Desperately need help with hardwood flooring choice.

9 years ago

DESPERATELY need help choosing hardwood flooring (pre-engineered) for our Florida home filled with 20" builder's grade taupe porcelain tiles with light grey grout in all the living spaces and taupe/sand shag carpet. The walls are SW Kilim Beige with white trim. We don't get a lot of natural light. I want to replace the tile and carpet throughout with the same hardwood flooring. Please help. This is too expensive of a decision to make a mistake.

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

You need to visit, in person, a long lived, flooring only store. Find one of the guys who has been there 30 years. Have him help you pick something domestically produced in the $7-$15 range for your floors. No grays or anything too dark. You do not want Buyer's remorse when that fad is over. A nice white oak, rift and quartered, in a medium stain will have staying power. Not too wide either.

Just getting up all of the tiles and grinding the slab will be $5-$10 a square. And the install of the new floor in the $5 range as well. You can't afford to NOT do this right is the truth.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

Jan Fairchild
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you SO MUCH for you advice. I have already been to several flooring stores and really can't get the help/discussion I am looking for. I have been looking at white oak, 7" planks, in person and online. I think we need to go that wide since the living spaces are large. I will definitely focus on a medium stain. We can do the work ourselves--my husband has installed hardwood floors before, but may hire out the demo portion. Still deciding.
Related Professionals
Orlando Interior Designers & Decorators · Lexington Interior Designers & Decorators · Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators · Missoula Interior Designers & Decorators · Waycross Architects & Building Designers · Richmond Architects & Building Designers · Laredo Architects & Building Designers · Longview Architects & Building Designers · Toronto Architects & Building Designers · Vicksburg Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Fredericksburg Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Bemidji Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Ithaca Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Great Falls Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Vancouver Kitchen & Bathroom Designers
User
9 years ago
7" is much too wide. Especially for FL and an amateur glue down installer. You will have issues. You also need to thoroughly test the slab for moisture. The best approach will have you install a moisture barrier first, then a polyurethane adhesive. But the slab must be excruciatingly FLAT. None of this is cheap, or easy. I highly recommend a Pro who can do it better and faster. Otherwise, you are in for months on end living elsewhere while a novice attempts to not screw this up.
Jan Fairchild
Original Author
9 years ago
Sophie, what is your opinion of the random width flooring? Trendy? -am looking at Bella Cera Verona Forli- http://www.bellacerafloors.com/hardwood-flooring/Verona/Hickory/Forli-flooring.aspx
smitrovich
9 years ago
I considered doing the random width floors in my current house project because I like the look, but decided it wasn't the right look for the space, which is on the modern/contemporary side. I went with 5" white oak, instead. In my mind the random width floors fit more into a traditional space.
PRO
Oak & Broad
9 years ago
Jan Fairchild we do 7" and 8" projects in FLA all the time. There are several keys to this. Using very high quality Planks and having real Pro do the installation. After that you need to also make sure the home keeps the HVAC running. If its a vacation home for only part of the year you may have issues if you turn of HVAC. Email me if you have any other questions. joel@oakandbroad

Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info

Black Walnut Flooring for Deland Custom Home · More Info
PRO
Aayers Flooring
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jan Fairchild, gray and natural toned colors of hardwood will light up your room and add an open airy feel. These colors will upgrade your house a lot.
Aayers Aged French Oak Mist -The Rocky Ridge Collection · More Info

Aayers North American Maple Moonlight -The Rocky Ridge Collection · More Info
Aayers Aged French Oak Driftwood -The Rocky Ridge Collection · More Info

Find out more info about the flooring on www.aayersfloors.com

We are based in Seattle/WA and our Display Dealers are located all over the US . You can ask your retailer for samples to view in your home, or order them yourself on our website.

Any help you need please let us know. E-mail: marketing@aayersfloors.com

Good luck with your project!