Mixing Hardwood Floors
I would appreciate help in figuring out how to deal with my floor dilemma. We recently moved into our home, which is in the mountains. The house was built in the late 90's so it has the golden oak floors that were so prevalent at the time. It also has the golden trim baseboards and window trim (looks like maple and not oak). We have a step down living room that you enter from the kitchen or an extremely large entry way. The living room has a cream carpet which should have never been used for a home in the mountains with snow/mud a part of everyday life 6+ months of the year.
I would like to replace the carpet with wood and am wondering if I could use another type of wood since the living room is a step down. My thought would be maybe the same wood in a trim around the living room and then maybe a natural oak in the center. Would I need to use the same narrow planks or could I go a little wider? I would prefer not to add the same golden oak and I'm not fond of more carpet as we have dogs. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have attached pics to help visualize. BTW, the stair railing is being replaced with a more modern railing system and the kitchen cabinets are also being replaced.
Any help, suggestions, ideas and pictures would be much appreciated.
Comments (7)
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mixing hardwood flooring
Comments (5)We had the same problem when we bought our house. The foyer was dark wood with matching staircase railing. The adjacent rooms were carpet which we removed to find beautiful 40 year old hardwoods that were light and yellowed. Our floor guy sanded them all, working especially hard in the foyer to remove the dark stain and match them up. Then he polyurethaned them all in a light/natural color. The woods are different so there is some variation in grain, etc. but they look great (untill our flood last week, but that's a different post!) I think this is preferable to more contrasting floors. Can you refinish the foyer to match the new floors and not remove it? ask your floor guy. Oh, and as for the stair handrail - here we are 4 years later with it still dark wood. I started refinishing it myself 2 years ago and abandoned the project! maybe in 2007 :) but I have to admit, not one person has ever noticed that it doesn't match the floors. Good luck!...See MoreMixing Hardwood Floors Widths -- New with existing?
Comments (1)Turn it all 90 degrees at the Doors and use the standard width. Most people will never notice the slight difference in width....See MoreRefinishing character grade white oak to bare look?
Comments (10)I picked up some sample boards today of the engineered floor I am currently liking, Opus Premium European Oak Naples. Here it is pictured vs. my current hardwood below. Opus Naples below current mixed width 4-5-6-7 character grade oak below Seeing the comparison in my house leads me to a couple of thoughts. First, I want to make sure this wide-plank look will stand the test of time. If I commit to it, my best bet may be to replace all of the hardwood I currently have with the engineered, which seems to defeat the purpose of getting solid hardwood in the first place. I currently have about 1500 square feet of hardwood that will be refinished and another 1500 square feet of new to be added. If I calculated correctly, it may be less expensive to replace all with the engineered, if we do our own demo. My concern here is if the wide plank is right for my house in the Midwest and if this particular flooring brand is the best way to achieve it and if I will be happy with this decision five years from now! Secondly, if we keep our current floor, I am thinking that the grain and knots of the character grade will jump out even more with a light finish that may not give me the lighter, raw-looking clean finish that I like.....raw, but busy. Lastly, I feel like my best bet may be to keep what I have, install the same throughout the first floor and then, maybe pick a size like 5" and install a uniform plank upstairs in solid and then, figure out the stain once the floors are installed. At least that way, if my contractor and I cannot figure out the perfect formulation to achieve the look I love, I can resort to something darker that I would be happy with as well. Any insight appreciated!...See MoreMixed pattern hardwood floor
Comments (4)I would live with it. There may be other issues in a "new to you" home that are function related and cost $$$ (hvac, plumbing, roof issues, etc.) If the floors are in good shape, save up to do them later and invest in beautiful area rugs that will work now and then. The inset carpet would be my main concern simply because I think carpets retain a lot of nasties. If you have littles who crawl around or like to play on soft carpet, simply change it out for a clean, new one....See MoreRelated Professionals
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