In our major renovation, we fully intended on keeping the oak wood floors in the original part of the house. With a roof tear-off for a second floor, slow progress and lots of rain, the floor got ruined. We’ve gotten over it and our builder is being very fair about helping us replace the flooring.
So . . . now we have complete flexibility on selecting a new flooring. It has to be wood, it can’t be pre-finished (I prefer the unified look of a floor sanded and finished in place). Do I stay with oak? Do I go with an exotic hardwood, unfinished/engineered? Remember that I have treads on 2 sets of stairs that will be wood as well.
Now that I have the freedom, what would you recommend?
Replies
I agree with Dinosaur that what you pick is somewhat related to your homestyle and finish.
But to just throw out a suggestion, my favorite unfinished wood to nail down these days is Brazilian Cherry. I believe it's actually a variety of Eucalyptus, but it is tough as nails, finishes well, is grained and dense like teak, but has some really nice color, very similar to cherry wood.
I just bought 1200 sq. ft. of clear 4" plank random length for just over $4 per Sq. ft.
My finisher, a real perfectionist loves it as well.
Put my first Brazilian Cherry floor down last year.....in my own bedroom.
I`m almost sorry I didn`t do it throughout the house........
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-orgeous!
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I would describe the house as shingle/craftsman style. Outside trim and windows are dark green, the body of the house will be a taupe. Inside will be mostly white painted trim except the livingroom which will likely have wainscoting in either cherry or mahogany.
I would post a picture, but when I click on attach file, it doesn't work. Does anyone know how to do this? Will try again later.
Most of the time, when people click on Attach Files and get no response, it's because they have a popup blocker running. Turn off your popup blocker and try again.
OK, I managed to figure out how to post a file. I am attaching a picture of the front elevation, so that you can get a sense of the house. While it is large, it is not overly formal.
I love the idea of mahogany or Brazilian cherry. I would have some concern about finding a quality source, and also about how dark it would be. Quarter-sawn oak with a medium stain sounds great - it also sounds pricey.
One thing that no one has mentioned is the availability of these woods for stair treads. I also wonder if we could save money by getting an engineered product that can then be sanded and finished in place. Does something like that exist?
Thanks all for your input!
"large but not formal"....out of my paygrade! :-)
Stair tread with nosing is available for Brazilian Cherry....don't know about the "mahogany" which I put in parenthesis because true mahogany is hard to find....usually Luan, from the Phillipines or Indonesia, (which looks similar but isn't the same), is passed off as mahogany..
Probably OK for flooring, though.
Runner, that's a nice looking house.
A friend of mine has real (Honduras) mahogany flooring--looks beautiful except it only took a few months to get really dinged up. Not a very hard wood.
Part of the appeal of Brazillian Cherry is the difference in color from board to board. Rich, deep colors that look like real wood, instead of a stain applied to make a uniform look.
On the other hand, I have seen a white oak floor dyed (not stained) black, which looked really nice and totally uniform. Looked like it would be hard to keep clean, though.
True quartersawn white oak may be pricey, but if you get it in a "character" grade, or get rift and quartersawn, you can save some money. Rift-sawn has fewer ray flecks and wider grain patterns, but still looks sharp.
Mike
Nice shack. With a house of that caliber I would consider putting in borders on the floor whether same species or a contrasting band. Maybe a greek key oir thin strips for subtle effect. There are a bunch of flooring companies that make pre fabed borders that look great.
If you ask five people you get at leat five options...when unsure what to take at all I recommend establishing a budget per square meter (foot) first.
Then to choose between dark and light wood. Over here (Germany) dark is the vogue. That means we get a lot of sand/stain jobs...sometimes as costly as putting a new floor in. The sanding has to be immaculate.
For an elaborate house like yours an antique wooden floor would be the nicest, with a differentiation between the more important (decorative) rooms and the others.
Just to see what can be done (for a lot of money) try http://www.origines.fr . This is the european supplier for antique flooring, just outside of Paris I deal with when money is no object...just stunning.
Mathias http://www.raulfcarpenters.com
Matt...
long time no hear from...
how've been dude...
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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Heart pine gets my vote. Very durable and warm looking.
Check out some of the reclaimed woods if the budget allows, they tell a story.
Do something that's not boring, like another oak floor (unless you do quartersawn white oak which is another favorite)
That B. cherry is stunning too.
I think the bamboo floors look kind of strange IMO.
If it's a Craftsman style then I would say put down quartersawn white oak with a medium stain. Brazilian mahogany would go with it or the Brazilian cherry, they're both deep and rather dark. Clear tight grained fir would be nice...probably a little harder to find and more a premium. I would stay away from the light white wood if you're trying for a Craftsman period look, but then that's just me. It's really up to what you think looks best with the style you're going for. I know what you mean about the prefinished vs the finish in place look but I must say that they're making some really good looking prefinished material these days and the prefinish is a catalyzed finish and tends to be harder and more durable.
i was really pushing for Brazilian Cherry in our new house but my wife started looking into the issue of keeping it clean -- we've got 4 kids, etc. I couldn't find the thread she stumbled on but the there were having teriible problems keeping it looking good. I did turn up this one thread though.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg0323225110307.html
I'm still planning on using it some...just not as extensively. I'll mix it with something else.
We had select beech on the 1st floor on a radiant slab (4" and 6" widths from Tommila's, NH) and select birch (4" in short lengths from QC).
The select grade does not have any knots; my wife likes that - I'd welcome a few knots for character. A few tips:
I just put down two rooms of pre-finished beech from Lumber Lioquidators. I know you said unfinished, but ... One room was natural grade, and one was select. The natural had a few too many variations for my taste ... the knots were reasonable, but there was quite a bit of sap wood which is considerably darker. Anyway, the customer and I are happy with it, and it has a very nice light caramel color. Really lightens the room.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
I can't recommend anything in particular until you describe the house. Country place? City rowhouse? Victorian? Fake colonial? 1970s raised ranch?
The choice of flooring is æsthetic as well as functional. I use a lot of softwood (white pine, red pine) for flooring because most of my work is in a very rural area and many of my clients are specifically interested in that 'country' look.
What kind of house is this place of yours?
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
U don't say what kinda oak ..
but if it's a choice between white and red ...
I'd suggest white.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
My favorites have already been mentioned--if you like dark, Brazilian Cherry is beautiful and hard. White oak is also great, especially quartersawn and in at least a 3" width so the rays stand out. Reclaimed oak is the wood of the moment up here; a few years ago it was reclaimed hard pine which also looks great but can be soft if it's not quartersawn.
Maple, birch, and beech all are nice hard woods but make kind of a boring floor, and they move more than most woods so you get more gaps. But I like 'em anyway.
Mike
QS red oak, finished with waterlox. Stunning!
Would bamboo work for you? One of my customers just installed bamboo in his house and it's gorgeous!! I used a piece to make some trim around his fireplace hearth and it seems to be as hard as oak.
The most rich and stunning floor I ever observed put in... Quarter sawn douglas fir... dark stain. Hard as rock when dry-simply stunning. After they put it all down they knocked in horseshoe nails for effect. What a look.
Being a reformed perfectionist I really am intrigued by the tonal differences to cypress flooring. Betcha Ipe quarter sawn would be a really different look too. Would look like long strips of slate sanded smooth.
I have mostly pine floors here, so for the 900sq' master I am going with random wide plank pine... screwed and plugged. Going to refinish all the floors and give it a non-traditional color to sell the place... will let you know how that goes.
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it!
Went we had our place remodeled, we rented on old restored farm house owned by a builder friend of ours (they were in the process of moving out of the area). He put in Doug fir flooring, for the "authentic" look in this NW Oregon country house.
I can tell you I'd never put it in my house. The stuff dented real easily. Since we didn't own the place, it really stressed us out.
Oh, in our remodeled place: traditional 3/4" thick unfinished red oak, sanded and finished in place. Glad we did it, although I think any of the hardwoods mentioned here would be great. All of it is available as rough lumber, so stair treads could alsways be fabricated.
If you're leaning toward QS white oak, don't let stop you.
beautiful abode, beautiful
with what you must have invested in your home I can't imagine something like qtr sawn white oak w/ some walnut borders or the like are going to upset the balance
you will have an eternal floor
many numbers missing for me to be so presumptous but aren't you talking a finished floor for the price of say three of those garage doors?
please share some pictures of your home
thanks John
Very nice house. Craftsman period is my favorite bar none. Seeing it, I would definately choose qtr sawn white oak with a dark wood (mahogany, Brazilian cherry, or even walnut) strip running around the rooms about 16" out from the baseboard. It's a little extra time but really not that hard to do, and the results are stunning. I'm sure what ever you choose will be nice. Post some picts when it's done.
OK, here is a picture of the house in progress. Technically this is a remodel, but the original house is essentially buried in the final house. The south side is progressing quickly. The north side (garage) is at a stand-still while we resolve a septic tank issue.
Enjoy. I will likely post more in the future - maybe in the gallery.
Sounds like you have a lot of light colors in the home already... I wouldnt be afraid to go with a walnut floor... Darker, but it will make your lighter stuff pop, and it will have a subtlety that is very nice... definitely contrast your mahogney/cherry stuff....
Couldnt find much out there as far as pictures go, but here is one... http://www.woodlinefloors.co.uk/images/hardwoodWalnut1.jpg
I saw some walnut flooring in a craftsman home-a-rama home last year.. wow it knocked our socks off...
Then again Walnut is my favorite wood.. I cant get enough of it...
thanks for the picture - look forward to more in the Gallery
good luck on septic issue