I about fell out of my chair last night. Hubby told me he thought we should go ahead and get 3 quotes for hardwood floors for downstairs. We have about 1200-1400 square feet that would need to be covered. Can you please give me some recommendation for people/companies that service the cleveland/garner area that did a good job at a good price. Also, I would appreciate any opinion you might have on the following 1) In an open floorplan house, does it looks odd to stop the hardwoods in the kitchen? If you were buying a house, what would you prefer? 2) For those who have hardwoods in the kitchen/bath areas, have you had any problems? 3) Have you had any problem with sun fading (for example where a rug or couch covers the wood)? 4) Any positive/negatives about putting hardwood on stairs? (I have kids, so I'm a little concerned about losing the cushioning that carpet can provide for falls, but the carpet on the stairs always looks so dirty) 5) Any way to keep hardwoods from being so "loud" in other parts of the house. 6) What types of woods would you recommend for durability and avoidng scratches. (I know I don't want pine. I have a lot of darker cherry-stained woods in my house.) 7) Site finish or factory finished? ?) Any other information you wish you had known before you put in your hardwoods? Thanks so much.
I've got 5 inch plank brazillian cherry everywhere but the bathrooms and laundry. As for your questions 1 & 2) If you stop at the kitchen, turn a board or two perpendicular to the others for a transition. We did this around the fireplace where the granite is and the door opening to the hall. We used a different species (purple heart) to accent. Never had any problems in the kitchen. If you spill something, wipe it up. 3) sun fade. some species are worse than others. Mine is supposedly notorious for fading, but had'nt noticed it yet. 4) got wood on the steps to the basement and wood on the landing half way down. Sure it's harder than carpet, but there's no easy way to fall. My little boy is 3 so I stay paranoid when he goes up and down. 5) Noise. lots of rugs, furniture, maybe things on the wall. We got 16 foot ceilings and a very open floor plan. have'nt figured this one out yet. 6) just pick the color / species you like. If I had it to do over again, I'd oil finish instead of polyurethane. Poly scratches easier than my wood does. Also, for me, I don't like the shine. 7) site finish for me. I'll never move and can refinish the floor. Not sure if prefinished can be sanded and fixed, but I think it may be cheaper. ?) any info - like I said in #6. investigate an oil finish. When it gets scratched, you can sand, and refinish a small area. With polyurethane, small repairs stick out. Oil finish however, is not bright and shiny.
Here's a few things to get you started... 1) Not really. Depends on what type of flooring you have in the kitchen. Tile will look fine. Vinyl may look a bit odd because of the drop in height (though you can bring it up w/ a thicker underlayment). 2) Kitchen no problems. Be sure to wipe up any larger spills. A few drops and you're fine. Baths -> Powder room is ok. It is not recommended to put hardwoods in full baths. The wood will expand and buckle because of the increased humidity. Stick with tile or vinyl in baths. 3) Over an extended period of time this will happen. Some woods warm/darken w/ the sun (some brazilian cherries, others will fade. Not much you can do about it. 4) Can't put wood planks on stairs. You'll have to replace the entire runners with oak runners and stain to match. This can be very expensive. 5) Area rugs. Curtains and drapes. 6) Oak, maple or bamboo for durability. Doesn't matter what kind of wood you choose, it'll scratch and dent. 7) Personal preference. Sand and finish takes a longer time (usually 2 to 3 days) for install but gives you more flexibility with stains. Prefinished comes in a wide variety of colors and can be installed faster (can be installed in 1 or 2 days).
Just a couple of things to add: Wood stairs are slippery. If I had little kids I may not have done it. We had to put a baby gate up for our older dog, too. We had some pre-finished oak installed and we hated it. It seems to show every scratch and every drop of water that hits it. It was super shiny. Fortunately, you can refinish it and now it is a beautiful semi-gloss finish with a darker stain. I would never do the pre-finished oak again. We spent some extra $ and got commercial grade finish when we redid them. Not a scratch anywhere! It was a huge, dusty project that took several days. That was the downside to doing it onsite but worth it to us.
Ok, i've decided on what I want and where. Now I need help with where to buy. I got lowes to come out and quote, but there was so much they could NOT do. Any recommendations for local installation people.
