Considering a home
remodel and thinking about new hardwood floors?
With the softness in today's real
estate market (as of this writing March 2008)
new hardwood floors will help a home sell
quicker opposed to ones that still have
carpeting. Today's trends show
darker stained
products selling quite well while the white
washed look of the 90's has fallen out of favor.
Hand Scraped distressed and character grade
hardwood sales remain strong in many areas of
the nation, while natural colored hardwoods
always seem to be popular.
Most Popular Types of
Hardwood?
What species are people
buying? Red oak flooring remains the most often
purchased, while Maple, Hickory, and imported
exotics are chasing from behind. Of all exotics,
Brazilian Cherry tops the list of many homeowner
choices due to the hardness of the specie
itself, uniqueness, and availability.
Additionally, bamboo flooring has been gaining
due to it's environmentally friendly properties.
Factory prefinished
hardwood flooring remains the selection of
choice over actual on site installation and
finishing. Reasons include; faster completion
schedules as the flooring is ready to be used
immediately instead of waiting for finishes to
cure. Additionally, prefinished warranties are
very difficult to top traditional on site ones.
The majority of manufacturers are now offering
25 and 50 year warranties. Looked at closely,
they only cover the actual wear of the finish
itself and have a lot of fine print that
should be studied.
Wider plank hardwoods have
seen a dramatic increase in use since the turn
of the century. Some prefer their appearance as
it can open up rooms that may otherwise
feel or look smaller.
What Areas Of The Home
Are Hardwoods Being Installed?
Of the many hardwood
floors installed today, areas of use have
expanded over the last ten years. More
common areas used for new hardwood floors today
include; foyers, great, and dining rooms, dens,
libraries, home offices, and hallways leading to
bedrooms. Kitchens and powder rooms fall right
behind while bedrooms are often preferred for
carpeting. Kitchens? Yes, if maintained properly
with area rugs near water sources, hardwood
floors in kitchens play a significant role.
However, sheet vinyl, ceramic tile, or stone
lead by a large margin as the floor covering of
choice.
What Hardwood
Floor Types Should We Choose?
Ah, we'll have to leave
this one up to you. If you haven't noticed,
there are a myriad of choices and options these
days, but solid 3/4" hardwood floors are still
the leading choice if you have a wood subfloor.
For those with concrete subfloors, engineered
hardwoods should be considered in either a
glue down application or
floating installation. However, this does
not rule out genuine
hardwood flooring on concrete.
When Should They Be
Installed?
Any hardwood flooring
project should be scheduled very near the end of
other work. The only other trades we would
expect after the installation would be carpet
installers, punch out trim, painting touch up
guys, or wall paper hangers. It's highly
suggested to cover all completed areas to
protect against damage. For limited trade
traffic, grey craft paper available at the big
box stores can be used to cover. Tape? 3M type
the painter dudes use will be safe on hardwood
floors, but should not be left on for
extended periods of time. It's best not to tape
to the floor but to the baseboards.
But! Our
Remodeler/Builder Says It Has To Go Next Week
Haven't we
heard that before? Builders are notorious for
not understanding when hardwood floors should be
installed. Some reasons for their hurriedness
include having the painting and trim
subcontractors finish everything at once instead
of having to come back. There are other reasons
we'll never figure out. If your new hardwood
floors are installed with other major work not
completed, make it clear to them you want the
floors protected.
Far too many
times new hardwood floors get damaged so badly
they need to be refinished before the remodeling
work is completed. The best protection, besides
having the work done at the proper time, is
covering the floors with 1/8" masonite board,
while duct taping the seams or joints. Duct tape
should not be affixed to the floor
itself. These efforts will be meaningless if the
masonite board and finished floor¹
itself is not squeaky clean.
It doesn't
stop there. Depending on how much other work is
needed to complete the remodel and the amount of
debris created, it may be necessary to remove
the masonite every so often making sure nothing
has traveled underneath that will damage the
finished floor. Common sense dictates the areas
should be swept often and debris cleaned up at
least once per day.
¹
Site finished floors need time to
cure. Covering may not be an option. Consult a
qualified professional with this one.
And That Crazy
Decorator Says...
Decorators have some great
ideas, but experimentation seems to be the
norm. Recalling a spec house I worked on
several years ago; five different types of
hardwood floors were installed. And the painting
choices were unbelievably strange. Nothing
looked consistent. In one room a beautiful
herringbone floor was chosen and another, a
plain looking engineered floor. The engineered
floor butted up next to another beautiful wide
plank floor.
To make
matters stranger, in one portion of the house
the master bedroom had a gorgeous marble floor.
Instead of flowing through the areas, engineered
flooring was again chosen... for the closets!
Upstairs was a circular mezzanine done in
gorgeous solid 3/4" Santos Mahogany hardwood. It
was basically painted black, with the grain was
barely noticeable on completion but it was
stained. In one bedroom that connected, another
engineered floor was chosen with a completely
different look! I suppose it looked okay if the
door was closed.
Frankly, our
opinion is consumers have a better grasp on
color and design decisions than most decorators.
However, time is often a constraint when it
comes to ideas.
We're Near
the Beach. Sand?
Living near
the beach, or in the desert, sand will always
affect hardwood floors. Attention to care and
maintenance should be given top priority. Newer
high tech finishes will help handle the everyday
wear, but not the inevitable scratching.
Many Say
Not To Use Wide Planks Near Water
Solid wide
plank floors will be more susceptible to adverse
reactions relating to high moisture levels, but
some types are less prone than others.
Engineered hardwoods will offer a safer
alternative if in doubt. |
