Suggestions for a wood floor.

[Runs With Scissors]

Here are some shots of the "pre-finished wood flooring" after 23+ years, 2 kids and a dog.

You can see how they used to "bevel" the edges, so it does not have the same look as a professionally installed "real wood" floor.

Now that I take these pic's it appears that they are a little more scratched up than I thought.....

I suppose the "nice people" that eventually "buy the house" will have to worry about it though.....hahahah

 

[woodman55]

Wear and tear is why we went with ceramic tile. 25 years in with multiple kids, dogs and cats, it still looks as good as when installed. I also I the rough texture on my bare feet in the summer. Plus there is no warpage due to the changing humidity.

 

[ctfjr]

We bought this house just about 2 years ago. The PO had stained the oak hardwood black. When we first looked at it, it looked pretty cool. Then we moved in with 2 dogs. Within a month my wife was on the warpath to have them redone to the natural state. In addition, for whatever reason, there was carpet in the first floor family room. It cost us almost $9000 and we had to move into a hotel for 5 days but the outcome was awesome. Here is what the 'wood flooring doctor' did on our 1st floor:
Scope of Work:

- Hanging Plastic to minimize dust spread.
- Sanding Floors 1552sqft.
- Screen floors after sanding.
- Sand and refinish Stairs. This does not include the risers or stringers.
- Remove carpet and Install 300Sqft of red oak 2 1/4 clear 1
- Vacuum Floors to remove dust from the surface before finish is applied.
- Using a tack cloth on the floors between each coat of finish to achieve a clean surface.
- Loba Water Base Finish 2k 3 Coats.
- Second Coat will be applied on the same day of the First Coat.
- Screen Second Coat 24hr later so it can be ready for the 3rd and final Coat.
- Manufacturers Specs / light use after 24 hours, fully cured after only 5 days. Allow to dry for 5 days before replacing rugs. NOTE: Drying time will be increased by high humidity, low temperature.
- No Stain will be applied.
- Natural wood Finish.
- Sheen / Satin (Low Shine)

The new oak abutted existing in 2 areas - a perfect match. The guy, Felix, was great to deal with. I stopped over a couple days to see what was going on. It's a crappy job to do - what a mess you can make.

He is local (CT) and I recommended him to a friend who had bamboo floors that needed refinishing. He was very pleased also. https://woodflooringdoctor.com/

 

[InTheWoods]

...Presently there is 3/4" plywood under the carpet, and I want to remove that and put the boards that are cut for radiant heat in place of the plywood...

I used southern yellow pine. And we have hydronic under it. It's available (around here anyway) in 3/4"x6" T&G boards. There is a grade (D?) that's basically clear ( no knots). You'll need to run a floor sander over it, and then a couple coats of old-school gloss poly. For bedrooms, it'll hold up very well.

 

[RCW]

@DustyRusty - love the hickory floor. That’s beautiful.

Looks more like a birch or maybe ash from the picture to me. Not doubting its hickory.

Years ago we redid our kitchen with a new pre-finished maple floor and had oak in the adjoining living/dining room refinished.

The maple kitchen floor has taken a beating over the years with 3 kids and 4 large dogs….plus me and the Mrs.

Far from pristine, but I love it.

Given another opportunity, I would have done hickory, and a much more “rustic” grade. Hides blemishes better.

Much harder than maple.

Adjoining room was oak original to the house (1950-ish) and refinished at the same time. Professionally done with 3 coats of poly.

For a lower traffic area like bedrooms, etc., I often liked the look of birch, black walnut, butternut or ash.

Some are softer, some not as much.

I don’t like any of the northeastern hardwoods stained, but that’s the Forester in me talking…..

Just an aside our dining table is hickory. Kitchen cabinets are cherry.

 

[Dustball]

Many years ago I fixed up a house that was in pretty bad cosmetic shape. I tore out the carpeting and baseboard then went over all of the sub-flooring and screwed down any creaky/loose spots. The next step was vacuuming up the floor really well then laying down rosin paper. I went with 3/4" pre-finished hickory T&G flooring and I really liked the look of it when I was finished. Installation isn't difficult, just time consuming and hard on the knees.

For tools, not too much was needed- just a hammer driven pneumatic flooring nailer from Harbor Freight along with staples, a mallet, and a couple different types of saws to rip the pieces lengthwise and/or notch/shorten where needed.

The doors did need to be cut a bit to accommodate the higher finished floor and the new baseboard was installed on top of the new flooring.

 

[johnjk]

We did a Brazilian Cherry pre finished floor in our old house. Good because you can sand it and refinish. Dog nails continuously left marks in the floor. Other than that the durability of the finish was good. Lumber Liquidators. For my office I did a wood laminate with the top being a hickory. Great finish, cost effective and easy to install. Cuts like wood because it is. No floor stapler or glues.
I don’t have a photo of my office floor. Will be doing the wood laminate floor in our MBR room when I pull the carpet this spring.
The rest of our house is laminate. Holds up good to dogs The only area we have issues with are where my office chair rolls. Need a floor protector. I’d need this for any floor though.
If I could get the same flooring as we have in the main house , I’d probably do that in the MBR but it is almost 3x the cost of wood laminate since it has to be shipped from AZ.

 

[DustyRusty]

@DustyRusty - love the hickory floor. That’s beautiful.

Looks more like a birch or maybe ash from the picture to me. Not doubting its hickory.

No question that it is hickory, although the picture makes it look more yellow than it is. The mill that supplies the wood to the trade is one town over from where I live. I recently got a quote for the hickory.
premium hickory 3-5” x 4-10’+ is $7.50/sf. When I purchased the original flooring in 2016 it was $5.86 for the same premium hickory. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator $5.86 (2016) is equal to $7.74 today.