One of the questions I get asked quite often are about the details of our wood floors.
So here are my thoughts on everything you wanted to know (and didn’t know you wanted to know) about hardwood flooring options.
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| Photo by Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo. |
I’ve admired classic, plain-jane oak hardwood flooring in many high-gloss design magazines for years.
When we embarked on our home remodel I knew I wanted to go that route.
Installing and finishing hardwood flooring is an involved and detailed process.
The wood has to first acclimate to the temperature and humidity in your house for a few days (the longer the better).
Once installed they’re ready to stain.
Looking at the 1 X 1 inch sample on the color pamphlet I for sure knew I wanted dark walnut.
Then when the color samples went on the floor I didn’t like it all and went for Jacobean. You apply a heavy coat then rub off the excess with another rag. What I was also told is the more coats you apply and longer you let it sit the darker it will be. It will also fade slightly over time so you may want to go a bit darker in the beginning. I’ve found a noticeable difference in fading right under our sky light.
The other thing that is important is only one person should apply the stain. Everyone applies different pressures and you want to have only one person do it to keep a consistent application.
Once the stain was all applied we noticed sander/buffer scratches ALL over the floor.
So the guy had to sand everything down and start completely over.
We had the floor finished with a matte finish. Even though it is matte it’s still quite glossy.
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| Photo by Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo. |
So how have I liked my floors? They were lovely in the beginning but they have proved to be high maintenance. They scratch SO easily. When I was tiling the back splash I dropped a box of tile on the floor and have a 14 inch line of dents and scratches right in the middle of the floor that makes me say naughty things in my head every time I walk past it. In a house full of boys I knew I would have minor issues but they are all over the floor and really bother me.
In our Arizona home we put in a hand scraped, engineered hardwood from Lumber Liquidators. I believe it was called Potomac by Virginia Mills. I loved it but wanted more of a classic look which is why I went for the unfinished oak.
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| Photo by Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo. |
Looking back I really wish I would have installed these in our Utah home instead of the oak. Handscraped have a lot of texture so if someone makes a boo-boo then you really can’t tell. They also have Sharpie markers that come in several wood color options that are for your hardwood floods. If you got a chip you could just color it in with the marker. I honestly could not tell where the chip occurred when we colored it in. For kids or pets, this is definitely my pick.
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| Photo by Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo. |
If you want something practically indestructible there is the ceramic tile option which we installed in our bathroom. I’m really impressed with how much it looks like hardwood.
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| Photo by Michelle Rasmussen of Wondertime Photo. |
My only wish is that I would have done a darker grout.
Check out some more ceramic tile, wood look-a-like options:
Do you have hardwood?
What has been your experience with them?
Hey there! I’m Michelle; I’m an Passionate DIY’er and in constant pursuit of how to bring beauty to my house full of men (3 boys + 1 hubby). Stick around and see what I’ve got up my hard-working sleaves!
Hi Michelle! Thanks so much for this 🙂 We are currently looking at wood flooring options for our new home, and have decided on engineered, handscraped hickory. Glad to know it’s great with kids & pets!
We had the same oak floors stained jacobean in our last house. Minwax makes a wax pencil in that color that fills a gouge. They also have the matching stain “marker.” Both were lifesavers when we were getting ready to list the house. Either way, I think they are beautiful!!!
We put oak floors with a mix of ebony and espresso stain. We had them hand scraped too, so scratches wouldn’t be so noticeable. We’ve had them for over 3 years now and love them. We had engineered hardwoods in our first home, but with 2 big dogs they didn’t hold up very well.
Although it wasn’t the cheapest option, it’s crazy to think that our floors will last forever. You can sand and stain them multiple times if you are crazy enough! The next homeowners can do that if they want! That poly drying process was no fun!
I also have dark stained hardwood floors – mine are a water base rather than an oil base. The refinishers explained that the water base process would probably need to be refreshed in ten years. I am on year 16 and they are as shiny as the day were refinished. I have 2 dogs (translates to 8 feet) plus 2 children trafficing across these floors on a daily basis.
The secret? Clear floor wax – the type you use on a tile floor which requires wax.
Once the floors were completed, I applied 9 coats of clear floor wax to the entire house. This served to place a protective layer between the walking surface and the actual floor. It has been maintained over the years. Items hit the floor and may cut into the wax layer, but the actual floor and the stain are intact.
You would be amazed at what a simple bottle of clear floor wax can protect in your world.
We have dark walnut wood flooring in our living/dining room and I love it. One day though I want to replace it with dark brown tiles, because they REALLY look like wood and are easier to maintain AND they are better with the floor heating.
Jule {inside9B}
Thank you! We’ve been wood floor shopping and I really thought I wanted the real deal like you have, but it is so much more expensive when we can do the other by ourselves. It’s so good to know you liked your Az wood floors – after your thoughts, I’m sure that’s the way we’ll go. I thought I wanted tile at first, but the grout was the kicker for me. Grout gets dirty so fast!
Sometimes we have to be practical given who lives in the house. Kids and dogs can wreck havoc and what’s pretty in a magazine just isn’t realistic. Been there done that.
We have solid oak floors. They were eighties orange when we moved in. We had them handscraped and stained a dark coffee brown. I love the look of smooth glossy floors but knew that wouldn’t work with two kids and a dog. I want our kids to be able to roller-skate inside! Scraped onsite real hardwoods can take a real beating. Warning: Once you have seen the beauty of scraped onsite floors, you won’t be able to buy engineered “hand scraped” floors because they will look way too fake and plasticy.
I also have the wood tile in my bathroom in a very dark brown/black. I LOVE it and would totally consider using it again. In fact, I think it would be great for my future beach house.
Great post! We don’t have hardwood floors and I’ve never lived in a home with them but love the look. This post was very helpful.
Yes. I completely agree. We moved into our house with the Hardwood already in place. It too is Oak but putting in our kitchen is leaving some pretty big dings and scratches. ;/ Although, I must say. I do really like the classic feel to them too!
PS Love the master bath!
Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Wood is a common choice as a flooring …
We live in a 55 year-old home with original oak floors. I love the look of your new floors in Utah, despite the dings and scratches. Our floors have plenty of those, too, which used to bug me tons. Now, I just try to pretend I was going for the “weathered” look. 🙂
We went with solid bamboo flooring in our house and we love it. Yes, it scratches and dents easily, but I don’t mind it, and figure we’ll just have them refinished when the boys are grown and gone. We almost went with the tile that looks like wood because tile is so popular here in AZ, but I find tile cold, and hate that everything shatters to pieces when it hits tile floors. The biggest reason we chose bamboo was because it is termite resistant–I didn’t want to make the investment and have it ruined if termites were to come!
I installed wood look tile into my house now after having engineered wood in my last house. And I freaking love them. I have 4 kids and they have taken a hammer to them and not done any damage. And anyways, if they do, I can just replace that one tile instead of ripping up the wood. But I have to say thank you because I read that post about your bathroom and wanting darker grout so I went with the darkest brown grout I could get. And I love it. Here’s a picture-ish of it. Not the whole floor but you get the picture 😉
http://www.granddesignco.blogspot.com/
I can say amen to this entire post…I too have tried all different kinds of wood flooring. But! I must know. How do you like your microwave in your island? Have you already addressed that issue on the blog and I missed it? I just had a custom island installed in my kitchen with an opening for my microwave but my husband thinks I will hate it down low and my 2 year old will blow it up. What’s your thoughts?
Thanks for all the great information! I wanted to ask you about footprints, hand-prints, etc. on your floors in the Arizona house. I’m in Arizona and am building new and have thought about installing those floors. My only hesitation is that I currently have engineered Brazilian cherry in the bedrooms and they make me crazy with all the smudges that show up from walking barefoot on them or just the kids sitting on them leaves marks from the grease on their skin. I’m sure a matte finish would help, but I was wondering if you AZ floors were footprint and smudge free? Thanks for all the fantastic info!!!
Over all, I love hard surface floors. I guess I have moved into too many old homes with carpet. Have you see what is in and under carpet?! Yuck!
Tile is the exception. It is hard. I dislike grout. But, it wears well and looks so pretty. So, in my kitchen, I choose real linoleum. I have had it for 7 yrs with 3 kids and a dog. I love it. I have stripped it once. It is time to do it again. It is soft, warm, easy to clean, and comes in fun colors.
One thing to consider with wood products is how dark they are and how much shine they have. The darker, the more noticeable the dings, scratches, and dust. Shiny floors have the same results. I love my dark engineered wood floors, but would say my med to light colored all wood floors showed less dirt and dings. I perfect real wood, but it can get gaps. Engineered doesn’t tend to gap between boards.
So, it just depends what bothers you most. 🙂 I think most things have pros and cons. It is just what you can live with and the room it is in.
I did oak hardwood and stained it English chestnut…which is a nice mid dark warm color…that really shows nothing. I heard you get darker then walnut and they become very high maintenance. I have three kids and live on acreage…so they take a beating but do great!
Your floors still look really nice. I recently built a home and went with hickory floors. We have two dogs and two kids and hickory is much harder than oak. It is a very different look – it’s not stained and has a varied finish, plus burn spots and knots. I will say that it has held up beautifully to abuse from the kids and pets – not a single scratch. The trade-off is that it is very hard to stand on! We had to put a chef’s mat in the kitchen because the flooring is so hard.
Wood Flooring’s may sound cheap, but this is such so fantastic when made so perfect…. Internet indeed is one of the best tool to search for the best designs and experts according to your wants and needs so that dream home will do come true..
You cant tell the difference and they are much more durable than normal hardwood. Thats why they are often used for home with kids and pets.
I normally wouldn’t be able to find such great content as this on other sites. You have done a great job with each unique point made on this topic. Thank you for your hard work.
I have real oak floors in my five year old house and they plague me every day!!!! I am at my wits end with the scratches from our 80 pound dog and 2 kids. I am so tempted to rip them up and put in the hardwood tile. I spent a fortune on them when we built our house and am sick just thinking of wasting all that money. Every place they scratch, there is a white mark in the polyurethane. Does anyone have any suggestions before I drive myself crazy?
You sound like a whiny little bitch that would make someone re-do an entire fucking floor bc she saw a couple scuffs that SHE probably caused herself -_-