Different footing through home, need ideas!

4 years ago

Hi there! So we recently bought a home where the flooring is mismatched throughout the home. They had recently installed engineered wood upstairs and in the study. The wood floor on the bottom floor is not the same throughout and has also seen better days. We need to install flooring in our master since we already took the carpet out that was getting us sick. My issue is we eventually either want to install tile in the kitchen and redo the bottom floors as well however I don’t think it’s in our budget to do it all at once. And we were told since it was glued down it would be very costly. Any suggestions for what we should do in our master as well as the rest of the bottom floor? The upstairs flooring isn’t my favorite and I’m not looking to replace that, if anything I may replace the stairs one day to not make it as dramatic of a difference! I am not good with design so I need some fresh perspectives!!

Featured Answer

jhmarie

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

It is hard to tell by pictures, but any real hardwood and engineered hardwood with a thick enough wear layer could all be refinished to the same wood tone. I would get a good company to do this and be sure they are all the same species of wood. They look like oak and that is good as that is a good traditional floor that can be made beautiful with a refinish, but you want to be sure some isn't red oak while some is white oak. That can be worked with, but will need someone good to stain them properly.

As for the stairs, consider at least for now painting the risers white. That will reduce the mismatch look that is very noticeable. You could add a runner or stair tread rugs to reduce the amount of wood that is visible. If you get the floors refinished, ask about the cost of refinishing the treads in the stairs. Traditional hardwood is always available, so if one room is really laminate or some other flooring, it would be possible to change it to the hardwood and have it blend in with the older flooring - looking great after a refinish.

The change of flooring from upstairs to main level is not a big problem as those are less public spaces. My hardwood upstairs is slightly different than what I have downstairs and one bedroom has carpet. Homes with hardwood do often have a different flooring in the kitchen, often tile or a tile look vinyl. Wood look tile does not look good next to real hardwood, so I would not do that.

It would be great if most of the flooring is traditional solid 3/4 hardwood. Since that is always available, you can do some areas at a time without worrying the flooring will be discontinued or become out of style. While traditional hardwood is not on trend, it is more timeless, existing in many elegant and historic homes that can be over a hundred years old.

It may seem expensive now, but do talk with a hardwood flooring specialist to get good information on the flooring you have and what can be expected with refinishing and how this could be done in stages.

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Comments (7)

Taylor Seale
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you! Great advice!!
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apple_pie_order
4 years ago
What is your budget range and square footage for the master bedroom flooring? Is the master bedroom upstairs or downstairs? It looks like there are two flooring styles downstairs and one upstairs. Is that correct?
Taylor Seale
Original Author
4 years ago
Master is roughly 350 sq ft. Upstairs is one flooring and downstairs has the two different red oaks and then the study (downstairs) is the same floor as upstairs. Master bedroom is downstairs as well!

Budget will depend on if we decide to do more than just the master. But if I did everything right now I’d like to stay in the 8-10K range ideally. I’m leaning towards just biting off a bit at a time I know that’s not ideal in a perfect world.
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
OK...here we go. First things first. I'm going to point out the issue of "just biting off a bit at a time". You can SEE in your HOME the 'bit at a time' solution. You already have this issue. The previous owner ALREADY DID THIS. And here you are trying to fix the issue with the same solution as the previous owner. As you can see that solution did NOT work. Now the whole ugly mess is now up to you to fix.

Right. So. Now you know the "just biting off a bit at a time" doesn't work, you will have to come up with another solution.

You need a 7 year flooring plan. You need to DECIDE the FINAL 'look' before you touch anything. The carpet is gone so that's where you think you should start...but it is bass akwards. You need to START with the FINAL PRODUCT and work backwards to find get to where you are now...without flooring in the bedroom.

Personally - as a former cork flooring salesperson, I would click together a classic cork floor (either the ribbon stripes or the block cut look) in the bedroom and leave it.

I would then make a plank to FINISH the rest of the upstairs in the same PATTERN cork (again...this is why I would choose a classic pattern rather than a new-age pattern that will be gone in 1 year).

Right. Solution to the upstairs is finished. Good. Move on (with MY plan...this probably isn't your plan). Now I have to tackle the DOWN stairs.

You have 2 different STAINS of oak. The former owner matched the cut and the size (almost) of the existing browner floor but they SAVED MONEY (ie. they cheaped out) by only refinishing the NEW wood. Wrong way to do it...but that was their decision and you have to fix their decision by using YOUR MONEY to deal with THEIR cheapness.

Your older wood downstairs needs a full sand and refinish. And it needs it in the next 5 years. So that's where your 5 year plan will take you.

Once both upper and lower floors are down you now get to tackle the ugliest part = the stairs. Right now the stairs are an eye sore but they are fully functional. They are dealt with last or as part of the lower level redo.

You match the stairs to the stained wood on the lower level. That means ripping up what is on their and installing a product that is going to be a good match to your LOWER LEVEL floor.

Stairs match the MAIN FLOORING where guests will see them.

Good luck. Start at the END RESULT and work backwards. Until then, put down some area rugs in the bedroom - even hallway runners will work.
apple_pie_order
4 years ago
Thanks for budget info. You can bring in a flooring pro for estimates. SJ McCarthy said it all.
Taylor Seale
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks everyone! Very helpful information, I appreciate it!

Different footing through home, need ideas!

jhmarie

Comments (7)

Taylor Seale
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Different footing through home, need ideas!

jhmarie

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Taylor SealeOriginal Author

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Taylor SealeOriginal Author

SJ McCarthy

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Taylor Seale
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Taylor Seale
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Taylor Seale
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