Re-installing hardwood floors vs starting over with all new?
(I posted this topic months ago but felt it was time for an update.)
Twenty years ago, we installed about 1,300 square feet of Danish-made Junckers Ash Harmony solid floating floors in our single story ranch house. We loved them so much, we had our flooring guy carefully pull them up earlier this year, hoping to use again in our remodel. (Twenty years ago, Junckers reps assured me this was common in Europe--people took their floors with them when they moved--and I fell hard for this idea/sales pitch, for both budgetary and environmental reasons. We know a few current flooring specialists who do this in our area.)
Old floors:
Now, with our home's footprint expanded to 2,250 square feet, my hope was to use the old flooring in "lesser" areas--two small bedrooms, a den, closets, pantry, etc., at least 1,000 feet. We are not perfectionist types and like the idea of reusing natural resources. Buying new Junckers for the rest of the house is not cheap, either, of course--total cost for that, including underlayment, clips, etc. will be just over $15K for 1,500 square feet (the flooring itself is $7.95/sf). And there's the labor cost of relaying/reclipping (and possibly sanding/refinishing?) the old floor boards.
The Choice:
Plan A) go with plan above, which makes my inner Lorax happy and hopefully saves a decent chunk of $, at least on the wood. Biggest con, other than the obvious (the old flooring seems solid but...) is that Junckers thin-strip style is apparently passe right now, so it loses some points on the Possible Resale quotient. Junckers also has a smooth, polyurethane finish, which I appreciated but I guess some find outdated/undesirable. Here's new product: Junckers Solid Ash Flooring
Plan B) ditch the old wood (donate to Habitat for Humanity?) and go with all new floors (most likely engineered hardwood). Main con here: it seems most engineered hardwood in the middle price range is pretty much all Chinese made (please correct me if I'm wrong) and we are trying to keep the house as green as possible (two chemically-sensitive residents, plus popularity of green building in our Lorax-like community = points toward resale value).
Plenty of other factors in my seesawing, but I'll leave it at that. Oh and my flooring guy already did a test refitting about 7-8 of the old planks and it came out fine (I realize it might not all be so easy, though). Here's most of the old flooring--sorted, stacked, and awaiting its fate! There is also 140 sq feet of the old Junckers, covered by Ramboard, that I'm standing on while taking this photo.
Would love to hear from flooring specialists, especially those who can be unbiased about reusing old flooring (as that idea doesn't sell new floors very well). P.S. if I didn't emphasize it above, we are looking again to FLOAT the floors, not nail or glue down. But I'm open to the alternatives if it makes more sense structurally at this point.
Be kind?
Thanks!
Comments (8)
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Comments (27)Choosing the right flooring type isn't enough for your living condition. You will have to consider the types of cut: flat sawn, rift and quarter sawn, quarter sawn or live sawn. Quarter sawn and rift & quarter sawn will be best choices, because expansion and contraction is along the thickness of the wood. You will need climate control all year round. 70 degrees at 40 % relative humidity is where you want to be throughout the year. The use of a humidifier/dehumidifier will be needed year round. Although, engineered flooring is more stable than solid. Using the wrong wood specie in your living condition can run the risk of de-laminating with engineered wood. If, the top veneer is more or less stable than it's core and backing. You will experience de-laminating in extreme humidity swings. Take in account of what the engineered flooring is constructed of: mdf or plywood. The width of the flooring will account for how much expansion and contracting also. 2 1/4" strips are the most stable. As you go wider, expect to see more wider seasonal gaps. Proper acclimating is critical, should be performed with a moisture meter. For 2 1/4" strip flooring , sub-floor and flooring moisture should be within 4%. For all other widths 2% moisture differentiation is allowed or should not be exceeded. Don't forget proper expansion gaps, which is the thickness of your flooring, example: 3/4" thick = 3/4" gap. Sub-floor type and condition will affect the performance of wood floors. All this needs to be considered for the proper and successful performance of your wood floors....See MoreInstalling Hardwood and Engineering Hardwood
Comments (11)SJ McCarthy, our contract is stated we are responsible for the materials and we pay for the labor. Unfortunately we never met nor discuss with the owner but only discussed in details ( in the proposal) with the project manager who is the solely the carpenter.) We just found out there were a lot of the DETAILS from the proposal were not explained (per the PM,but who knows) in detail to the owner or almost like "bait and switch" - for example like item #2- he spent more time because the owner did not get him another helper to help him- I told him this should not be the customer's expenses-Anyway we are willing to pay for it. The owner was offering to renew and establish a new contract from the original contact ( we felt that he cherry picking the items from the proposal, we marked them up then again he decided not to included) for the unfinished works . Once he agreed in our 2nd meeting (another example: he agreed tiling our study room to be included from the original contact in our 1st meeting then when he write the REVISED CONTRACT- he wants to charge us ), but again we are facing the same old stories-he tried to change the wording. We were burned so many times and now we diligently review line by line knowing the owner's personality. He kept saying he lived by the contract-then I told him then he should honor the low estimated to install our engineering hardwood floor including removing the carpet-in the end he says he would honor but he did not including the cost in the new REVISED contract which we add into it - we are so tired with his games. So now we put a contingency - once we agree with the new contract, no more additional expenses from the previous work was done- and we do agree that we need to be notified first and need both signatures for additional expenses from the new contract. and no more point finger of "not included" since we have discussed in detailed and are in the contract. The new addition has a hardwood floor installed - with Dri-core. Once hardwood floor was installed- they are some areas squeak- we were told by PM -put a marked up then he would fasten without explaining to us-these would be additional ridiculous charges (PM told the owner, too-we told PM that they should explain it to us- ) Regarding the installing the engineering hardwood floor is for our existing rooms(concrete slabs that has plywood already)- we are told just to put a vapour barrier. Is it possible to let me know what brands for the glues have to be moisture resistant ($2/sf) or moisture PROOF ($3/sf).? The manufacture instruction suggests to use Franklin Tongue and Groove adhesive (cross linking polyaliphactic emulsion glue) www.titebond.com -any suggestions? This Applachian engineering hardwood floor - FLOATING only needs GLUE between the wood (tongue and groove per the manufacture manual ) then would be FLOAT - this is not to be GLUE DOWN on our concrete floor (could be glue down if necessary but not in our case). Here is the website- on PAGE 9 http://www.appalachianflooring.com/uploads/general/documents/engineered-installation-guide.pdf We trust the PM and we pay for it- we just want to move on and complete the project-It has been almost 10 months. We have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves now- The owner refuses to install our towel bar in our new shower without charging us, and we told him we will take care them by ourselves. I will update this post and hoping for a better solution. Thank you...See Morehelp with new hardwood floor installation for matching some old floors
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