next to solid wood

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I'm posting a lot because we just bought a house and now trying to make a bunch of decisions before we move. One decision is to remove some carpeting, have wood floors installed to match the rooms with original wood, and have them all refinished to match.I'm concerned about the flooring in the hallway. It's maybe engineered wood, it doesn't match any of the oak floors in the family room and bedrooms, and it crackles when you walk on it.
Additionally, every room transition off the hall has a 3/4 or 1 inch tall transition between hallway and room (which totals 7 of these ridiculous transitions off the hallway... writing about it just now makes the hall sound ridiculous) but the floor level doesn't change between those spaces so it seems like unnecessary bumps.
Is there a way to tell what/why this is happening in the hall? I realized it was different when we looked at the house prior to purchase, but the agent said we could just refinish it when we did the other rooms. Now I'm not even sure that is the case, the crackling reminds me of what our floating laminate floor was doing right after install (not really an issue now) For our floor we used a really good underlayment and I think it's nicer than the hall in the house we bought, that hall sounds cheap and fake even though the wood we can see looks real.
When I have the flooring guys come and look, how will I know they are being forthcoming about the situation in that hallway?
My in-laws think the hall is fine but none of them have solid oak flooring, one has glue-down engineered floor, they don't really realize that the hall is different from the original floor and they think it was the best match available. Is that true, that you can't match 1960s oak flooring these days?

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Comments (4)

PRO
Cinar Interiors, Inc.
5 years ago
Yes you can match it, especially if it is solid wood flooring.
iamtiramisu
5 years ago
You can absolutely match it, that is not an issue. If you can pull up one of the transition strips between the halls and other rooms where the height difference is you should be able to see what is going on in between the hall and other rooms with oak. Sounds like maybe the old owners laid engineered wood over old tile or something which is why the hall is higher than the other rooms (if I read all that right). Pulling up that strip is the only way to know. You will know the flooring people are being forthcoming because you will only have reputable, licensed and insured flooring people come in to look at it who have come highly recommended and you will get at least 2 of those people/companies to come and tell you what’s going on and how they will fix it. You will ask questions and then you can bring any lingering doubts here for people to weigh in on so you can make the best decision for you and your home that you can. You must have friends with hardwood who can recommend a refinisher, or your realtor should know at least one. If not, there is Angie’s List and also you can search here for flooring people in your area. Lots of options at your disposal :-)
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solid wood is 3/4" thick. You can sand down to where the nails are which is where the 'tongue' is. Engineered wood is 3 5 or 7 plys with a veneer of hardwood on top. Its generally more stable than a solid. There is no intrinsic advantage of a solid over engineered, though there is a perceived difference as one is 'thicker'. That has really nothing to do with anything. Factory finishes are generally far more durable than anything you can do on site. Unfinished allows you to stain any color and sanding will make the floor real flat and smooth. Prefinished you can't pick stain color other than the std colors, and generally will have overwood if the floor isn't perfectly level. As anything in this industry there are tradeoffs to all flooring materials.
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The old will be finished right at your home. This will take longer and be messier. But the results will be terrific. No grooves between boards (crumb catchers), the exact color you want with the finish you like. The existing floors will have great character and look great once refinished. Just be sure to match the species of wood: red or white oak. We selected traditional oak flooring finished in our home.
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You are looking for a company that manufactures the same species/finish in both engineered AND solid. These are NOT found using the big box stores nor the mass producers such as Bruce, etc. You are on the Eastern Seaboard. Excellent! That's where ALL the great mills are. You need to google/search for hardwood floor mill. You will come up with thousands of options. Go ahead and start looking at the one's closest to you. They will offer samples (either free or for small money) as well as a list of their retailers. Because you are looking at a match (ie. NO ONE can tell the difference but you!) you are going to pay more for that quality. I would expect $9-$12/sf depending on the cut, species, thickness and finish/stain. I know how to find them in Canada...it will be up to you to find it in/around PA. Oak and Broad is a company that produces beautiful wood floors in Georgia...they also post on Houzz (stunning floors...absolutely stunning). Our Story | A family-owned hardwood flooring company | Oak & Broad (oakandbroad.com) Follow the link to see what you are LOOKING for. Once you know how to find a quality mill, you can then branch out on your own.
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I failed to explain that the existing wood floor is solid white oak. It is just too expensive to use solid wood floors on the rest of the house so I was planning on using enginered wood and that is why I cannot match it.
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melle_sacto
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for your comments! I've had two flooring estimates from professional refinishers since I posted, and both said the transitions are unnecessary. They said the hallway boards do not line up with the other rooms that have wood, and both suspected the transitions are covering up gaps between the hall and each space branching from the hall. They said it's the same flooring as in the other rooms -- top-nailed solid red oak -- but the hall flooring appears to not be as old as the bedrooms. They've proposed laying perpendicular boards at each transition as replacement to the raised pieces. This way the transitions will be level. I'm not sure if this will be a good way to go...cost-wise it will be less than having the hallway completely re-done. Visually will I be annoyed by the perpendicular boards? I'm thinking I won't, but I also thought this house would be great and now I'm freaking out over moving.

I'm just having a lot of freak outs over the house. The hall is not raised compared to the other rooms, if anything the entryway with slate sits slightly higher and may require a different transition but not what is currently there. From what the installers indicated, the hall just isn't done as well as it could have been but the crackling is just likely the boards finding their place (sounds so organic).
iamtiramisu
5 years ago
Ok so it sounds like you have some good, solid professional advice - it’s always nice when you don’t get differing assessments and each pro says the same thing, usually makes it easier. That said, only you can know whether the perpendicular boards would bother you, but I would ask a different question: will it bother you LESS than the existing transitions and height differences? My guess is yes, and I think that once everything is the same level and finish you won’t even notice those boards. We have one that transitions to the tile in the entry from the living room and I never really notice it - and I can be rather type A about those kinds of things lol.

I think your freak outs are normal, especially since you are under pressure making a lot of time sensitive decisions while trying to plan a move. Not the best of circumstances for being able to think clearly and not freak out. That said, there are always surprises to be found and things that weren’t noticed in the tours you did before deciding to buy, it’s inevitable once you spend more time in a house that these things pop up - even in GREAT houses. It probably is a great house, and if this is the only “surprise” you discover it truly is a gem and you should feel happy/lucky that it’s very minor and easily fixable. Take a deep breath and hire one of those guys to fix the floors and move on to the 1.3 billion other things on your list to do before you move :-)

Engineered wood next to solid wood

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Cinar Interiors, Inc.

iamtiramisu

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Engineered wood next to solid wood

Comments (4)

Cinar Interiors, Inc.

iamtiramisu

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melle_sactoOriginal Author

iamtiramisu

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melle_sacto
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