Hardwood floors

10 years ago

We own a split level home built in the 70s. We just recently knocked down the wall between the kitchen and the living and dining rooms to create an open concept. We have hardwood floors throughout the whole house except the kitchen. We would preferably like to match...we have no plans of re-staining or replacing existing hardwoods. We also do not want to place different floor in just the kitchen because then it will look choppy. I have attached photos of our floors. If anyone has any opinion as to what type or finish I should be looking for, I would greatly appreciate it. The first 2 pictures were taken in the living/dining room, which has a lot of natural light, and the second 2 photos are taken in a hallway without any natural or artificial lighting. Please note that these existing floors have not been refinished yet, which is why they aren't in the greatest shape. Thank you.

Featured Answer

PRO

Cancork Floor Inc.

10 years ago

Could be white oak...could be red oak (some photos show a bit of a cinnamon colour which is common with red oak).

There are labs in the USA which will make a SPECIES determination if you send a sample away for analysis. This is about $100 and well worth it (we've seen the "red oak" added to "white oak" mistake before...happens all the time and could have been avoided with a simple test).

Once you have a species match, you then need to have your hardwood flooring store (should be local and around for 15-25 years) bring in the right species with the right CUT and the same plank width. It sounds complicated but it isn't. There are plenty of these narrow strip "oak" hardwoods kicking around. Whether it is red or white oak shouldn't make a difference for availability. It will just take a bit of time to source it and order it (a few weeks or so).

If you can't get an "old timer" to eye ball the species, send away a sample to the lab. Another week here or there isn't going to make much difference. This type of match with this type of strip hardwood is done on a daily basis.

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Comments (10)

everdebz
10 years ago
Someone needs to determine the wood of the existing flooring.
amt2131
Original Author
10 years ago
White oak. People have been saying it was once a natural finish.
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PRO
Arrange Interior Design
10 years ago
Boy I think I would leave it to the experts. Professional hardwood installers and refinishers can give you the best idea of how to accomplish your goals.
RubyRoses
10 years ago
agree! looks like white oak but get a floor installer/finisher in. They can select the correct flooring and get the finish same on all. I had to have water damage repaired on mine, the floorer ordered it from a local lumber mill to get an exact match.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
10 years ago
The reason everyone is having such a hard time making the determination is because the flooring is a lower grade/quality oak as indicated by wide variation in grain, black spots, knots, etc.

I will say that I have never heard of anyone adding more wood flooring in a home without having to go back and at least sand and refinish the public areas of the home.
saloonster
10 years ago
Looks like white oak to me, but I would hire a floor guy to come in.
User
10 years ago
We did this...but in my own ignorance I just took a piece down to Lumber Liquidators and said "do you have this"...he knew what it was, sold me some and we put it down.

Then had someone come in and stain and refinish all of the floor. Turned out perfect and nobody can see the "patch". I can't even find it any more.
leelee
10 years ago
When we bought our home it had oak hardwoods in the entrance, living room and dining room. The kitchen was linoleum and the den was carpeted. We had new hardwoods installed in all the rooms that weren't before. No refinishing was done to the existing floors. They match perfectly. The only difference is that the existing floors had the old shellac finish and the new floors had polyurethane to seal them. Our installer mixed the stain on site and we got to approve right before he applied it. The original hardwoods were 16 years old at the time the new ones were added. It was a smelly mess with lots of dust but well worth it. All of the new floors butt up to at least one older floor. I think it would take someone who was really looking hard to see a discrepancy.
PRO
KHB Interiors
10 years ago
Hello

I think the floors will look nice once they are all refinished.

It's very common to have a unique floor for your kitchen. It's really doesn't look or seem choppy. It's very common. Do a great tile using a pattern or a large tile.

Best of luck !

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